Leaving MacBook Battery in on constant AC power

I use my macbook everyday at home as my main computer and I have it plugged into A/C power 100% of the time. Is it alright to leave the batter in, or should I take it out? I have been told that leaving the battery in will cause it to die sooner, but I wanted to see what everyone else has to say about this.
Thanks.

It is OK to leave your battery hooked to the charger most of the time. The only time I unhook mine from the charger is when I calibrate or for a few minutes to use in another room. You should calibrate every two months or so to keep the battery fully functioning. If you use your MacBook infrequently, it’s best to re-calibrate the battery at least once a month.
It is best not to use your battery unless you need to. Some people have hurt their batteries by charging then discharging every time they use the MacBook. This will age a battery very fast and cause you to buy a battery sooner than you should have too. Don't discharge the battery just because you used it. Li-Ion batteries prefer small charges over big ones. Use it and then plug it in as soon as you can. The only time my Battery is ever fully discharged is when I'm doing a calibration.
The following links have good information about the MacBook and the care of it's battery.
Apple: Tips for maximizing your Notebook battery charge
Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro: Reduces processor speed when battery is removed while operating from an A/C adaptor
Apple portable computer's battery does not show a full charge in Mac OS X
Look here and here for some good tips about battery care.
Apple MacBook: How to remove or install the battery
Apple: Determining Battery Cycle Count
Apple: Use and cleaning of MagSafe power connector

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Using my macbook pro whole day with the power adapter , will it affect my battery? Please help

Using my macbook pro whole day with the power adapter , will it affect my battery? Please help

It doesn't affect the battery. You can use your MacBook Pro plugged in all the time without damaging the battery. You only have to be sure that you unplug it and run a battery cycle (drain the battery without letting the Mac turn off and charge it fully) at least once a month to keep the battery life.
If you want more information about your battery > http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

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Can I leave the battery in my macbook even though I always have it plugged

Hi just bought a Macbook over the weekend and am new to mac after a few days I totally enjoy the os and probally will never use windows again but my question is I leave my macbook plugged in all the time should I leave the battery in and is ok to leave the macbook on all day while I am downloading files thank you

Hi, and welcome to the Apple Discussions.
You can leave your battery in if you leave it plugged in all the time, however it may affect the battery life negatively. See this article: http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
And if you do decide to leave it plugged in with the battery in, you should calibrate the battery regularly.
And yes, you can leave it running all day while downloading files.

Macbook Pro only starts up from power with battery installed???

I am a tecchie and am working on a customers Macbook Pro.The laptop starts off the power adapter when the battery is installed.As soon as i remove the battery and try to start up with power adapter- it wont start at all.I have already replaced the logic board as well as the power board with still the same issue.Any ideas?It is a 2.2ghz Macbook pro.Any ideas?

Sorry,i know the answer and am a trainee techie.In my service department,i have been given a 65 watt power adapter for testing.However,these newer Macbook units require an 85Watt power adapter to start up without battery as they need more power to crank up.Cheers.

How fast does a macbook battery usualy drain?

I'm just curious how fast is typical for a macbook battery to drain each time you use it. I got a replacement batter b/c my old one was a dud. This one has drained 10% (100% to 90%) in about 35-40 minutes (constant use). I'm not saying that's abnormal, I'm just curious what normal is.
Gracias!
P.S. Screen is turned on medium light and bluetooth is off (however, wireless is on).

