Macbook pro battery life?

[Nivek]

Hello all,
I recently bought a new macbook pro laptop. I'll be using it mostly in office at work.
Although the battery while not pluggged lasts all day I understand you only get so many charge/discharges out of any battery.
Since I have the ability to plug in charger and connect to laptop while in office it may me wonder:
Am I better off leaving the computer plugged in in order to reduce the the the number of charge/discharge cycles?
Will doing so extend the life of the battery/computer?
Thanks!

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

It is actually better to charge it fully, and run it down as far as you can. It is healthier for the battery to charge/discharge regularly than it is to keep it plugged in. The modern Apple batteries are rated for at least 1000 charging cycles, so it should last you years.

Apple - Batteries

Hope that helps,

C

 

[Nivek]

Hello and welcome.

It is actually better to charge it fully, and run it down as far as you can. It is healthier for the battery to charge/discharge regularly than it is to keep it plugged in. The modern Apple batteries are rated for at least 1000 charging cycles, so it should last you years.

Apple - Batteries

Hope that helps,

C

Thanks! Will do.

 

[Allen Davis]

Hello and welcome.

It is actually better to charge it fully, and run it down as far as you can. It is healthier for the battery to charge/discharge regularly than it is to keep it plugged in. The modern Apple batteries are rated for at least 1000 charging cycles, so it should last you years.

Apple - Batteries

Hope that helps,

C

Wow. I got completely different advice when I installed a new battery in my 2012 MBP. I was advised to charge it to 100% and run it until the machine powered itself off — twice.

I was told that afterward, it wouldn't hurt the battery to simply keep the machine plugged in and only use the battery occasionally. I do use it on battery power quite a bit, and it rarely gets discharged below 55-60% or so.

I have MachineProfile, a free "Mac spec" application from Micromat, and it reports that my battery is only on "Cycle 11 of 1000" and that my battery still has 98% of its charge capacity remaining (don't have the machine up and running at the moment so I can't give you the maH numbers).

I installed this battery about 21 months ago in February, 2017 from Other World Computing.

I'm not at all disparaging your knowledge or experience, but this runs contrary to what one of their tech guys told me, and they've never given me the bum steer before.

 

[Nivek]

Yep little confusing, I too was told by a techie in the office that it's best to fully charge battery and go through a couple of full discharge cycles to "condition" the battery so that it can charge and discharge fully. Think I'll do a combination of both. Plug in for all day stints at the office a few days a week (would be 1 full discharge cycle if battery only) and not worry about going battery only other times and let it go to to almost full discharge which would probably take days with intermittent use.
Anyone got a tie breaker opinion on the subject?
Thanks a million !

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

Yes, the batteries in the older Macs were quite a bit different than the current models. The "replaceable" battery units had different setup and maintenance directives, and even the Apple OEM batteries were slightly different than third-party replacement units made by NewerTech (now OWC) and others. If you go way back, pre Lithium-ion and Lithium-polymer, batteries that weren't discharged regularly or fully could develop a "memory", and lose maximum capacity and duration very quickly.

The newest Apple batteries aren't user-serviceable, and are of a totally different design. Of course, what those techs told you can't hurt anything, but I am pretty sure you wouldn't reap any benefit either for current MacBook models.

Hope that helps,

C

 

[Allen Davis]

Hello,

Yes, the batteries in the older Macs were quite a bit different than the current models. The "replaceable" battery units had different setup and maintenance directives, and even the Apple OEM batteries were slightly different than third-party replacement units made by NewerTech (now OWC) and others. If you go way back, pre Lithium-ion and Lithium-polymer, batteries that weren't discharged regularly or fully could develop a "memory", and lose maximum capacity and duration very quickly.

The newest Apple batteries aren't user-serviceable, and are of a totally different design. Of course, what those techs told you can't hurt anything, but I am pretty sure you wouldn't reap any benefit either for current MacBook models.

