I just got my mac about a week ago. I'm currently arguing with my grandmother over whether it's better to leave the MBP plugged into the adapter all the time or let it drain the battery.
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I looked around and I find varying opinions. My laptop is mostly at home. Should I keep it plugged in when its full or should I let it drain? Please explain too.
Also, coconutBattery says I've used five cycles even though none of those were complete cycles. Is it just problems with the software or does it really count as a complete cycle?
I just noticed that my when I got my macbook plugged in, it's not charging. The icon is the one you got when it's plugged in (with the little fork-shaped thing in the middle), but instead of it saying 'charging' like when the battery isn't full, or 'charged', when it is, it just says 'Not Charging'. It's like it can see the magsafe connector inside, but the juice isn't coming through to the battery, even though the computer itself is powered by the charger since when I click on the power symbol I get 'Power source: Power adapter'.
Also, the magsafe connector itself isn't lit. It used to be green for a bit, but a much weaker green than normal, and before that it wasn't even lit--I've tried with three different wall outlets, one of which was outside my house where I usually use it (it was in a starbucks). Also, when I disconnected the magsafe to get a reading for the battery, it was only 1:35, even though the magsafe light was green (albeit a weak green). If it matters, I'm running 10.5.3. The macbook is still fairly new, bought mid-december, all updates current as I got it set to checking daily and install the minute I get the notice.
Of course i'll unplug it 2-3 times a month and run the battery down to condition it, but other than that, is it bad to leave it plugged in 24/7, including when not using it and it's turned off?
View 14 Replies View RelatedIs it better to leave the Macbook plugged in all the time or plug it in only when the battery is low to charge it up again?
View 12 Replies View RelatedI know it's okay to leave it plugged in 24/7 as long as I complete at least one battery cycle a month, but should I unplug it when i turn it off, or does it matter?
View 7 Replies View RelatedI have a late 2009 macbook pro unibody 15" and I hardly use the optical drive, in fact that startup whine is really annoying, would it be harmful if I just removed the drive completly and not leave anything plugged in?
View 3 Replies View RelatedThis probably seems a bit ridiculous, but after having my first power supply melt and short out on me I've been completely paranoid of this happening again. My first power supply was one of the older models from 2006. I then got it replaced by one of the newer smaller models. After about a half a year it started twisting around on the inside of the cable which got me worried. The apple store wouldn't replace it unless it was melted so I called Apple and got a new one.
I've had the newer one for about a year and the cable seems to be wrapping around itself on the inside again. There doesn't appear to be a place where it's melting or breaking. I take care to not wrap it too tightly. Using it as a desktop replacement I'd like to not have to worry about leaving it plugged in when I'm gone. I find it crazy that this is even an issue but after having the first one melt right in front of me I find it hard to trust. Are the newer power supplies any better?
Just want to make sure.
Because one of my adapter for the shaver is dead just by leaving it connected to the power outlet for 2 weeks.
I wonder what you guys do with your MagSafe Power Adapter.
I use my MBP 15" (the new one), as my primary machine in my office. I sit by my best usually 10-12hrs a day working on it.
I am trying to figure out what is best to do, keep the AC plugged in or have it un-plugged and only plug it in when the battery is drained (or less then 50%)? I have tried different experiments, plugged in, not-plugged and time is about the same for life of the battery. The true question is, how is is best to do it for the health of the battery.
Might be a silly question:
I have an 8GB USB pen drive, formatted to Mac OS Extended (Journalled). I use it for backing up text documents (8GB goes a long way).
Is it ok to leave the drive permanently plugged into my iMac? I don't know what the life of these devices is supposed to be, so am I risking damage/failure by leaving it in?
My computer is pretty much awake 24/7.
I had my MBA rev B turned of for 3-4 weeks and when I turned it on today it was at 40% power. Is that normal that it to loose that much battery when turned off, are you seeing the same number? I know when in sleep mode that there is a pretty high loss even over night but turned off I thought it was minimal.
