Should I leave my macbook plugged in when I'm not using it?

Should I leave my macbook charging cable plugged in when I'm not using it?

It won't hurt anything (i.e., it won't overcharge). It isn't a good idea to leave it plugged in 100% of the time. One common recommendation is to use the battery at least one cycle per month without ever deeply discharging it. Ways to do that would be to use it on battery power until it is discharged to 50% twice during a month or to 80% 5 times during a month or some other combination that adds up to roughly 100% usage once per month at a minimum. Another way of stating that is that you should use the battery sometimes.

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Should I unplugged my A Extreme daily when I'm not using the mac?

Should I unplugged my A Extreme and my Mac daily when I'm not using them?

Only if you want to save electricity. Otherwise it is not necessary. If anyone else is using the WiFi from the Extreme, it won't be available if it's turned off. Maybe that is not an issue.

Is it better to leave my macbook plugged it.... when.... read more!

Hi guys,
do you think its better that i just leave my macbook plugged in all the time *if i can* ... or should I just use the battery whenever I feel like it? I know that your supposed to do at least one full drain with your computer at least once a month... but If i'm going from room to room and just feel like not dragging around an adapter, is it bad for the battery? or is it good becasue I'm using the battery more and keeping the parts moving and warmed up rather than just never really using it?
Like right now my battery status is "not charging" even though its not plugged in!
the only reason I like to keep it plugged in a lot is because I record music a lot, and can't really do that on a low battery power (if the macbook shuts off I could lose data)
or is all of this really that big a deal?

torsenstarrow wrote:
Hey lyssa, that does help a bit. What about how my battery drains to under 95 % even when it's plugged in... and then it charges back to 100% in like 20 minutes... is that bad for the battery, because it happens when its plugged in (it slowly drains to below 95%... will that add battery cycles onto my laptop?
That's inevitable and not particularly bad. What would be bad would be that it went down to 99% and tried to top off the charge to 100%. That would mean more attempts to charge up to 100%. It's not that you don't want it to charge up to 100%, but it's going to degrade slightly every time the battery capacity gets to 100%. Near 100% is where it generates a lot more heat and tends to degrade battery capacity the most. Taking it down below a certain capacity also seems to degrade the battery. However - if you want to actually use the battery, these are normal things and the battery is considered a replaceable part.
I won't bore you with the details, but hybrid car batteries are designed to stay between 40-75% of theoretical capacity. By avoiding the extremes of charge and discharge, they can go through hundreds of thousands of these partial charge-discharge cycles while a standard use battery might go through maybe under 1000. The overall amount of energy cycling through a hybrid car battery would be maybe 30-50 times more than a standard use battery. Of course MacBook charging system isn't designed for that kind of use.
Charging a lithium rechargeable battery is an exercise in careful management of heat generation and battery life. Some of the earlier lithium rechargeable charging systems weren't very good and didn't slow down the charge as it approached 100%. You'd get overheating batteries as well as a few that caught on fire (the Sony factory fire in the 90's took out most of the world's Li-ion battery production at the time). Fortunately lithium battery charging technology has improved to the point where fires are extremely rare.

I am getting electric current type shocks whilst using my track pad on my macbook pro. This happens when it is both plugged in to charge and also unplugged. I am left with a constant type pain of prickly pins and needles even when I am not using it.

I have recently bought a Macbook pro and have noticed that I am getting an electric current running up my fingers when using the track pad. This happens when it is charging but most worryingly it happens when it is not plugged in. It leaves me with pins and needles type feeling in my hand and arm even when I am not using it. Also when I sit it on my lap I get the same electrical current in my legs and down to my feet.
Surely this cannot be what I should expect with an apple product?, has anyone else experienced this?.
Yesterday I couldn't bare to use it the current was so strong. I went out for the rest of the day and suffered with pins and prickly needles all day.

Two possible courses of action suggest themselves:
(1) Return your computer immediately to point of purchase and/or authorized service provider.
or
(2) Consult with your doctor about your neurological symptoms.

Leaving the Macbook plugged in w/battery out. Is it safe?