That sounds good. If your battery drains like that you could get 4 or 5 Hours out of it. If you take good care of it you should have no problems. It is OK to leave your battery hooked to the charger most of the time. The only time I unhook mine from the charger is when I calibrate. Have you calibrated your batteryyet? You should calibrate every two months or so to keep the battery fully functioning. If you use your MacBook infrequently, it’s best to re-calibrate the battery at least once a month.
The following links have good information about the MacBook and the care of it's battery.
Tips for maximizing your Notebook battery charge
MacBook reduces processor speed when battery is removed while operating from an A/C adaptor
Apple portable computer's battery does not show a full charge in Mac OS X
Look here and here for some good tips about battery care.
MacBook: How to remove or install the battery
Determining Battery Cycle Count
Use and cleaning of MagSafe power connector

1st generation MacBook, battery and Leopard issues; looking for help please

I have a 1st generation MacBook that started having battery problems immediately after installing Leopard. it was the same issue many others have complained about; battery life shortened and shutting down while on battery power with no warning. I have never had that problem while using Tiger. I experienced this with both 10.5.0 and the stand alone upgrade of 10.5.1 using an erase and install method.
(BTW, as a side note: I'm religious about calibrating my battery every month and use a program called "CoconutBattery" to document the results. Prior to Leopard, the battery measured 97-99% capacity. Three days after Leopard was installed it was time for another check, the result was 74% capacity.)
I had a clone backup of Tiger and immediately restored my MacBook, but the problem followed Tiger. I have Applecare and called support. Both myself and the tech found it rather hard to believe that the battery just suddenly failed coincidentally after the Leopard install. We went through the regular things; SMC reset, firmware checks, diagnostics, repair permissions, etc.
We believe it has to do with the Battery Updater package. I had gone between both versions of 1.2 and 1.3, but the problem remained with both Tiger and Leopard. The tech decided to send me a new battery (it's on the way) and I wish to try installing Leopard again. As long as I have my cloned Tiger image, all I have to lose is my time, but hopefully, not another battery! I would honestly like to get Leopard running on this machine.
But... here's my question. In reading through these discussions in both the Leopard and MacBook forum, there doesn't seem to be any consensus of which BatteryUpdater package to use. The Apple tech honestly told me he didn't know. Also, if the BU package "writes" to the battery (which it states it does), can it be downgraded once v1.3 has been installed? I mean, should I leave the battery out, install Leopard, then manually update BU to v1.2 before installing the battery (if possible)? I do plan on testing the new battery with my Tiger install, just to verify it is working as it was before.
There are a lot of people here claiming to be knowledgeable about Leopard, never had any problems with a variety of machines, etc, etc, so I would appreciate your input. Please don't speculate, but if you're using a version of BU that works with Leopard and your 1st Gen MacBook, I would appreciate you telling me about it. I have tried to document and methodically relate everything I've done so far, but if you need additional information, just let me know.
I noticed Leopard had installed BU v1.3 when I checked it, so it must use that as default, since I noticed Tiger had v1.2.
OR, am I way off base on this? Can anyone think of another reason I may have had this problem? Am I barking up the wrong tree by concentrating on the BatteryUpdater package? Is it possible all these batteries are failing under a Leopard install maybe due to some unknown reason?
Any knowledgeable advice or suggestions are welcome, thanks!

Well, Ding Dang y'all... it appears the battery was the culprit. I received my replacement battery from Apple and followed the same steps and everything seems to be working fine.
It sure was strange that the battery started this problem immediately after Leopard was installed... I don't know what to say about that, unless BatteryUpdater v1.3 started the chain of events.
In case it helps someone else, here's exactly what I did (rebooted through each step):
- Backed up data; unauthorized computer from iTunes
- Erase and install from the Leopard disc, while keeping the old battery in
- Installed Leopard, did software updates except for delta 10.5.1 update
- Applied combo update of 10.5.1 from separately downloaded file
- Found BatteryUpdater Bundle (BU) of v1.3, moved to trash, rebooted
- Ran software updates, BU v1.2 was found and installed
- Then, swapped out battery to new battery
- Tested unit, seems to be okay now, no shutdown issues, battery runtime seems normal
Thanks to all that had advice and suggestions. It was enough to get me to try it again. Now, I have two more machines to upgrade, since these are production machines, I'll probably wait awhile. But, having this is a real treat.
Have a great holiday everyone!

