Should I Run off AC or Battery for max battery life?

Question

Should I Run off AC or Battery for max battery life?

I've read so many different theories on extending your battery life, I was wondering what is the most optimal setup to ensure a long battery life:

1) If I'm using my laptop at home on a desk, is it better to keep my laptop plugged into the AC battery charger even at 100%? (i.e. Will the battery know to stop charging and will my laptop just be running off the AC current or will it constantly be overcharging my battery and draining the lifecycle)?

Thanks for any help here.

Product: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i7 MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)

OS: OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.4/2.2 GHz), Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Feb 4, 2015 9:50 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 4, 2015 9:53 AM in response to Michael Klima

Also, I did check apples site but didn't find this answer here: http://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/

This website lead me to believe it's better to run off AC, but it's not written by apple, so not sure if it's accurate: http://www.quora.com/Will-running-my-MacBook-Air-while-plugged-in-improve-its-ba ttery-life

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Answer 2

dominic23

Level 10

84,018 points

Feb 4, 2015 9:58 AM in response to Michael Klima

Keep the computer plugged in whenever possible.

If you keep the computer always plugged in, make sure that at least twice a month

run it on battery until battery charge level drops to about 50-40%.

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Answer 3

my ginger

Level 5

4,928 points

Feb 4, 2015 10:06 AM in response to Michael Klima

Hi Michael Klima. When you run it with the power cord attached it does not over charge the battery, as when you get close to 100% it tapers off the charge rate. When you run it off battery only and the charge depletes and you go back to the power cord and recharge the battery you get what is called a cycle, And in your about this mac/systems /power it will give cycle counts.This is the amount of times you battery recharged. Depending on the battery, you can go thru 300 to 1000 cycle counts before you need to replace the battery.

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Answer 4

Feb 4, 2015 10:22 AM in response to my ginger

Thanks! That's the best lead I've seen cause it actually tells me if my battery is charging or not. I'm at 100% right now and it is plugged in, but it is saying it is "not" charging. So that seems like good news in terms of avoiding using my battery's life by keeping it plugged in. Surprised this isn't written up in that apple article.

Has anyone found any published apple article that tells people to keep plugged in at all times?

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Answer 5

my ginger

Level 5

4,928 points

Feb 4, 2015 11:12 AM in response to Michael Klima

Hi. It's a portable devise, so you do not have to keep it plugged in at all times. Eventually even if you leave it plugged in all the time the battery will deteriorate. You see Macbook require the battery to be up to charge to run effectively. If the battery is dead and you are running off the power cord , if will run slower.

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Answer 6

Apr 27, 2017 5:35 PM in response to my ginger

Did you contradict yourself? "Hi Michael Klima. When you run it with the power cord attached it does not over charge the battery, as when you get close to 100% it tapers off the charge rate."

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