Seems higher than my previous Mac laptops.
Is there a way for me to leave a headphone extender cable plugged into the back of my iMac and have the external speakers play until I plug in headphones?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI'm wondering, what is better for prolonging your macbook pro's battery life, is it
1. drain the battery, recharge it fully, plug out the source, drain it, and recharge it again
or
2. keep charging it whenever you have a power source and never drain it?
I've always been doing #2 because I use the laptop a lot and home and it would just be a hassle to keep switching the power source on and off.
But then I heard that it's bad if you overcharge your battery, so once in awhile I try to do #1. Last night, though, my friend told me it's bad for your battery if you drain it all the time.
So which is, in fact, good or bad for your mbp?
I recall reading that if I keep my MBP plugged to the wall all the time ( I do), I should drain the battery to about 50% every 2-3 days, to keep the battery's juices flowing.
Personally I don't have the patience to do this all the time. Is this step really that important?
What are your thoughts?
My MacBook shuts down when the battery drains all the way down. I'm pretty sure back in the days of PPC lappies, they went to sleep before the battery died. Is it supposed to shut down, or is something goofed?
View 4 Replies View RelatedQuestion in the subject line, nothing more to add here other than i am getting bad battery life and only use FF... so was wondering.
View 24 Replies View RelatedWith mine, when I drain it completely, it just shuts down, i.e. it doesnt go to sleep mode as there is no pulsating light on the front right corner. Once I start charging, however, and I can again switch it on, it resumes where I left off, so the computer has saved the contents of the memory onto the hard disk. On my SR MBP it was different, it would actually go to sleep mode when the batteries were almost completely drained.
View 22 Replies View RelatedAfter about two hours my battery on my 13" mbp is at 35% from 100%.
All i did was some web browsing and about half an hour of video chatting on ichat. My brightness is at halfway.
is this normal drain? the specs say 10 hours, but when i first got it it lived for about 6 hours, which was plenty for me.
i've noticed recently that my battery has been acting funny, i'm thinking it may be because of my heavy audio work with garage band and reason.
the app coconut battery says my battery capacity is at 94% so I'm not sure what the problem is.
I've had this laptop for about 3 months, and i've properly calibrated it twice.
lately I have noticed that even though I close the lid on my macbook pro, the battery continues to drain and it is very hard to wake it. I have to restart it several times to get to to open properbly.
Info:
macbook pro, Mac OS X (10.5.6)
So I just got hold of a few of these new battery chargers from Apple and I'm just wondering if these are meant to stay plugged in the wall, even after the green light goes off. Does the light going off mean that the batteries will no longer draw power from the power outlet and that it is safe to assume power will continue to be consumed? Or is it preferred that I plug and unplug the charger only when needed to avoid any, unnecessary, extra power consumption?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI have a 2010 13" MBP that will shut itself off instead of going to sleep when the battery is drained. I tried recalibrating and resetting the SMC, as well as disabling hibernate, but the same thing happens. The computer is barely a month old. Anybody else with a 13" experiencing this? I posted this issue on the Apple forums and someone replied stating that they heard Apple is looking into it, but usually occurs with i5 and i7 machines.
View 6 Replies View RelatedGetting fustrated with my Macbook Pro 15''. Could never get battery to last more than 5-6 hours. This is the MAX i can achieve, with great pains to enhance battery life.
Argh, what's wrong with my Macbook Pro?
Check out the amperage drain. At this rate the Macbook Pro wouldn't last more than 5 hours. This is with half brightness, only finder and Chrome open, and the battery recently calibrated.
The amperage drain increases to -1400+ when i have more tabs open, and a few other apps.
However there was this ONE RARE OCCASION, where my Macbook Pro would only drain between -700 to -800 amperage. This was in normal usage and the battery easily lasted closer to 8 hours. But somehow, i can never replicate this anymore!