Hope that helps,

C

Now that this battery issue is being batted about, it brings up my new iPhone XR. I bought an Anker Qi-certified wireless charger stand not long after getting the phone, and I've been in the habit of keeping it on the stand all the time while I'm at my desk, meaning this battery stays at 100% most of the time, and when I'm away from my desk, it's never long enough to discharge the battery very much. The only exception is when I visit my parents' house. My Dad has discovered the delights of YouTube (never mind the fact he'd pull a loaded revolver on anyone who dared attempt to hook up a "real computer" in his house!). The man can think of an endless stream of ancient, obscure bluegrass music songs and artists, and it can keep him occupied for hours. While I'm there, I had been using a Bose bluetooth "coffee can" speaker for better sound. Even then, my iPhone's battery never drops below 70% (those batteries in the newest iPhones are phenomenal).

What will really drag the battery down in a hurry is hooking up an HDMI-Lightning adapter to play those YouTube videos on their big flat screen TV. Of course the adapter has a power port in it, too, but I never seem to remember to bring a Lightning cable along with me!

I digress. I'm going to worry now if I'm not doing my iPhone's battery any favors by keeping it topped off all the time. I'm subscribed to the iDrop newsfeed, and they seem to imply on a regular basis that it's actually a good thing.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on this issue.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

Due to the amount of use iPhones get, their batteries are in a constant state of discharge/charge. Personally, I try to keep my iPhone 6s/iPad Air 2 batteries at 50% or more, and don't really worry about the battery duty cycle/lifespan of those devices. Because they are used on the go much more than any of my portable Macs, it is more important to me to not run out of charge. I dislike having to drag around a charger with me for iOS devices. When on the road with a MBA/MBP, I carry it in a bag, so bringing the AC adapter along isn't a worry. One nice thing about iOS 12, is that it will give you a good indication of battery health in Settings > Battery > Battery Health. Macs don't have as much information about their battery.

C

 

[Allen Davis]

Hello,

Due to the amount of use iPhones get, their batteries are in a constant state of discharge/charge. Personally, I try to keep my iPhone 6s/iPad Air 2 batteries at 50% or more, and don't really worry about the battery duty cycle/lifespan of those devices. Because they are used on the go much more than any of my portable Macs, it is more important to me to not run out of charge. I dislike having to drag around a charger with me for iOS devices. When on the road with a MBA/MBP, I carry it in a bag, so bringing the AC adapter along isn't a worry. One nice thing about iOS 12, is that it will give you a good indication of battery health in Settings > Battery > Battery Health. Macs don't have as much information about their battery.

C

I suppose I've simply elevated "anality" (did I just invent a new word?) to a new level fretting over my iPhone battery. I carried a 128GB iPhone 6 for a long time, and even after replacing its battery during the Apple BatteryGate thing and the $29 replacement, I fretted too much about it. I've long been in the habit of carrying a Lightning cable and charger with me, even though I only ever needed it once, when my father was hospitalized and the family was keeping vigil there with him. My little sister's iPhone was constantly running down, so that's what ingrained that habit with me.

Since then, I've acquired a few of those little portable batteries, mostly to give away as gifts (especially to my sister and Mom, to whom I have my iPhone 6 when I bought my XR). Those little puppies are dynamite, and surprisingly affordable. A few months ago, I bought a nice set of Rowkin earbuds, and its carrying case has the ability to charge phones. I only used it on my XR once as an experiment when I deliberately allowed my battery to deplete to about 25%, and the Rowkin's battery brought me back up to 60% really fast. (What I don't understand is why the Rowkin battery will charge my son's and daughter-in-law's Samsung S10s so much faster than it will my iPhone.)

I really shouldn't obsess so much over my phone's battery I suppose. But even with my discount as a shareholder, I'm still known far and wide as being really tight-fisted with my money, so much so I've been told I can make nickels squeal and turn purple. I've never minded forking over a lot of dough for my desktops or laptops, but I hate spending money on something so vulnerable to damage, loss or even theft as a phone. On top of that, the XR does retain its charge much, much longer than my iPhone 6 ever did.