Using MacBooks as a desktop

[icaruslol]

Hi;

I have recently purchased and iPad 2 so I was thinking about using my MacBook as a desktop computer using Henge Dock and hooking it up to a 24 inch monitor. my concern is that if I do that since the computer will be plugged to the power the whole time, will that effect the battery life? I am still thinking about taking out the computer occasionally when i need it and I want to preserve the battery life as much as possible. what do I do.

 

[Hellhammer]

AppleCare support recommends that if you leave your Mac plugged in most of the time, unplug it every 2 or 3 days and run on battery down to somewhere around 50%, then plug it back in. That keeps the electrons moving.

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/9875442/

 

[el-John-o]

It is a lithium polymer battery, which is much less susceptible than inferior Li-ion technologies, BUT it should still be unplugged as the previous post said, and allowed to discharge every couple of days. While it might shorten the battery life compared to someone who only uses it "on the road" and charges it in the evenings like they do a cellphone or something, the difference with the current battery technology I think is marginal at best. I wouldn't worry about it.

I have a laptop with a Li-ion battery (the kind that IS more affected than the MacBook lipo), and I trashed it, left it plugged in for weeks at a time, turned on the whole time sometimes, actually it was almost always plugged in (only had like an hour and a half battery life out of the box so I plugged it in every where I went.) It took two years for the battery life to start to seriously deplete to under an hour. If I had taken care of it, it would still probably be an hour and a half even now. Nothing to worry about.

-John

 

[Lara F]

I've used my 2007 Macbook as a desktop basically since getting it, with just occasional removals from my desk. I'm getting about 90 minutes unplugged at this point in time (with one replacement). IIRC it lasted a good 2 years without depreciation.

Perhaps I could have extended it by unplugging more, but I figure for a 4 year old laptop it could be worse.