Leave the Battery In or Out

I suppose this applies to all laptops, but since I have my T400 connected to the power supply almost exclusively, should I leave the battery in or out?
In other words, is the battery aging faster because it's in a constant state of charging (In) or would it last longer if I removed it while the computer connected to the power supply?
Thanks.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

leaving the battery in won't hurt it, if you don't use your battery that much keep the battery at around 40 to 60 %. So go into your thinkvantage power manager under battery maintenance. Set the minimal charge level to around say 20% and maximum charge level at 40 to 60%.
Now unplug your AC power, then run the battery to around 60%, then replug back your AC power. This should maximise your battery life.
Also, if you use the 65 watt adapter, the laptop would speed throttle (CPU speed will be capped) if you don't have the battery plugged in.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

Leaving MACBOOK connected to AC when shutdown

Is there any reason either 'to' or 'not to' leave the charger connected when a MACBOOK is fully 'shut down' (i.e., not just 'sleep'ing)?
Thanks.

It doesn't hurt it either way even if it's off instead of sleeping. Here are some tips to help get the best life out of your battery.
It is OK to leave your battery hooked to the charger most of the time. The only time I unhook mine from the charger is when I calibrate or for a few minutes to use in another room. Have you calibrated your battery yet? You should calibrate every two months or so to keep the battery fully functioning. If you use your MacBook infrequently, it’s best to re-calibrate the battery at least once a month.
It is best not to use your battery unless you need to. Some people have hurt their batteries by charging then discharging every time they use the MacBook. This will age a battery very fast and cause you to buy a battery sooner than you should have too. Don't discharge the battery just because you used it. Li-Ion batteries prefer small charges over big ones. Use it and then plug it in as soon as you can. The only time my Battery is ever fully discharged is when I'm doing a calibration.
The following links have good information about the MacBook and the care of it's battery.
Apple: Tips for maximizing your Notebook battery charge
Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro: Reduces processor speed when battery is removed while operating from an A/C adaptor
Apple portable computer's battery does not show a full charge in Mac OS X
Look here and here for some good tips about battery care.
Apple MacBook: How to remove or install the battery
Apple: Determining Battery Cycle Count
Apple: Use and cleaning of MagSafe power connector