I typically use my macbook on my external hdtv so i keep it plugged up with the battery removed. Is this safe to do or should i always unplug it when i'm not useing it.
it just a hassle to plug it up everytime i want to use it. And i took the battery out because i'm not using it in the traditional method.
Should i be concerned if i leave it plugged up? Will this do any harm?
thanks
~chris

cpage76 wrote:
I typically use my macbook on my external hdtv so i keep it plugged up with the battery removed. Is this safe to do or should i always unplug it when i'm not useing it ... And i took the battery out because i'm not using it in the traditional method.
Safe? Well, it won't harm the computer, but if you have important files on the computer, you're putting them at risk. If the power is lost - if there's a power outage, brownout, or you accidentally pull the power cord out, you're shutting the computer down in a very "harsh" manner - essentially crashing it - so your hard drive would undergo undue stress and wouldn't get the safe shutdown it requires to help safeguard your files.
I highly recommend you keep the battery in. If you're permanently connecting it to the mains - which is fine - the battery isn't going to run down, so you're not wearing it out by having it connected.
Matt

Am I supposed to leave the display plugged in when not in use?

should the display be left plugged in when not in use? is it just like leaving the power cord to the MacBoold Pro plugged in when the computer is off?
thanks

Sure, you can leave the display plugged into the socket, provided you turn OFF the display itself. There must be somewhere some switch or touch button that will turn the display OFF.
Usually, those displays use a lot of power, so it's better to save
I shall add an unrequested piece of advice: if you don't this already, please use some kind of electrical surge protector
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surge_protector> to connect your computer, display, printer, router, etc to the wall socket.

How do you leave your iMac when you're not using it?

Just curious..
Hey All..
I have a 24" iMac 2.8 with a 750GB Hard Drive. I tend to leave it on all the time shutting it down over night probably once a week. I have my settings to turn the display off after 5 minutes and turn off the hard disks "when possible". I just wondered if this was healthy or will it shorten the life expectancy of my pride and joy? I must admit that I do like to leave it on all the time. I leave my Time Capsule on all the time too...should I perhaps shut this down also?
I have the Applecare program which gives me some piece of mind with my iMac.
I'd be delighted and interested to hear how you all 'leave' your iMacs when you're not using them.
Kind regards..
~RICKY

I have my system plugged into a UPS and generally leave it sleeping. There's a window where I have it scheduled to wake up and then sleep again, but it I otherwise sleep it.
I suspect that sleep probably puts the least wear on your machine and is safe if you have a UPS. FWIW, an early 2007 24" iMac draws 3W of power when it's off, and 10W or so when asleep ( the newer models use less than 6W). During the boot process, power consumption will go 200-220W for ~1 minute. Normal usage it consumes about 100W. Idling, the machine will use between 70-100W depending on the screen brightness, and about 45W if the display is off and machine is idle. Playing something like WoW brings the power consumption up over the 200W mark.
The mechanical parts wear proportional to the number of times they are used (physical switches), and the electronic parts wear mostly based on the the result of cycles of temperature changes / surges of voltage. Pressing the power-button to power-on the Mac probably puts the most wear on the unit as a whole. That said, under normal circumstances you are not likely to put enough wear on anything but the hard disk to have it fail.

MacBook Pro 13" i7 2011 Freezing when I'm not using it.

I've got the 2011 MacBook Pro 13" i7 with 256GB SSD. It runs really2x fast and am very pleased with it. However, It has a weird issue... It totally freezes when I'm not using it sometimes. It's happened three times now and every time it freezes it would be when i left it for a while like seconds to 5 mins and when i get back it's already frozen. Note, it didn't freeze from coming from screensaver or sleep. How I left the screen is what I see when I get back. I can't move the cursor, the keys don't respond, when I close the lid it doesn't sleep. I'd have to press and hold the power button to force shut it down and boot up again.
I've already contacted Apple Support the second time it happened. The tech was friendly and we did some reseting of PRAM and stuff. I just put up iStat on my menubar to see if anything weird would show there if it ever freezes again after now the third time it happened!
Please help! This is annoying.
My specs:
Mac OS X 10.6.7
MacBook Pro 13" i7 20011
2.7 GHz, 8GB ram, 256GB SSD.

Thanks,
The sad thing is where I am, I don't think there are Apple replacements here yet. I had my mac bought in the US and brought by relatives all the way to the southern part of the Philippines.
It's just weird. I would understand more if my mac froze under a heavy task which so far it hasn't. I have run TWO Windows 7 instances: one Boot Camp, the other virtual, had a whole lot of applications running and while Even playing Star Craft 2! And it run so smoothly I was so impressed. It just so happens to hang when I leave it there doing nothing! ??

