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How should I charge my MacBook Pro?

I should be recieving a new Retina MacBook Pro 15" on Friday, I want to know how I should be charging it?


My old Windows laptop, is only a couple of years old and the battery is completely ruined, it was about 4 hours when I bought it, and now it's about half an hour, and I just leave it plugged in all the time now just in case.


Do I need to do a full charge, then drain then fully charge again when I first turn it on?


Is it safe to leave it charging all the time, or to keep topping it up?


Thanks everyone, I don't want to ruin the amazing battery life of my Mac!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 23, 2013 10:42 AM

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Posted on Oct 23, 2013 10:45 AM

Welcome to Apple Support Communities


You don't need to put the MacBook to charge before using it for the first time. It comes with enough power to use it without plugging it to its charger.


Then, you can keep your MacBook plugged in all the time or you can put the MacBook to charge when the battery charge is low and charge it until it's full. Both options are correct, but if you do the first one, make sure you unplug the charger at least once a month to keep your battery life. See > http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

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Oct 23, 2013 10:45 AM in response to 7ewis

Welcome to Apple Support Communities


You don't need to put the MacBook to charge before using it for the first time. It comes with enough power to use it without plugging it to its charger.


Then, you can keep your MacBook plugged in all the time or you can put the MacBook to charge when the battery charge is low and charge it until it's full. Both options are correct, but if you do the first one, make sure you unplug the charger at least once a month to keep your battery life. See > http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

Oct 23, 2013 10:49 AM in response to 7ewis


Keep it plugged in when near a socket so you keep the charging cycles DOWN on your LiPo (lithium polymer) cells / battery.


*Contrary to some myths out there, there is protection circuitry in your macbook and therefore you cannot 'overcharge' it when plugged in and already fully charged




LiPo (lithium polymer, same as in your macbook) batteries do not need conditioning. However...


LiPo batteries do NOT like to be dropped down to 15% or so often,....key word being "often"


A lot of battery experts call the use of LiPo cells the "80% Rule" ....meaning use 80% of the charge or so,.. then recharge them for longer overall life.



Never let your Macbook die from power, you can corrupt files that way, and the batteries do not like it.


**Also new evidence suggests that sudden loss of power can adversely affect data on a SSD (solid state drive).....again, dont let it ever shut down from total power loss



The only quantified abuse seen to LiPo cells is instances when often the cells are repeatedly drained very low.


Contrary to what some might say, LIPo batteries have an "ideal" break in period. First ten cycles or so, don't discharge down past 40% of the battery's capacity.


Same way you dont take a new car out and speed and rev the engine hard first 100 or so miles.




*Also, if youre going to store your macbook away for a few weeks or more,... make sure it has at least a 50% or so charge.


*Cycle count / use/ lifespan is one thing that cant be countered.




Proper treatment is another thing. Just because LiPo batteries dont need conditioning in general,.. does NOT mean they dont have an ideal use / recharge environment. Anything can be abused even if it doesnt need conditioning.




From Apple on batteries:

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1446


but really all you would keep in mind is --"consider 20% is the same as 0% and recharge it"


and best "tip" is if its near a socket, .....plug it in as long as you can (especially at home) since cycle count on the battery are the "miles that wear out the tires (battery)"



Enjoy your awesome new Mac 😁

Oct 23, 2013 11:02 AM in response to 7ewis

doesnt have to be 20%, .....

realistically if youre working hard and need the power, its fine to use it even down to 10% or so,


as stated above just dont make a habit of it.



You can constantly leave it on charge, just unplug it every couple weeks or so and drain it down to 15% ~20%


😊



"draining it fully" as meaning 0-5%,.....NO, never said that. One should never intentionally "drain it COMPLETELY"

Apr 28, 2015 9:48 AM in response to 7ewis

hello mende Am nerw in this forum just registered today I have a hard time wirh my mac book pro maby you can be of some help to me recentally i bought this mac book pro from a brazilian guy it was used no really new ,and in the begining it was woking fine battery and charger then the battery died so my dad had to buy a new battery and also new charger because it was nt working no more neather .


now the problem i have is that i cannot seem to use my mac book pro wthout the adapter each time i unplug it it turns off i seen in the right upper hand site of my mac program yosimite next to the clock that it says replace now its all odd , it doent seem to wana charge neather maby its my mac book pro or the battery ,it just wont work can you help me?


maby its even the software


please write me back marco

Oct 10, 2015 7:28 PM in response to Marc900

If it says replace on battery icon then it means replace the battery. if you just got the battery and you can't use your computer without the charger that means your battery cannot charge anymore and its old. if you just bought the battery you must of bought a used battery. make sure you buy a new genuine (offical, made by apple) battery. because you don't want some fake apple battery in your mac. also batteries in macs usually last at least 3-4 years or about 800-1500 cycles. i've had mine for almost 4 years and it has 920 cycles. I normally use the battery to about 30% before charging at the end of the day but i have lost a bit of battery life, i used to get 7-9 hours now 5-7 hours on normal usage.

How should I charge my MacBook Pro?

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