Macbook Battery

[zooyo]

Hey folks, just snagged a brand new macbook today and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to care for this battery. I just made the switch from PC to Mac, and as anticipated I am certainly all like wtf. Anyways if anyone have tips they would like to share on keeping this battery fresh, please by all means fire away.

 

[zerogear]

Pull it out when you don't need it (when you're just leaving it in AC Power), don't recharge it until you need it.

 

[TheStu]

I had always heard that it was a myth that pulling the battery makes any difference. I know the logic behind it, that you want to prevent the battery from being constantly topped off, but all modern laptop batteries have charging circuits in them (and then the OS has a backup essentially) that prevent the battery from constantly recharging itself. On my MacBook, it only will recharge once the level slips below 95%.

Furthermore, I have heard that on some modern laptops (the MacBooks included) if you remove the battery, the system will actually downclock itself but not upclock. It prevents itself from drawing too much power from the mains, so it uses the battery as a sort of buffer, or power cleaner. So the power goes to the battery, which then decides if it needs it, and passes it along.

You do want to discharge the power completely, and then recharge it, and then drain it again. That will give the OS a clear idea as to the capacity of the battery, allowing you to have a more accurate reading on your remaining time. You can of course use the laptop during this time, it doesn't matter how long it takes to recharge and discharge, just that you do it completely.

Other than that, enjoy your new MacBook.