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If you've never replaced the hard drive, it could be slowing down - 3 to 5 years is the typical lifespan for a notebook hard drive.
Do you know how much RAM is in the computer?
If the computer mostly works OK, you may just need to invest in it a little - replacing the hard drive & upgrading the RAM will breathe new life into it, most likely!
You do not need to shut it down each time you're done using it - in fact, I leave my MacBook asleep 90% of the time and reboot it every couple of weeks or when it seems to be getting a bit sluggish. I've been doing that for the last 7 years and she's still chugging along.
~Lyssa

My iPhone5 battery dies when I'm not using it

My iPhone5 battery dies even when I'm not using it its like I put my phone down and it's a 10% then when I look at the battery later when I look at the battery it's like at 1% please help me thank you

Battery life seems short
Click ( www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html) for tips on how to prolong iPhone's battery life.
Try turning iPhone off and then on again.
Connect iPhone to iTunes and restore iPhone.
If the screen shows a low-battery image, the battery is low on power and needs to charge for up to ten minutes before you can use it.
When charging iPhone, make sure to leave it charging until it is fully charged. You'll know the battery is fully charged when the battery icon in the upper-right corner of the screen looks like this .
Note: When charging using a computer, don't connect iPhone to a keyboard. Also, the computer must be turned on and not in sleep or standby mode. If iPhone is connected to a computer that's not turned on or is in sleep or standby mode, the iPhone battery may drain.

Cascaded routers: no internet access when second router not use NAT

Cascaded routers: no internet access when second router not use NAT
Here is my setup:
[pre]
WAN
|
| 74.96.170.x (WAN IP) |
| Router1(Verizon FiOS Router) |
| Model: MI424WR-GEN2 (Rev F) |
| Firmware: 20.21.0.2 |
| Def router: 74.96.170.1 |
| 192.168.1.1 (Local IP) |
|
| 192.168.1.22 (WAN IP) |
| Router2(Linksys) |
| Model: WRT54GL v1.1 |
| Firmware: v4.30.16 |
| Def Router: 192.168.1.1 |
| 192.168.2.1 (Local IP) |
|
| Computer 192.168.2.160 |
| Def Router: 192.168.2.1 |
"q.route" 120L, 4441C written
[m.wang@m-wang-ltm2:/Users/m.wang/m/Network]
$ more q.route
Cascaded routers: no internet access when second router not use NAT
Here is my setup:
[pre]
WAN
|
| 74.96.170.x (WAN IP) |
| Router1(Verizon FiOS Router) |
| Model: MI424WR-GEN2 (Rev F) |
| Firmware: 20.21.0.2 |
| Def router: 74.96.170.1 |
| 192.168.1.1 (Local IP) |
|
| 192.168.1.22 (WAN IP) |
| Router2(Linksys) |
| Model: WRT54GL v1.1 |
| Firmware: v4.30.16 |
| Def Router: 192.168.1.1 |
| 192.168.2.1 (Local IP) |
|
| Computer 192.168.2.160 |
| Def Router: 192.168.2.1 |
| NO iptables, basic setup |
[/pre]
On computer, I have:
[pre]
# route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
default 192.168.2.1 0.0.0.0 UG 2 0 0 enp2s0
loopback localhost 255.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 lo
192.168.2.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 enp2s0
[/pre]
On Router2, I have:
[pre]
Routing Table Entry List
Destination LAN IP | Subnet Mask | Gateway | Hop Count | Interface
192.168.2.0 255.255.255.0 0.0.0.0 1 LAN & Wireless
192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 0.0.0.0 1 WAN (Internet)
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 1 WAN (Internet)
[/pre]
Router2's Operating Mode is Gateway. On Router1, I have:
[pre]
[Router1] Routing Table
Name Destination Gateway Netmask Metric Status
Network (Home/Office) 192.168.2.0 192.168.1.22 255.255.255.0 0 Applied
Network (Home/Office) 192.168.1.0 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0 0 Applied
Routing Protocol: Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP)
Default Gateway: 74.96.170.1
[/pre]
On computer, I can run tcptraceroute to yahoo.com OK:
[pre]
# tcptraceroute yahoo.com
Selected device enp2s0, address 192.168.2.160, port 46596 for outgoing packets
Tracing the path to yahoo.com (206.190.36.45) on TCP port 80 (http), 30 hops max
1 192.168.2.1 0.610 ms 0.729 ms 0.735 ms
2 192.168.1.1 1.843 ms 1.378 ms 1.363 ms
3 l100.washdc-vfttp-107.verizon-gni.net (96.241.146.1) 13.620 ms * *
... /* It reached the destination. */
[/pre]
I want to change Router2's Operating Mode from "Gateway" to "Router" because I
want to turn off NAT on Router2 so that I can access all computers attached to
Router2 by their individual IP instead of using port forwarding at Router2.
The problem is after the mode change from "Gateway" to "Router", and regardless
whether I disable RIP or enable RIP, and on what interfaces it is enabled, computer
192.168.2.160 does not have internet connection.
Observations:
[0] INTRAnet works as I can reach computer 192.168.2.160 from computer behind Router1
192.168.1.x and vice versa.
[1] ping and traceroute *work* on Router2 itself using the built-in dianostic tool.
[2] nslookup on computer 192.168.2.160 always works on new lookup. It uses
192.168.2.1 as the resolver.
[3] tcptraceroute stops after step 2:
[pre]
# tcptraceroute yahoo.com
Selected device enp2s0, address 192.168.2.160, port 45999 for outgoing packets
Tracing the path to yahoo.com (98.139.183.24) on TCP port 80 (http), 30 hops max
1 192.168.2.1 2.553 ms 0.534 ms 0.638 ms
2 192.168.1.1 1.342 ms 0.964 ms 0.867 ms
3 * * *
[/pre]
[4] tcpdump shows that computer 192.168.2.160 tries to reach out and nothing is returned:
[pre]
13:34:03.172828 IP 192.168.2.160.45999 > 98.139.183.24.http: Flags [S], seq 1122548929, win 0, length 0
13:34:06.175786 IP 192.168.2.160.45999 > 98.139.183.24.http: Flags [S], seq 1122548929, win 0, length 0
13:34:09.178804 IP 192.168.2.160.45999 > 98.139.183.24.http: Flags [S], seq 1122548929, win 0, length 0
[/pre]
This is not expected because NAT to internet should still be done by Router1, no? Computer
behind Router1 with IP 192.168.1.x has internet connection.
[5] It looks like I cannot change the Routing Table Entry on Router2. I do not think I need to change anything,
just an observation.
[6] If I use LAN to LAN connection, then both intranet and internet works. [The internet IP of Router2 can be
anything not in the same subnet of the Router1, and DHCP on the local side should be disabled to avoid conflict
with the the DHCP on Router1].

