When Should I Charge My New MBP?

I've heard it's good to drain the battery right down every now and then. Beyond that I've just been plugging mine in whenever it's not in use. I've also been wondering if I should be doing that all the time.

Found a couple of short threads on the Apple Discussions forum...

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1103608&tstart=0

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1101210&tstart=0

And, calibrating info too...

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284

I leave mine plugged in all the time, even when in use. when I go out camping or on a job site, I use the battery and it is often down to 25% or less when I am finished with it. I then plug it back in. 16 months after purchase, iStat Pro shows the battery life at 100% with 15 cycles. The battery will last about 4 hours with the screen dimmed to the max and using Excell, Appleworks and iPhoto at the same time as well as downloading pictures from my camera.

bitznbytes said:

Hi, I"ve got one of the new SantaRosa-based 15.4 MBP's and I'm wondering what is the best rule of thumb when charging? Should I wait and charge when the battery has drained or can I plug it in anytime I want to?

Thanks,
B

Click to expand...

The best "rule of thumb", in my opinion, is to charge your laptop when ever you need to.

The battery voodoo from the 1980s regarding NiCd laptop batteries is old technology. Present day batteries use a completely different chemistry and have completely different characteristics than NiCd batteries. The old "drain them to 0 before recharging" is as relelvant as advice to top up your car battery with distilled water every few months.

Present day batteries are made to be worked - so work them. Run on battery power when you need to. Plug in to charge up when you get back to a power outlet.

I'm kind of curious about this too because the new MBP's use a liquid-polymer battery. Every battery technology is different so advice for NiCADs and Li-Ions may not apply.