Top-up charge my laptop?

[AMSOS]

As is well-known mobile phone Li-Ion batteries have a much better lifespan when top-up charged. I've been going from 50-80% on my iPhone and battery health shows 99% even after 10 months of steady use.

Are Mac and other laptop batteries also as stressed as ones for mobile phones? If so, will it not be a good idea to follow at least a 30-80% top-up charge cycle for my new 2017 Air?

Thanks

 

[DeltaMac]

I realize that I don't really understand what "top-up charge" means.
I suppose you mean that you never charge the battery fully (to full/100% charge), and normally never allow the battery to discharge below that 50% level.
I don't recall seeing 50-80% as a recommendation, but have often seen 30%-80%.
Probably nothing wrong with that, but other than recommendations, there's probably no real-world need for that.
I see anecdotal stories of many users who simply follow the "plan" of using a laptop, plug in when near a power outlet, charge it up fully if you are there that long, then unplug and keep going.
Personally, I use the "10%>100% (or somewhere in between) rule", which works for me.
The only hard and fast rule that I follow is to not allow the battery to go all the way to zero in normal use.

Bottom line - you asked if the 30-80% idea is a good one? Yes, nothing wrong with being consistent in your battery usage between devices.

 

[AMSOS]

Bottom line - you asked if the 30-80% idea is a good one? Yes, nothing wrong with being consistent in your battery usage between devices.

Great. And seeing how you use it I might just go for 20-90%. Much more practical.
The thing is I often let my old MacBook Pro go down to 2-4% and often charged it to 100. The result - despite there being only 400 battery cycles I suddenly noticed a drop in backup as soon as 3 years of ownership were over. It's fine now but I need to carry that heavy charger around all the time.

 

[joeblow7777]

Honestly, I don't think it makes as much of a difference as you probably think.Use and charge your laptop however it's convenient for you. The battery should be good for years, and if it does degrade too much before your ready to replace the laptop all together, just take it in to Apple and get a new battery.

People tend to bend over backwards to squeeze a few extra cycles out of their batteries.

 

[MBAir2010]

Experience using my mac book air since 2010
I alway kept the plug in, mainly due to cats, and the green lite constant
The max was 4 to 5 hours back then, until maverick shot the hour down to 1
I reinstalled mountain lion and the usage shot up to 5 hours
El capitan is 1-2 hours while snow leopard is 5 and 4 with mt lion as of January 2019



,

 

[AMSOS]

Honestly, I don't think it makes as much of a difference as you probably think.Use and charge your laptop however it's convenient for you. The battery should be good for years, and if it does degrade too much before your ready to replace the laptop all together, just take it in to Apple and get a new battery.

People tend to bend over backwards to squeeze a few extra cycles out of their batteries.

Yeah, I see your point too. I guess, I'll just make sure to not let it regularly discharge to <15% and I should be fine.

 

[joeblow7777]

Yeah, I see your point too. I guess, I'll just make sure to not let it regularly discharge to <15% and I should be fine.

Yes, that should be fine.

 

[Tech198]

As is well-known mobile phone Li-Ion batteries have a much better lifespan when top-up charged. I've been going from 50-80% on my iPhone and battery health shows 99% even after 10 months of steady use.

Are Mac and other laptop batteries also as stressed as ones for mobile phones? If so, will it not be a good idea to follow at least a 30-80% top-up charge cycle for my new 2017 Air?

Thanks

'much better' as you think perforce is better when you charge up from say 50%, rather than letting it drain to 10% ?

I doubt that.... But Mac's so slow down when you start hitting 5% left reserved. Performance is still performance.... I doubt the lifespan would increase anymore if you charged from 50%......

In fact, since i got my Macbook Air Early 2017, i never ad to replace it even once, and occasionally i let it go down to even 2%,... I see no damage.