How to get the most out of the MacBook battery and prolong its life
Tips Makradar / / December 19, 2019
Apple is very kind to the quality of ingredients in their products, and this also applies to batteries. Autonomous operating time makbukov much more than other laptops, however, over time it slowly begins to decline. To this point came as late as possible, there are a few simple tips you can follow to keep the battery in good condition throughout the entire service life, up to the purchase of a new MacBook.
We divide all of the recommendations into two categories, the first help to take care of your battery in the short perstektive, that is focused on the extension of battery life on a single charge; the second - a more far-sighted and more concerned with preserving battery life for a long time.
Part 1: Increase runtime
Using power-saving options
Power Save Settings on OS X, in fact, are minimal, but they work, and this is also one of the ways to extend battery life.
Open System Preferences and go to the section saving energy. Using sliders specify the time after which the display will turn off and your Mac will go to sleep. Here you can also specify whether to display the computer from sleep mode to access the network and slower drives, which also affects the energy savings.
In addition, you can use the scheduler to set up the automatic on / off, switching to sleep or restart at a specified time and on given days. This will be helpful not to keep permanently on MacBook, for example if you need to remotely connect to it when you are away from home.
Turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and dimming
Wireless interfaces, refer to the features and technologies that continue to operate in the background, even if you are not using them, so you can easily turn them off if you do not need in this moment. This way you can save some half an hour of autonomous operation time for tasks that do not require network activity. Experienced users know how to disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but for beginners, I remind you that this can be done by pressing the corresponding icon in the menu bar (where they can be switched on again).
In addition to this, it is worth mentioning about the brightness of the display, which also has a significant load on the battery and reduces battery life. If you have disabled the auto-brightness option, I recommend it to include. Oh, and do not forget about manual adjustment function keys. Sometimes, in an emergency, you can reduce the brightness to the lowest comfortable and stretch for 30-40 minutes longer.
Disable unnecessary peripherals
It is obvious that the power of peripheral devices connected to your MacBook puts additional strain on the battery, reducing battery life. All USB-stick, hard drives, floppy drives and other household desirable to disable if you do not need at the moment. If you have installed an internal SuperDrive, also do not forget to remove a drive.
Upgrade to OS X Mavericks
The current version of OS X 10.9 Mavericks, introduced last fall, literally packed full of features that are designed to increase energy efficiency. Enumerate them now does not make sense, as we described in detail all the features of the Mavericks to a large review, but take my word that even the old MacBook Pro after the upgrade get a "second life" in terms of battery work.
If you for some reason have not yet been updated, we strongly recommend that you do it, the more the update free of charge and you can easily download it from the Mac App Store.
Part 2: Extending battery life
Diagnosis and battery monitoring
It is important to monitor the state of the battery of your MacBook, so you need to take care of that first. For this purpose, any suitable profiling tool, such as Battery Info, which will tell about your pack everything: the original and the current capacity, battery health, the number of cycles, and more more. After installing the application icon will be placed in the menu bar, where you can find the most complete information.
Using the Battery Info, in conjunction with the other tips in this article will allow you to identify the various issues that in one way or another, affect the battery life of the MacBook and its life battery.
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Exposure to temperatures
Operating temperatures have a significant impact on battery life. They usually depend on how you use and store your MacBook. Apple clearly indicates the temperature, eg for my MacBook Pro (and even for your too) operating temperatures, which enables operation are in the range of + 10º C to + 35º C. It is emphasized that the best is the temperature, approximate to room maksimalnoe, i.e. + 22º C. Most of these recommendations are respected "automatically" because we are all real people and we too uncomfortable to work at high or low temperatures. However, do not totally ignore this because there are people who love to lie with your MacBook on beds or couches, where they become "hot", surrounded by pillows, and due to the lack of natural circulation air. In such cases it is not superfluous to use a solid surface, a special stand or table.
prevention
It is believed that the modern lithium batteries are maintenance free and therefore does not require special attention to the charge-discharge cycles. Nevertheless, some experts still recommend to adhere to reasonable rules, namely to prevent deep battery discharge and continuous operation of the network. With deep discharge, I think it is clear, it has a detrimental effect on the battery capacity. But periodic disconnection from the network and work on batteries, because a MacBook permanently connected to the network, the battery operates in more severe conditions than under slow charge-discharge within 40-80%.
Thus, preferably at least once a week din MacBook disconnect from the network and run on the battery, discharging it down to 40-60%. A twice a year to carry out a complete discharge cycle to 20% (when poppy himself asked for charging) and charge up to 100%.
long-term storing
Makovody rarely leave their pets more than a few hours, but still there are situations when we have to go somewhere for a long time, leaving the other of aluminum with a bitten apple houses. In this case, as in the operation you need to adhere to simple rules.
Firstly, do not forget about the temperatures. Apple permits their storage device at temperatures between -25º C to + 45º C, however, and it is recommended that the temperature be as close to + 22º C. That is, you should not leave them under the summer sun on a window sill or in unheated rooms in winter.
Secondly, it must be remembered about the battery, because the long-term storage are most affected was she. Before you leave your MacBook for a long time (more than 6 months), discharge it about halfway and keep it in this state, a full charge up to 100% is not recommended. And, of course, do not forget to turn it off completely, in order to avoid deep discharge and possible loss of your data.
We have questions, comments or suggestions? Welcome to the comments - I'm always happy to talk and help. Stay tuned, there is still a lot of interesting things!