MBP Battery Maintenance Using Cinema Display

Question

When using MBP in clamshell mode I read many report no easy way to discharge the battery monthly to preserve it as recommded.
I find without the power supply connected I use my 2011 MBP & Cinema Display in mirror mode with the MBP cover ajar.  If wanted the MBP screen brightness can be turned down also.
Using the MBP & Cinema Display in mirror mode without the power supply connected will run down the battery in not so many hours.

Answer 1

Pulgee wrote:
 When using MBP in clamshell mode I read many report no easy way to discharge the battery monthly to preserve it as recommded.
NO,   youre NOT supposed to do that!
There is no calibration of current Apple portable Macbooks with built-in batteries.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1490
There is no battery calibration with current Apple portable Macbooks with built-in batteries. Lithium batteries have essentially a 0-‘memory’, and all such calibration involve the estimations fed to the system controller on the SOC (state of charge) of the battery over long periods of time as the battery degrades. The software based battery controller knows the battery's characteristics, or SOC and adjusts itself. This is why there is both no need and purpose to periodically deeply drain your macbook battery, since it doesn’t affect the characteristics of the battery, and further still deep discharges are something you should not do on purpose to any lithium battery.
Portables with built-in batteries
Current Apple portable computer batteries are pre-calibrated and do not require the calibration procedure
MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009) and later
General consideration of your MacBook battery
Contrary to popular myths about notebook batteries, there is protection circuitry in your Macbook and therefore you cannot ‘overcharge’ your notebook when plugged in and already fully charged.
However if you do not plan on using your notebook for several hours, turn it off (plugged in or otherwise), since you do not want your Macbook ‘both always plugged in and in sleep mode’.
A lot of battery experts call the use of Lithium-Ion cells the "80% Rule", meaning use 80% of the full charge or so, then recharge them for longer overall life. The main quantified damage done in the use of Lithium Ion batteries are instances where the internal notebook battery is “often drained very low”, this is bad general use of your notebook battery.
All batteries in any device are a consumable meant to be replaced eventually after much time, even under perfect use conditions.
If the massive amount of data that exists on lithium batteries were to be condensed into a simplex, helpful, and memorable bit of information it would be:
1. While realistically a bit impractical during normal everyday use, a lithium battery's longevity and its chemistry's health is most happy swinging back and forth between 20% and 85% charge roughly.
2. Do not purposefully drain your battery very low (10% and less), and do not keep them charged often or always high (100%).
3. Lithium batteries do not like the following:
A: Deep discharges, as meaning roughly 10% or less. Avoid this in all instances if you can. This is hard on your battery.
B: Rapid discharges as referring to energy intensive gaming on battery on a frequent basis (in which case while gaming, if possible, do same on power rather than battery).
C: Constant inflation, as meaning always or most often on charge, and certainly not both in sleep mode and on charge always or often.
From Apple on batteries:
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1446
"Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time."