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Sleep or Shut Down ?

P

promac7

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 21, 2014
9
0
I finally received my 2015 13" rMBP, 256GB SSD yesterday. I love it and want it to last. This seems like a silly question but I feel it may be worth asking.

For someone like me an average user, who uses his laptop everyday - what should I do when I am not using my mac? Should I shut it down or simply put it to sleep ? Does it even matter ? I am aware of Apple's recommendations for a healthier battery life - plug in the charger only after more than 60% of the battery has been depleted and shut it down if not being used for more than 2 or 3 days.

If what we do does make a difference I would like to know why (if possible). Thanks in advance.
 
I usually just close the lid of my macbook pro and let it go to sleep. Only time I shut it down is when I won't use it for an extended period of time (2+ days).

For plugging it in, I try to do it more often but i'm guilty of waiting until its 30-40% left until I plug it in.
 
promac7 said:
For someone like me an average user, who uses his laptop everyday - what should I do when I am not using my mac? Should I shut it down or simply put it to sleep ? Does it even matter ?
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter. I just close the lid and let it sleep.

I am aware of Apple's recommendations for a healthier battery life - plug in the charger only after more than 60% of the battery has been depleted and shut it down if not being used for more than 2 or 3 days.
Click to expand...

Where does Apple recommend this? I've never seen it on their support pages.
 
I got the exact same model about a month ago! I usually sleep the computer every night and after I'm done using it. I only shut it down about once a week just as a habit, as a shutdown is good every once in awhile. I charge my computer almost every day, but I usually wait until it hits 60% or lower before I plug it in. Everyone has different ideas or strategies when it comes to battery care.

One thing to note is that you don't want to drain it to 0% for "calibration" or any other reason. This can actually cause harm to the battery. Also, the farther away you stay from 0% in between charges, the better. If you drain it 25% (75% remaining) per day and charge it every night, it's better than waiting 3 days (when the battery is at 25%) to charge it.
 
Thanks for all the feed back - I guess I'm going to put it to sleep for the most part.

T5BRICK said:
Where does Apple recommend this? I've never seen it on their support pages.
Click to expand...

http://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/

I scanned the page again and didn't find the extract that says to let the battery deplete to less than 60%. It wasn't the apple support page where I read that, it was here - http://apple.stackexchange.com/ques...own-a-macbook-instead-of-just-closing-the-lid. Sorry if I mislead.

Thanks again.
 
promac7 said:
Thanks for all the feed back - I guess I'm going to put it to sleep for the most part.



http://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/

I scanned the page again and didn't find the extract that says to let the battery deplete to less than 60%. It wasn't the apple support page where I read that, it was here
Click to expand...

Battery technology has improved over the years, and battery vendors change too over time. So does care and feeding of laptop batteries as the technology advances. So Apple updates their page accordingly. The 60% probably was what you needed a few years ago, but nowadays it's not as big of a deal.

With currnet model MacBook Pros, the only things you shouldn't do is keep the laptop plugged in 24/7/365 (even running off battery once a week or so is fine), or allow the laptop to overheat.
 
promac7 said:
I finally received my 2015 13" rMBP, 256GB SSD yesterday. I love it and want it to last. This seems like a silly question but I feel it may be worth asking.

For someone like me an average user, who uses his laptop everyday - what should I do when I am not using my mac? Should I shut it down or simply put it to sleep ? Does it even matter ? I am aware of Apple's recommendations for a healthier battery life - plug in the charger only after more than 60% of the battery has been depleted and shut it down if not being used for more than 2 or 3 days.

If what we do does make a difference I would like to know why (if possible). Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

As long as you shut it down once in a while it'll be fine.
 
promac7 said:
I finally received my 2015 13" rMBP, 256GB SSD yesterday. I love it and want it to last. This seems like a silly question but I feel it may be worth asking.

For someone like me an average user, who uses his laptop everyday - what should I do when I am not using my mac? Should I shut it down or simply put it to sleep ? Does it even matter ? I am aware of Apple's recommendations for a healthier battery life - plug in the charger only after more than 60% of the battery has been depleted and shut it down if not being used for more than 2 or 3 days.

If what we do does make a difference I would like to know why (if possible). Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter one bit.

Same goes for battery, no matter how much or how little you use it, it'll end up dying in 3-5 years due to plain old age.
 
I used to shut down every night (coming from Windows). With my Retina MacBook Pro I just leave it on 3-6 days at the time. I restart occasionally depending on what programs I've been working on to refresh the RAM. I'm not really regular with it. I'll shut down if the mood strikes me.

As for people talking about the minor power drain. Yes, it uses some energy when sleeping, but nothing compared to leave lamps and fans on turning on all lights in your home. I avoid that so I don't feel too bad about sleeping a laptop.
 
promac7 said:
I finally received my 2015 13" rMBP, 256GB SSD yesterday. I love it and want it to last. This seems like a silly question but I feel it may be worth asking.

For someone like me an average user, who uses his laptop everyday - what should I do when I am not using my mac? Should I shut it down or simply put it to sleep ? Does it even matter ? I am aware of Apple's recommendations for a healthier battery life - plug in the charger only after more than 60% of the battery has been depleted and shut it down if not being used for more than 2 or 3 days.

If what we do does make a difference I would like to know why (if possible). Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I switch it on in the morning, just close the lid and put it to sleep whenever i know i will not be using it for a period of 15-30 mins and switch it off at night before going to bed.
It will last the whole day (for the average user i.e. music, movies, internet surfing, etc..)

As for the battery life, just let it deplete completely once in a while and charge it fully without interruption.

That's it.
 
What I do with my OLD 2012 rMBP? At home I put this old baby to sleep. If I need to take this big baby out for fun I shut it down completely.
 
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