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Saving Mac Book Pro 2012 battery

Does keeping my Mac Book Pro mid 2012 plugged in save the battery?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Aug 2, 2020 11:44 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 2, 2020 12:01 PM

Not really. If you never use the battery for power, then the battery will probably start failing after two years. You should run down the battery at least once every two or three months.


About Batteries in Modern Apple Notebooks


  1. Battery University
  2. Apple - Batteries - Notebooks
  3. Apple - Batteries
  4. Extending the Life of Your Laptop Battery
  5. MacBook and MacBook Pro- Mac reduces processor speed when battery is removed while operating from an A-C adaptor
  6. Apple Portables- Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance
  7. Mac notebooks- Determining battery cycle count


5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 3, 2020 11:12 AM in response to Peter33027

Thank you for your answer. I read the articles. Let me explain my situation: I am 78 and use my Mac Book Pro 13 mid 2012 not every day. Until now I plugged in the power only to charge the battery, then disconnected the power and used the laptop on battery power. I have 725 battery charging cycles "on the meter". My question is: with a full battery and the power plugged in will the laptop use the outside power from A/C and thus "save" the battery or will it still use the battery power and drain the battery? I understand that for the health of the battery I still would need to use the battery power often. Thank you for reading my rather long post.

Aug 3, 2020 11:15 AM in response to Kappy

Thank you for your answer. I read the articles. Let me explain my situation: I am 78 and use my Mac Book Pro 13 mid 2012 not every day. Until now I plugged in the power only to charge the battery, then disconnected the power and used the laptop on battery power. I have 725 battery charging cycles "on the meter". My question is: with a full battery and the power plugged in will the laptop use the outside power from A/C and thus "save" the battery or will it still use the battery power and drain the battery? I understand that for the health of the battery I still would need to use the battery power often. Thank you for reading my rather long post.

Aug 3, 2020 11:39 AM in response to Peter33027

If you keep the charger connected, then the computer will not use battery power or discharge unless your computer was doing something that required more power than the charger alone could provide. Then the power need would be supplemented by the battery. This condition would cause the battery to start discharging until the computer's chore is finished.


At 725 charge cycles, your battery is approaching it's expected end of life of 1,000 cycles. Bear in mind that your battery is also about 8 years old. Given. the age of the battery, I would keep a close eye on it. It may not make it to 1,000 hours due to its age.


FWIW: I, too, am 78. Our batteries are running down, too. 😀


Saving Mac Book Pro 2012 battery

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