Hey, well I've been looking around the web what is the best way to keep the battery life in a good state. I mean, somo people say that if you keep you mac coneted the battery won't be used, but I'm not really sure if that is true. That is my question, should I keep the mac plugged in or should I used the battery and charge it?
If it helps, I've the last version of the macbook air 13'
Thanks anyway 🙂
MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)
Use the battery, at least a bit, regularly say at least a couple of times a week. That should be enough use to keep it healthy (more won't hurt it though). Otherwise, leave it plugged in.
Lithium cells need to have current flowing regularly to stay healthy for as long as possible. Also, deep cycles will degrade a battery faster than more frequent shallow cycles, so do not worry about partial discharges or partial charges. You cannot overcharge the battery, and the only point of running it right down to system auto shutdown is to calibrate the displayed battery meter, so don't do it often (I know Apple recommends once a month, but I do it once or twice a year at most and I have had my batteries last up to four+ years and still be reasonably useable, albeit showing noticeable loss of capacity over when new).
Other than that, just try to avoid extemes of heat or cold.
Use the battery, at least a bit, regularly say at least a couple of times a week. That should be enough use to keep it healthy (more won't hurt it though). Otherwise, leave it plugged in.
Lithium cells need to have current flowing regularly to stay healthy for as long as possible. Also, deep cycles will degrade a battery faster than more frequent shallow cycles, so do not worry about partial discharges or partial charges. You cannot overcharge the battery, and the only point of running it right down to system auto shutdown is to calibrate the displayed battery meter, so don't do it often (I know Apple recommends once a month, but I do it once or twice a year at most and I have had my batteries last up to four+ years and still be reasonably useable, albeit showing noticeable loss of capacity over when new).
Other than that, just try to avoid extemes of heat or cold.
Leaving the Air plugged in will not harm the battery...the charging circuitry has an over charge protection that shuts down charging when the battery hits 100%. When the battery trickles down to 93-95% it starts charging again and tops up the battery.
Taking the Air off the charger and running the battery down to about 50% monthly or so is good exercise for the battery. Discharge to shutdown and then recharging is not helpful and does nothing good for a Lithium-Ion battery. These batteries do not have a memory like the old NiCads and cannot be calibrated. Only the charge reporting circuitry can be calibrated.
Discharge to 50% and recharge has been shown by independent testing to result in a cycle life 4 to 5 times longer than following regular deep discharge behavior.
Battery
