Will using a MBP with external monitor and laptop closed cause battery problems?

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Level 1

71 points

Will using a MBP with external monitor and laptop closed cause battery problems?

I recently came across a discussion from 2017 regarding using an external monitor and keeping the laptop closed. We did this for 2 years. I just paid $450 for a new battery that was expanding because we kept the laptop plugged in about 95% of the time. The information that was in that thread is erroneous.

If you are going to do this, remember to not keep it plugged in all the time like a HD. It isn't designed for that (and I had searched for answers regarding this as well back in 2019. I've even seen YT videos that erroneously state to "just simply" plug everything in close the lid and your good to go. )

So, after spending the money, putting everything in the cloud (and still regretting that move), and shipping it off to be repaired in order to keep the MBP, as it was only 2.5 years old, here's what I've found online, from Apple techs and support:

. Use the laptop as a laptop. Run the battery down to ~10% or less. You can do this through mirroring the laptop with the monitor. Unplug the power, open the lid, and watch the battery go down. Of course, I had no idea that you should get a special monitor, so ours drains the battery in about 3 ½ hrs with just internet, facebook, emails, no videos or music.

. Then, close the lid, put in the power, and use the laptop with the power. When it gets to 100% go back to battery for while.

. Remember, it's better to recharge the laptop and unplug it at night.

In the morning, leave it unplugged, open the lid, monitor will mirror, start the process again.

Posted on Aug 1, 2022 2:01 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

neuroanatomist

Level 9

50,185 points

Aug 2, 2022 9:02 AM in response to TuckerdogAVL

3. And we are certain - again asking for the third time - that the original battery from 2019 was Li-based, not Nickel and then we also assume (which is what we are doing here right, all just assumptions?) they replaced that battery with the new awesome one in your original post).

Is that even a question? Apple has been using Li-polymer batteries exclusively in their notebooks for ~15 years. Before that, they used Li-ion batteries. PowerBooks from the late 1990s used NiMH batteries.

Despite the question mark in the title, your first post above asked no question. It was merely a bad recommendation full of misinformation.

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Answer 2

Aug 1, 2022 2:29 PM in response to TuckerdogAVL

Thanks for sharing your advice. Unfortunately, it's neither necessary nor a good idea with modern Macs.

About battery health management in Mac notebooks - Apple Support

The best advice is to connect your Mac to power when convenient, and run on battery when you cannot conveniently connect to power. Period. The Mac will handle the rest.

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Answer 3

TuckerdogAVL Author

Level 1

71 points

Aug 1, 2022 5:11 PM in response to TuckerdogAVL

All word salad. It was convenient for us to never use the laptop. It was plugged in 24/7 minus 20 minutes a day max. The battery expanded and was about to explode. And Apple tech, the people who replaced the battery, the Apple authorized guys said do not keep the laptop connected to the power all the time. To run it down, and use it as a laptop and not keep it closed and the power connected more then not, and if you do "its not good for your MacBook as it isn't designed that way. It's designed to be a laptop." So, inherently, what was convenient for us, was not good for the laptop. And, asterisk/footnote, it's not modern, it's ancient. It's 4 years old. According to Apple Fans it should have been thrown out by now. So is it a silicone battery? Asterisk, footnote, depends, perhaps, could be. BTW, at the end of the awesome article is "If you feel that your battery isn't lasting as long as it should, you can learn about getting service for your Mac notebook. It's a brand new battery and the monitor ticks off at about 1% every 3 minutes. And, yes, I had it bench-tested. It's probably the energy from the monitor and the fact I'm using the battery as I was told to. Not an opinion. OH, and to answer your next question: So we had a laptop when we traveled and actually needed one. That's why we have a laptop. Because phones are absurd to work on and swiping is truly annoying when you actually have to do anything. Well, for us old folks who have been using computers since the early 90s anyway.

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Answer 4

Aug 2, 2022 7:02 AM in response to TuckerdogAVL

It's clear you're here with an axe to grind. If you feel you've been lied to, then take it up with Apple.

Contact - How to Contact Us - Apple

Your initial post was bad advice and misinformation that is contrary to Apple's published documentation and to the well understood properties of Li-based battery chemistry. The correct answer to the title of your post, "Will using a MBP with external monitor and laptop closed cause battery problems?," is no, it will not cause problems.

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Answer 5

TuckerdogAVL Author

Level 1

71 points

Aug 2, 2022 8:27 AM in response to neuroanatomist

Excuse me, but you are the one that pointed out I was lied to. And I still don't know what killed the battery. I'm reporting what I was told by Apple employees; you are telling me what you have been told - and published articles- by Apple. I have no axe to grind. I am, however, attempting to get an answer that makes sense. I see, though, that the best way to do that is to "just simply" move on. So, what remains:

What killed the battery if it isn't what the Apple techs told me killed it?
And apparently the answer is, (shrug) who knows?
And we are certain - again asking for the third time - that the original battery from 2019 was Li-based, not Nickel and then we also assume (which is what we are doing here right, all just assumptions?) they replaced that battery with the new awesome one in your original post).