I have a question. Unfortunately in order to ask my question, I have to have a lengthy description of my setup. Basically, I have a second Linksys router in "router" operating mode with NAT disabled connected to the Verizon router, and I have a computer which is in a different subnet (192.168.2.x) behind the Linksys router. This computer can communicate with computers behind Verizon router in subnet (192.168.1.x), but cannot reach internet. This is a simplified version of my question, full details are in the original post.
If I setup the Linksys router in "gateway" operating mode, which means with NAT enabled, then both intranet and internet works, but there is no easy way to setup port forwarding for 10 compueters in 192.168.2.x network to communicate with 10 computers in 192.168.1.x network.
If I setup the Linksys router in a LAN to LAN configuration with Verizon routers, but this way all computers are in the same subnet, I want them to be in different subnet for access control and things like that.
I hope this makes things a little clear.
Thanks.

HT2589 how can i skip the viewing on my account when i has not use my apple id in i tunes stores?

How can i skip the viewing on my account when i has not use my apple id? The main problem is i do not have a credit card... so what should i do?

You can't, you will need to enter a credit card number before you can use that account in the store.
There are instructions on this page for how to create a new account without giving credit card details : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2534

Even when I charge my Mac Pro to the full bar, the battery seems to be drained even when I am not using it. Example, after charging it full, i switched it on the next day and its 79% battery left. Is there something wrong? help please

Even when I charge my Mac Pro to the full bar, the battery seems to be drained even when I am not using it. Example, after charging it full, i switched it on the next day and its 79% battery left. Is there something wrong? help please

Assuming you are disconnecting from line power, when you say switched on, do you mean it was shutdown or in sleep mode? If sleep mode the battery will still drain because sleep still keeps some things active and the battery does drain a little. However, to go from 100% to 79% charge overnight is a bit excessive in sleep mode. Unless you have some processes set to activate over night by the cron file and do things like backup the system.
What are the statistics on the battery, the apple in the upper left corner, About This Mac, More Info, System Report, Hardware, Power...things like battery Condition, Capacity, remaining charge, voltage, current.

Should I leave my macbook plugged in when I'm not using it?

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