Macbook Battery Problem

Hi all, this is my first post, but something weird happened to my macbook that I have to share with you.
Ok, my Macbook Core Duo 2.0GHz (1st generation) have had no problem during its first and half year. Then I left the notebook sitting at home for one month as I was away on business. Came back, the machine won't start, used AC adaptor and showed the battery not charging, "x" and everything. My warranty expired, so I bought a new battery. Once I got that, it worked fine for almost 7 months.
Another business trip left my macbook for 1 month, I came back, the battery is dead again!!! So I went to apple support and bought another new battery. This time I installed it at home, and it doesn't charge what-so-ever. I tried everything from SMU reset, PMU reset, P-RAM reset. NOTHING WORKED.
So I took a friend's macbook battery to try, and it worked! I can charge that battery with my macbook, and my battery won't charge on his macbook. So scientifically I thought its the battery defect. I went to Apple Care and they say they will replace it for me, but think that it should be my macbook's problem. Must be the Logic Board, I explained why I disagree, and that the battery came with only one LED blinking when I got home to charge, the current was already too low to charge.
Anyways, I was able to buy a second-hand battery really cheap but with limited life-span and use it until my replacement battery returns. Everything seem fine and I can charge it up to 100% although it will only last me 50-mins, still not bad, right?
I was reluctant to completely drain this battery now since I am afraid it will drop to zero and won't recharge like the other ones.
I am using Boot Camp, and Vista as well as OS X. Suddenly today, two days after I bought the 2nd hand battery, I was using Vista to show my friend the battery problem is fixed. But suddenly out of nowhere the battery dropped from 95% charged to 0% in seconds. It shuts down automatically, and the battery was flashing one LED indicating it's dying.
I started back in Mac OS X and found the charger able to recharge, but it fixed at 0% for 20 minutes. I thought I am screwed and went out for a smoke. I came back to see the battery charging back to 5% and then slowly to 10%, and 20%, suddenly it went back to 85% in seconds, and then 100%. I try to unplug it and it seemed fine. I left it on without the adapter for 20 minutes, the battery drain normally, to 70% (it's fine considering the battery was 2nd hand) My friend thought I should try to switch back to Vista to see if the same thing will occur. So I did, and before the Vista screen came up, the macbook blacked out. I checked the battery indicator and it's flashing one LED again!!!
So I switched back to Mac side and re-do the charging, this time it took longer to get back to +90%, I thought this is normal, 'cause I did use the battery longer on the Mac side before switching to Vista for the test.
I thought to myself, why Vista drained my battery, and then I remember the first battery that died on me was about the time I switched the PC side to Vista. Prior to that, the PC side was using XP. The second time it died it was in Vista as well. I also remember I wanted to reduce the size of my PC partition, so I trimmed off unnecessary features like hibernation by (Powercfg -h off). It saved 2G in size but it may be causing some problem to the charging circuit for the Mac-hardware??? Don't know for sure.
So I erased my Vista partition, and re-installed XP. Since then I tried both sides without adaptor, usually for 10-minutes or less, and no sudden dropped to 0% occurred since.
Everything else is working fine with my macbook, except the power features. Right now at least I can charge the battery, but I am always worried about when or IF the battery will dropped off and kill itself.
I am waiting for the replacement battery to return from APPLE, and hopefully when it returns, my Macbook will be able to recognize the DEFAULT low-charge of a new battery. I'm still not sure if my macbook is defective, and if it did killed the first battery replacement they gave me a few days ago. If it did kill a decent battery, will it kill this new replacement as well??
I know for a fact that the reason why the machine won't charge the battery is because the current of the battery has become too low for the machine to be able to charge it. If the current becomes lower, the "X" will occur suggesting that the machine doesn't even recognize it's a battery. But what I want to know is what caused the battery to drop to such a low current if I turned off the macbook during storage.
Sorry for the length of this post, but I have to be clear on all the details if I want help, I suppose. Right now my question is (1) Why is this occuring?? (2) Am I right in assuming that by removing Vista with XP, the problem will not repeat?? (3) Is it likely for any new or 2nd hand functioning battery to drop to the state of the other battery any time soon?? (4) Am I doing proper care for my Macbook, and what should I do in the future to avoid the same problem from occuring??

gpotts,
Thanks again, here's my battery profile: (keep in mind this is the 2nd hand battery I am profiling) BTW, something happened when I was doing this message, I left the notebook on for about 20 minutes, it dropped from +90% to 48%, macbook prompted me that the battery is running low. I plugged the adaptor and it went back to +95% within minutes...
Good thing is, I haven't seen the sudden drop to 0% ever since I removed Vista, and also I am able to charge my battery everytime I try now, no more "NOT CHARGING" or "X" indication.
Any clues??? Thanks in advance.
Battery Information:
Model Information:
Serial Number: DP-ASMB013-34cf-** <Edited by Moderator>
Manufacturer: DP
Device name: ASMB013
Pack Lot Code: 0001
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 0102
Hardware Revision: 0300
Cell Revision: 0100
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 1533
Fully charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full charge capacity (mAh): 1597
Health Information:
Cycle count: 349
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 466
Voltage (mV): 12597
System Power Settings:
AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 60
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 60
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On LAN: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 2
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Reduce Brightness: Yes
Hardware Configuration:
UPS Installed: No
AC Charger Information:
Connected: Yes
Charging: Yes