I’m hoping someone can help me troubleshoot some strange behaviour of my Macbook Pro4.1. It’s an early 2008 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo. I’ve had this running perfectly for the past 2 months with an Apple 65W Magsafe Adaptor, although I recently got an 85w version so I’ve started using that for a bit. I recently read somewhere that it’s good to allow the battery run completely flat once a month or so, so I unplugged the adaptor last week and ran it off the battery for the afternoon. When it was almost done (10% charge left) I went for a shower and came back to find the Macbook powered down. I plugged in the Adaptor back in but I couldn’t get it to start. Â
I have to say at this point, that my 85w adaptor sometimes needs a wiggle at the magsafe end to get it to work. Despite this though I couldnât get the green power LED to light or the Macbook to boot up. I then tried my 65W adaptor, which is perfect, and although the LED lights up (first green and then amber) the macbook just doesnt power up with it. I tried the 85w one again the following day after leaving the macbook disconnected and battery removed overnight, and was pleased to find that it finally booted. Amazingly, despite having no power at all for the whole night it came back with all my applications running, safari tabs and the documents open! Anyway, I noticed from the menu bar that the battery was not charging and I couldnt seem to get it to charge. I ran it all day and the system profile showed that the Battery was about half full and had a ˜normal condition with about 187 charge cycles. However I cant run the Macbook off the battery. When the power cuts out from the 85w adaptor the whole macbook shuts down. The battery isn’t doing anything, even after charging all day and being half charged. What’s more neither of my 65w adaptors can start the macbook no matter how many times I try them. Only my 85w one can boot it, but it’s defective so very rarely seems to work. The 65W ones worked perfectly before,so I don’t know what’s changed.Â
I read the Apple guide to resetting the SMC and have now followed the procedure several times, but it hasn’t helped. I cannot boot the Mac any more. Does this Macbook come with an 85w adaptor or 65w? I’m confused because the 65w ones always worked until now. Also, the battery itself is only 60w. I’m going to purchase another 85w Adaptor, in the meantime any advice would be very welcome.
So when I charge my macbook pro retina display too a 100% and then when I come back the next day and turn it on the battery has drained by itself by like 7%. Sometimes they are even drastic changes like 15-20%? I have just bought this macbook and is only a week and a half old? What should I do?
Info:
MacBook Pro with Retina display
I have a sleep problem with my MacBook (9400M White). I recently resolved a problem where it wouldn't go to sleep by itself if left inactive on battery power (regardless of energy settings) by resetting the SMC and PRAM/NVRAM but now something else has popped up. Now, whenever I cycle my battery down to past the low battery warning popup, it just eventually completely dies. Shouldn't it go to sleep first? That's what my old iBook G4 would do. I doubt it's something related to the SMC or PRAM/NVRAM since I just reset those. What else can I do? I'm pretty sure my MacBook should still have enough juice go to sleep.
View 8 Replies View RelatedIs it better, during normal usage, for example at home, where you could either charge your MacBook Pro or let the battery drain until it is used up (5%, ...).
Some people say that letting the battery cycle is the best option, yet other people, including my friend who had lost many many cycles even though he had attempted precautions (Dim screen brightness until one block remained, wireless off, bluetooth off) had said that having your laptop plugged in as muchas possible is the best option, as there would be no cycle change.
When I close the lid on my MacBook Pro (Late 2008), the battery drains almost completely over a night or so! Very odd. Anyone else dealing with this? I reset the PRAM already.
View 24 Replies View RelatedI'm a happy owner of a MBP 2010, 15" i5, 2.4GHz.
Before some days I noticed that Snow Leopard installed its update 10.6.4.
Well no big problem but I have a sense that the time remaining without using AC adapter has slightly fell. Before, using only firefox for example I could see about 6 hours remaining (some minutes after powering on my mac). Now it hardly shows about 4+.
Has any other noticed that?
I Have an October 2008 Macbook Unibody 13.3 and after installing Lion the CPU fan stays permanently on and the battery drains in 2 hours. What can I do to fix this?
Info:
MacBook (13-inch Aluminum Late 2008), Mac OS X (10.7.3)
