Is there any reason to not keep keyboard plugged in?

[Howard Brazee]

Is there any reason to not keep a Magic Keyboard or trackpad plugged into an iMac all of the time?

 

[TonyAguila]

Is there any reason to not keep a Magic Keyboard or trackpad plugged into an iMac all of the time?

Hi, Howard. Just like the battery in your smart phone on laptop, it is not a good idea to keep it topped up to 100% all the time. It needs to cycle up and down to keep it healthy. I like to allow the batteries in my peripherals to go down to around 30% or even lower before I recharge them, and it’s also good to let them drain all the way down before recharging. This is a full cycle.

You may be concerned, like me, about having to plug and unplug your items often and wear out the USB and Lightning connectors. To address that, I have a couple of Atolla USB hubs that have on-off switches for the ports so you can keep those cables connected all the time. I have a 7-port model, as well as a 4-port. My Magic Keyboard and Trackpad are always plugged in. Only the Magic Mouse needs to be plugged in to charge. I recommend that you enable the Bluetooth menu item so you can easily check on their charge state. Cheers!

 

[Howard Brazee]

I have it in my menu as I don't like to be surprised, although having both a mouse and a track pad help. I also keep an old USB mouse with an adaptor (neither my wife nor I have Macs with USB-A plugs). I don't like to depend on wireless. That hub looks like a good idea. I have hubs without the on-off switches. It would be nice to find one that was powered and supported both size USB plugs.

 

[TonyAguila]

I have it in my menu as I don't like to be surprised, although having both a mouse and a track pad help. I also keep an old USB mouse with an adaptor (neither my wife nor I have Macs with USB-A plugs). I don't like to depend on wireless. That hub looks like a good idea. I have hubs without the on-off switches. It would be nice to find one that was powered and supported both size USB plugs.

If you don’t have USB-A on your Mac, as long as you have a USB-C port open, you can always get a USB-A to C adapter. It’s fortunate that my Studio has USB-A and USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports. In addition to the keyboard/trackpad/mouse trio, I also have iPads, iPhone, and AirPod Pros to maintain. Oh, and I almost forgot, eight external drives (Thunderbolt 3) and two monitors connected via USB-C.

But to address your main question, the main reason to NOT keep your Magic Keyboard and Trackpad connected is mainly to keep their batteries healthy. Perpetually charging them will degrade the batteries.

 

[Howard Brazee]

I have adaptors, but would like to never buy USB-A devices in the future. I'd go for powered Thunderbolt if it wasn't so expensive.

 

[TonyAguila]

I have adaptors, but would like to never buy USB-A devices in the future. I'd go for powered Thunderbolt if it wasn't so expensive.

Do you mean to say that your lightning cables for the input devices are USB-C to Lightning? If you don’t have a hub, how can you connect all three to your Mac’s USB-C outlets?

 

[Howard Brazee]

I have a few adaptors. One is plugged into my occasionally used DVD player. My Time Machine drive has a couple of USB-A sockets that I can use, but my DVD player won't work plugged into that (not enough power?). I have some old unpowered USB-C hubs. When I have a USB-A memory card plugged in, I periodically get pop-up messages telling me "Disk Not Ejected Properly", but when I check finder, it's connected fine.

I'd like to get rid of USB-A altogether.