Using MacBook without battery installed

I've made a rather long (and thus unpopular) post about mooing and heat issues in the MacBook. The 1Ghz limit must be a OSX bug, as I documented in that thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2419703&#2419703

It is reality though. Go ahead and try for yourself! 🙂

I am not sure if Apple knows about (or even cares about it) =P

I ordered a MacBook and was wondering if it is ok to
run the laptop off of AC power without having the
battery installed. I plan on having it on my desk
for long periods of time and don't want to use the
battery unless I have to.

You can run it with the battery out. If you do keep in mind that the CPU slows down to 1GHz and you have to be careful not to loose power. The magsafe connector comes loose rather easily so if it does come loose you'll loose any data not saved.

It doesn't hurt the battery to leave it installed while running off of AC. The battery is only charged when necessary. The rest of the time the battery is left idle.

the only advantage to not having the battery in is heat and weight. Otherwise it doesn't affect anything.

If you want to use it for extended periods on a desk just remember to calibrate it once a month or so.

I hope soon they will (or third party will) sell the hollow weight saver like they did for Lombard.

I bought 2 and using it on left and right side of my lombard.

But it depend how heavy is Mac Book battery is, if it is feather light, than there is no point apple will make 'em.

I hope soon they will (or third party will) sell the hollow weight saver like they did for Lombard.

Unfortunately I doubt they will. The reason is those empty replacements were mostly for the expansion slot rather than as a battery replacement. Given there have been no Apple laptop which had an expansion slot for quite some time I think we're just going to be out of luck.

Remembering back I recall that my PowerBook 190 came with one in the box.

If you do that, your processor will only run at 1Ghz until you put the battery back in. It's a "bug" in the MacBooks.

Where is this drop in speed documented?

Also, has apple recognized this?

Weird. I'm showing 1 ghz as well. This only happens when the battery is not present, eh?

Anyways, I'm idling..or typing now using safari and I'm sitting at 59 degrees celsius..should I be worrying? My macbook seems to be flawless otherwise.

Oh, anyone else notice that the casing gets MIGHTY warm without the battery in? Near the magsafe connection and the upper quarter of the computer, it's nice and toasty. But with the battery in, it's cool as a cucumber?

I thought that if you keep a laptop plugged in at all times the battery gets worn ount and thus the life decreases over time.

My old laptop used to get 2 and half hours. Now it gets about 60 minutes. But that was a PC.

I thought that if you keep a laptop plugged in at all times the battery gets worn ount and thus the life decreases over time

It does get worn out but quite the opposite. Due to the lack of exercise they tend to lose "muscle tone" so to speak and then find it difficult to maintain charge.

My old laptop used to get 2 and half hours. Now it gets about 60 minutes. But that was a PC.

Reduced battery capacity is normal for all LiIon battery after they reach about the 2 year old mark. By this time many will lose up to 50% of their priginal capacity. Some have better luck than this if they have maintained their batteries well. Being a PC has nothing to do with it… this time. 😉