MacBook Pro battery charging

Piquant_2

I'm hoping you can advise me.

How often should you run down the battery in a MacBook Pro to then fully charge it back up?

I've searched google, but can only find conflicting answers.

Many thanks for your help.

BlueC

Its a lithium-ion battery so it really won't make much difference. You should however ensure that it isn't always plugged in, and there is some maintenance you should do if you rarely use it. Loads of info here:

http://www.apple.com/batteries/

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

C

Piquant_2

BlueC wrote: »

Its a lithium-ion battery so it really won't make much difference. You should however ensure that it isn't always plugged in, and there is some maintenance you should do if you rarely use it. Loads of info here:

http://www.apple.com/batteries/

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

C

Thank you Blue

I appreciate your help. It isn't always plugged in, that's the joy of a laptop, you can move around!

I will read up on your links.

Again, thanks.

Notmyrealname

It is a Lithium Polymer battery. It is far more robust than the crap you find in PC World on Windows laptops. Just use it. No need to flatten it every so often.

My late 2009 Macbook Pro spends most of its time plugged into the charger for days on end. At two and a half years old its done 307 charge cycles and has 89% of its original capacity left and running on battery will still last 5hrs.

And finally, don't bother turning it off when you've finished using it. Just shut the lid and let it sleep. Quite why people turn off laptops if they're going to be using it in the following few days is beyond me. It isn't the 1990's and we have this thing called power management.

Piquant_2

Thank you notmyrealname

I do just close the lid and leave it. I only power down if I'm away for the weekend.

I don't leave it plugged in all the time either. I like a laptop for the mobility it gives you meaning you don't have to sit near a socket all the time. You can follow the sun around the house if you so choose.

I really appreciate the help and advise, thank you again.

knightstyle

I have installed isat pro, from slayer.com/apps/istatpro/
It comes up on the desktop and gives you lots of info on your laptop including battery health.

Notmyrealname

knightstyle wrote: »

I have installed isat pro, from slayer.com/apps/istatpro/
It comes up on the desktop and gives you lots of info on your laptop including battery health.

I can highly recommend this. I have the version that installs in Dashboard.

knightstyle

Yes, sorry, that is where mine is, currently my battery has 690 cycles and 92% healthy on my three year old Macbook.

Piquant_2

isat pro? I shall have a look at that later, sounds interesting. I have something similar (or maybe not, on my iphone). It has to be said that I become quite obsessive once I have these sorts of applications installed! Always checking to see how economically I am using the darn thing.

You guys are great, thank you so much!