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Should I turn the macbook off or put it to sleep mode?

T

terrif

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 25, 2008
4
0
Hi I recently got the new macbook and at the moment, I am calibrating the battery. But once it is done calibration I am wondering if I should:

1) Shut down computer completely with battery still in.
2) Shut down computer completely with battery out.
3) Put computer to sleep with battery in.
4) Put computer to sleep with battery out.
5) Any other method I have not mentioned.

Oh another question is if I should leave the battery in when using the adapter or take the battery out.

Thank you for helping me out in advance.
 
Shut the lid with battery still in and A/C adaptor still connected. From what I've heard Apple notebooks don't overcharge so there is no harm in leaving it plugged in as long as you calibrate it once a month (100% > 0% > 100%).

I almost never turn my Macbook off unless I know I won't be using it in the next 24 hours, which is almost never. I just shut the lid and end of story. :)

Congrats on your Mac!
 
after youve run down the battery completely to calibrate it you let it sleep (actually hibernates as no battery left) and leave it for a few hours and then plug it in and turn it on to resume from hibernation.

when your MacBook sleeps it just powers the RAM so you can be where you left off when awake. if all your battery is used while asleep it will hibernate. so if you think that you wont use your MacBook for a while and you dont have the power adapter handy just shut it down

but if your using it periodically during the day like in class just shut the lid and sleep it. all the moving parts are powered down so dont worry about hurting it.

you can go into hibernation mode without waiting for the battery to die if you wish by using this widget.
 
Is there any major difference in putting it to hibernate using that widget opposed to just putting it to sleep? Will we get any performance differences regarding battery life?
 
so i should just it plugged in with the battery and put it to sleep?
 
hibernate doesnt use ay battery life and takes a while to restore the contents of your RAM from the slower hard drive when turned back on. i find it useful to sleep my MacBook Pro without that damn glowing LED annoying me :p.

normal sleep only uses about 10% of your battery life overnight. i wouldnt worry about plugging it in unless you have no battery left… but in that case id just shut it down.
 
would using the macbook without the battery damage it in anyway?
 
No. The only drawback is that the battery won't serve as UPS.

It is recommend to store the battery at 40% charge in a cool place. Refrigderator works fine as long as it does not get moist.
 
Hmm.. now i am all curious about this battery thing.. i am aware of the battery cycle, but now i am no longer sure if my knowledge is right or wrong.. my first mac is arriving in another few more days!! :) i basically won't turn off the macbook unless i am bringing it to uni or such.

so when i am home, and will be home for the next 10-20hours. Do i take off my battery from the macbook and have it charged with the A/C adapter? or should i just leave the battery in it and continue charging it???
 
tongteh said:
Hmm.. now i am all curious about this battery thing.. i am aware of the battery cycle, but now i am no longer sure if my knowledge is right or wrong.. my first mac is arriving in another few more days!! :) i basically won't turn off the macbook unless i am bringing it to uni or such.

so when i am home, and will be home for the next 10-20hours. Do i take off my battery from the macbook and have it charged with the A/C adapter? or should i just leave the battery in it and continue charging it???
Click to expand...

i second that?
 
tongteh said:
Hmm.. now i am all curious about this battery thing.. i am aware of the battery cycle, but now i am no longer sure if my knowledge is right or wrong.. my first mac is arriving in another few more days!! :) i basically won't turn off the macbook unless i am bringing it to uni or such.

so when i am home, and will be home for the next 10-20hours. Do i take off my battery from the macbook and have it charged with the A/C adapter? or should i just leave the battery in it and continue charging it???
Click to expand...

just leave it in. laptops today have modern lithium batteries which trickle charge when fully charged meaning they dischage a few percent and then charge back up to 100% to keep the electrons flowing.

so as long as you dont leave your MacBook plugged in 24/7 its perfectly fine to leave it plugged in for extended periods of time. then make sure you calibrate it once every 1 or 2 months.

i have heard from knowledgable MacRumors members and right from an Apple Support technition that it is fine to leave a MacBook plugged in for while. TIME TO PUT THIS MYTH TO REST!

plus when you remove the battery one of the cores is shutdown and one slip of the Mag Safe and you lose your work.

i leave my MacBook plugged in at my desk most of the time and sometimes take it to bed and around the house plus the battery calibrations and my battery is still around 90% of its original health.
 