I'm not actually expecting definitive answers at this point to these questions, but wanted to point out those are still hanging there. I'll contact Apple again and see if we can perhaps possibly maybe sort of ascertain what was done last month. In the meantime, we're going to use the laptop as a hard drive for a couple days at a time, then disconnect and use the battery as suggested, so we can maybe possibly perhaps sort of get more than 2 or 3 years use out of it. If I don't throw it out the window trying to figure out how to get everything back out of the cloud.

Thanks for all your patient communication and excellent ability to not talk down to me. Oh, wait ...

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Answer 6

Aug 1, 2022 7:19 PM in response to TuckerdogAVL

TuckerdogAVL wrote:

All word salad.

An apt preview of what followed. Probably should have stopped there.

To run it down, and use it as a laptop and not keep it closed and the power connected more then not, and if you do "its not good for your MacBook as it isn't designed that way. It's designed to be a laptop."

I posted above what Apple's engineers, the people who designed the notebook, suggested about managing battery health. If you don't believe them, I suggest you read the information available at Battery University about prolonging your Li-based battery lifespan.

And, asterisk/footnote, it's not modern, it's ancient. It's 4 years old. According to Apple Fans it should have been thrown out by now.

Lol. I got rid of my 2006 17" MBP in 2020.

Still booted and ran fine, although since I had never replaced the battery it was exhausted and the Mac would only run connected to AC.

That 2006 MBP became my backup machine in early 2011, when I bought a late-2010 model 17" MBP. That 12 year old Mac is used daily by my son (who is a few years younger than the Mac). That Mac was used mostly plugged as my primary machine for 9 years, until I bought a 2019 16" Intel i9 MBP.

It's unfortunate that your battery didn't last very long. But your usage pattern was not what killed it. If you drive on the highway a lot and your car's engine fails, would you advise everyone to never drive on the highway because driving on the highway kills engines? Well, quite likely you would, since that's analogous what you've just done.

Well, for us old folks who have been using computers since the early 90s anyway.

I guess you're somewhat new to computers. In the early 90s I was using my second Apple computer, a Macintosh SE bought in 1987, and I sprung for the massive 20 MB hard drive instead of dual floppies (today, a single image from several of my cameras is bigger than 20 MB). I donated that Mac to the lab in which I did my postdoctoral work, and I know that in 2002 it was still working fine, connected to a spectrophotometer and printing out the results on the Apple ImageWriter II printer that I also left with the lab.

But I digress. Feel free to follow your own poor advice of basically putting a full cycle a day on the battery. When your new battery dies in ~3 years (Li-based batteries are generally good for ~1,000 cycles, less if not maintained properly), you can surely find something else to blame.

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Answer 7

TuckerdogAVL Author

Level 1

71 points

Aug 1, 2022 5:01 PM in response to neuroanatomist

All word salad. It was convenient for us to never use the laptop. It was plugged in 24/7 minus 20 minutes a day. The battery expanded and was about to explode. And Apple tech, the people who replaced the battery, the Apple authorized guys said do not keep the laptop connected to the power all the time. To run it down as if you don't "its not good for modern Macs." And, asterisk/footnote, it's not modern, it's ancient. It's 3 years old.

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Answer 8

Aug 1, 2022 6:50 PM in response to TuckerdogAVL

<< battery that was expanding ... because we kept the laptop plugged in about 95% of the time. >>

That is NOT what killed your battery.

<< Use the laptop as a laptop. Run the battery down to ~10% or less. >>

That is HORRIBLE advice, and does NOT agree with what Apple articles currently recommend for Lithium Polymer batteries.

Great for Nickel-Cadmium batteries, though.

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Answer 9

TuckerdogAVL Author

Level 1

71 points

Aug 2, 2022 6:25 AM in response to TuckerdogAVL

So, why am I being lied to?

We had an older one we did the same thing with and it also became only useable plugged in, and that battery didn’t expand. The “experts,” I assume such as yourself but different, who know all things, said the newer batteries are the issue. I know as a consumer these days, we are all supposed to know everything about everything well before needing assistance as here in America, what we do best is collect fees.

In regards to measuring whose is bigger, I was also doing punch cards and Fortran in 1971. But, alas, i’m not an expert.

What killed the battery then? And them having to replace the entire top? Why are they lying?

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Answer 10

Aug 2, 2022 7:08 AM in response to TuckerdogAVL

Everyone who responded here, and you, have confessed to less that perfect knowledge on the subject of how to take best advantage of batteries.

Apple employees are no different in that regard. When Apple has training time, they spend they train on how to be nice to customers. Apple employees words are advice, not Gospel.

Apple is willing to stand behind their published articles. No one except Vice President and above is authorized to speak on behalf of Apple, Inc.

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Answer 11

Aug 2, 2022 10:00 AM in response to TuckerdogAVL

Suggestions about how to treat your battery you get from anywhere is "advice", and subject to the biases of the individual issuing the advice. Call whomever you like for additional, possibly even more divergent, advice.

The definitive statement Apple will stand behind is in the article cited above.

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Answer 12

TuckerdogAVL Author

Level 1

71 points

Aug 2, 2022 9:10 AM in response to neuroanatomist

Great. So the if/then is which group is wrong? Anyway, as I say, I'll call someone else to get an answer that isn't definitive when I have time. Later.

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