Swollen macbook battery

Checked my macbook battery yesterday and noticed the battery was very swollen. Enough that it made the macbook rock when typing on it.
The model number is A1185
I have been looking for recall/swapout info on these batteries but cannot find anything.
Is there anywhere I can find out if this is something Apple will replace?
Odd thing is the battery work fine. Just a bit scared of it exploding if I leave it plugged in.
Thanks
Paul

Just to clarify... there wasn't actually a recall. They had extended the warranty period for an additional two years. A recall pretty much means you should return your battery... that wasn't really the case.
They are correct in saying that the battery is designed to swell and should not explode. Out of all the reported cases of swelling batteries, I haven't seen any result in a leak or explosion. Of the few leaking or burning battery reports I have seen, they were not attributed to swelling batteries. Now having said that certainly doesn't mean there isn't a problem. That's like having your brakes fail in your car and complaining to the manufacturer about it and them telling you "that's what the air bags are for". Just because it doesn't explode doesn't mean it is working properly. Also, a battery that continues to expand may flex the logic board enough to damage it or cause other functional problems... each of which would be directly related to the faulty battery. Sometimes you really do need to speak with the right person. This particular problem is best dealt with directly at an Apple Store or by calling Apple Customer Relations (which is not the same as the support people you generally talk to). You can reach Apple Customer Relations at:
(800) 767-2775
Give them a call or visit your local Apple Store (if you have one). Let them know how happy you have been with your MacBook except for this one problem which you find worrisome. I would be surprised if they don't get you a new battery.

Is it okay if i leave the battery charges all the time or should i charge in a special way??

is it okay if i leave the battery charges all the time or should i charge in a special way??

About Batteries in Modern Apple Laptops
Apple - Batteries - Notebooks
Extending the Life of Your Laptop Battery
Apple - Batteries
Determining Battery Cycle Count
Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance
MacBook and MacBook Pro- Mac reduces processor speed when battery is removed while operating from an A-C adaptor
Battery University

With what frequency should I discharge and recharge my macbooks battery?

I use my Macbook as a desktop replacement and often am at home and therefore near to a wall socket; but how many times a week should I run the macbook from batteries to keep the battery healthy etc.? And when I do run it from its battery, should I let it discharge all the way till 0%, or plug it back in at 10%? 20%?

Well, yes once per month is sufficient. However, they can be re-calibrated more frequently without damage but with a slight reduction in total useful life (as limited by the lifetime number of charging cycles.) BTW, this is not specific to the Apple batteries but to most all lithium-polymer battery paks.
I might also add that the charging circuitry in the MBs and MBPs shuts off when the battery charge reaches 100 percent and does not start charging until the battery charge drops below 95 percent, so you can leave the battery installed even with the A/C adaptor in use without concern for either overcharging or overcycling.

MacBook Battery.

Hi,
I think there is a problem with my MacBook battery. Every time I plug the charger in the light stays solid green and does not change to orange. When I remove the charger the MacBook dies.
I got told that the battery could be fried thus the reason it's not charging.
Could this be the reason?
Thanks.

Hi,
I cannot remember exactly when I got my MacBook, I think it was around Feb 08 time.
*The battery icon says:*
Battery is not charging.
Power Source: Power Adapter.
*Here is the Power information.*
Model Information:
Serial Number: DP-ASMB016-3728-83c1
Manufacturer: DP
Device name: ASMB016
Pack Lot Code: 0002
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 102a
Hardware Revision: 0500
Cell Revision: 0102
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 0
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 0
Health Information:
Cycle count: 234
Condition: Check battery
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 5215
System Power Settings:
AC Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Automatic Restart On Power Loss: No
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Wake On LAN: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Battery Power:
System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes): 10
Display Sleep Timer (Minutes): 2
Wake On AC Change: No
Wake On Clamshell Open: Yes
Display Sleep Uses Dim: Yes
Reduce Brightness: Yes
Hardware Configuration:
UPS Installed: No
AC Charger Information:
Connected: Yes
Charging: No
Thanks.

Leaving MacBook Battery in on constant AC power

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