Hmm, just curious again.. :p like you said, that the new modern lithium batteries which trickle charge when fully charged meaning they dischage a few percent and then charge back up to 100% to keep the electrons flowing.

so how does that gonna affect anything when you do leave it plugged in for 24/7???

i really want to get this clear since my macbook is arriving in just a few more days(OMG, totally excited!! first Mac for me) and i would love to maximize the lifespan of my macbook battery.

On top of that, what happens if i decide not use the battery at home and just use the battery when i am out to Uni, is it bad for the battery?? cause once i am home i will probably not switch off the macbook until i am going out with it. thank for any help..
 
If you leave it in the charge will drop to 95% and then it will start charging again. If that happens 20 times the battery loses one cycle.
 
oh. I get it now. Any answer to my second question? About not using the battery at all when I am home, is that bad for my MacBook or the battery. Thanks for the help so far. :)
 
be carefull about putting to sleep if the battery totally dies than you can cause problems where your laptop won't see the battery anymore
 
terrif said:
so i should just it plugged in with the battery and put it to sleep?
Click to expand...
For the purposes of calibration, no.

For general use, that's fine.

When I'm not using my mbp I always have it sleeping with the battery left in. Nothing bad will happen.
Philflow said:
In my opinion not because you will loose cycles quicker. Your battery has a limited amount of cycles it can go through.
Click to expand...
The battery will still naturally degrade over time. It's best to simply let it stay inside the computer because at least you have a back-up if the power goes out. Not to mention the fact that removing the battery causes the computer to underclock.
terrif said:
would using the macbook without the battery damage it in anyway?
Click to expand...
The CPU will underclock and you might see some performance issues.

Really there's nothing to gain by removing your battery, so it's best to just keep it in.
tongteh said:
i basically won't turn off the macbook unless i am bringing it to uni or such.
Click to expand...

You really don't have to ever turn it off if you don't want to. My computer always sleeps. The only time it's ever restarted is for software updates.
so when i am home, and will be home for the next 10-20hours. Do i take off my battery from the macbook and have it charged with the A/C adapter? or should i just leave the battery in it and continue charging it???
Click to expand...

If you take your battery out, what exactly would you be charging? :confused:

Don't remove the battery. It's unnecessary and a waste of your time. ;):)
Philflow said:
Removing the battery as often as possible will prolong battery life.
Click to expand...

Only minimally at best. Lithium ion batteries these days last a fairly long time and their life begins to degrade the very second they come off the assembly line.

Average use of a battery will still let you use it comfortably for 2-3 years, which is probably as long as you can expect any battery to last.
 
CalBoy said:
Only minimally at best. Lithium ion batteries these days last a fairly long time and their life begins to degrade the very second they come off the assembly line.

Average use of a battery will still let you use it comfortably for 2-3 years, which is probably as long as you can expect any battery to last.
Click to expand...

For what it's worth, my current battery is 4 years old. It still is at 91% health. I believe that's because I take it out as often as possible.

So my take: if you don't want to be buying new batteries every 2-3 years, take it out.
 
Philflow said:
For what it's worth, my current battery is 4 years old. It still is at 91% health. I believe that's because I take it out as often as possible.
Click to expand...

How often do you use your battery?

I don't use it very often (my computer is on AC power most of the time), so of course I'll beat the average of 2-3 years.

Taking out the battery won't really change that. The trickle charge likely only adds one cycle every few months, which over the course of years won't affect the battery much at all.

Apple also doesn't recommend removing your battery, for the reasons I outlined before (performance issues).
 
I wouldn't risk losing whatever I'm working on because I want to save a few bucks in a few years. Battery while plugged in is fine.

I've shut my mb down usually every night and all is cool. Sometimes I'll just close the lid...no real difference I've found.
 
Just don't leave your computer plugged in for a month straight.

callibrate the battery occasionally (once a month if possible)

I bought my Late '06 white macbook the day they came out (11/14/06?) and use the hell out of the thing.

Its been my primary computer since then, I use it frequently.

Never taken the battery out except for when I needed to upgrade the ram and HD.

My battery has 397 cycles and still has 100% life.

My friend has a MacBook he bought at the same time, 149 cycles, left it plugged in way more than me, its down to 45% life.

Just use the computer, don't sweat it.
 
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