Best charging practice for MacBook Air

HintsFromHomie wrote:

My wife uses a MacBook Air bought in 2018. She leaves it plugged in 24/7 and rarely “shuts down” . Some days she leaves display open, other days she’ll close the display which I think is a “soft shut down” but I’m not sure.

WHAT is the recommended procedure for continuous charging like this?

WHAT is the proper “shut down “ sequence?

I’m taking her Air to the Apple Store tomorrow to have its 5 yr old battery replaced because it’s behavior is end of useful cycle: no BATTERY HEALTH warnings or CONDITION status is found in Preferences which suggests a dated OS and a machine which will not accept the latest OS.

FOR the record: I have a pair of 2011 Pros still operating without complaint after several DIY battery replacements.

There is no "best" charging approach. You can plug in the computer when needed or whenever convenient to do so. Leaving the computer plugged in will not damage the computer or the battery. The MacOS manages the power/charging system very well. There is no need to micro manage the system. There is no maintenance or battery replacement schedule.

Stop worrying about the battery and let your wife continue leaving the computer plugged in if she wants to do that.

About battery health management in Mac laptops - Apple Support

FWIW, I shut down my computer after each use if I will be away from it for an hour or more. This has nothing to do with the battery but rather data security and cache clearing.

Charging when it needs charging. For whatever reason, if the current battery power level is not sufficient for the battery operation you have planned ... charge it.