How to get the most out of your MacBook battery and extend its life

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Apple is very sensitive to the quality of components in its products and this also applies to batteries. The battery life of MacBooks is much longer than that of other laptops, however, over time, it slowly begins to decline. To ensure that this moment comes as late as possible, there are some simple tips that you can follow to keep the battery in excellent condition throughout its entire life cycle, right up to buying a new MacBook.

We will divide all recommendations into two categories, the first will help take care of your battery in the short term, that is, they are aimed at extending the battery life from a single charge; the latter are more forward-thinking and are more concerned with preserving battery life over a long period of time.

Part 1: Increase Battery Life

Using power saving options

The power saving settings in OS X are essentially minimal, but they work and this is also one of the ways to increase battery life.

Open system settings and go to the section Energy saving … Using the sliders, we specify the time after which the display will turn off and your Mac will go to sleep. You can also specify here whether to wake up the computer from sleep mode to access the network and slowing down disks, which also affects energy savings.

In addition, you can use the scheduler to set up automatic power on / off, go to sleep or reboot at specified times and days. This will be useful in order not to keep the MacBook always on, for example, if you need to connect to it remotely when you are away from home.

Disable Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and dim

Wireless interfaces are among those functions and technologies that continue to work in the background even if you are not using them, so you can safely turn them off if you do not need them at the moment. Thus, you can save some half an hour or an hour of battery life for tasks that do not require network activity. Experienced users know how to turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but for beginners, I remind you that this can be done by clicking the corresponding icons on the menu bar (you can turn them on again there).

In addition to this, it is worth mentioning the brightness of the display, which also puts a significant strain on the battery and reduces the battery life. If you have disabled the auto brightness option, I recommend enabling it. Well, do not forget about manual adjustment with function keys. Sometimes, in emergency cases, you can reduce the brightness level to the minimum comfortable level and stretch for 30-40 minutes longer.

Disconnecting unnecessary peripherals

Obviously, powering the peripherals connected to your MacBook puts additional stress on the battery, reducing battery life. It is advisable to disconnect all USB-flash drives, hard drives, floppy drives and other households if you do not need them at the moment. If you have an internal SuperDrive installed, also remember to remove the drive from it.

Upgrading to OS X Mavericks

The current version of OS X 10.9 Mavericks, introduced last fall, is literally crammed with features that aim to increase energy efficiency. It makes no sense to list them now, since we described in detail all the functions of Mavericks in a large review, but take my word for it that even old MacBooks after the update get a "second life" in terms of battery life.

If for some reason you have not updated yet, I strongly recommend that you do so, especially since the update is completely free and you can safely download it from the Mac App Store.

Part 2: Extending Battery Life

Battery diagnostics and monitoring

It is very important to monitor the health of your MacBook's battery, so you need to take care of that first. For these purposes, any profile utility is suitable, for example Battery Info, which will tell literally everything about your battery: initial and current capacity, battery health, number of cycles, and much more. After installation, the application icon will be placed in the menu bar, from where you can find out the most complete information.

Using Battery Info, in conjunction with the other tips in this article, will allow you to identify various issues that are affecting your MacBook's battery life and battery life in one way or another.

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 these temperatures, for example, for my MacBook Pro (and for yours too), the operating temperatures in which operation is allowed are in the range from + 10º C to + 35º C. At the same time, it is emphasized that the best temperature is considered to be as close to room, that is, + 22º C. Basically, these recommendations are followed "automatically", since we are all living people and we are also uncomfortable working at high or low temperatures. However, this should not be completely neglected, because there are people who like to lie with their MacBooks on beds or soft sofas, where they get "hot" surrounded by pillows and due to the lack of natural air circulation. In such cases, it will not be superfluous to use a hard surface, a special stand or table.

Prophylaxis

It is believed that modern lithium batteries do not require maintenance, and therefore do not require special attention to charge-discharge cycles. Nevertheless, some experts still recommend sticking to reasonable rules, namely: do not allow deep discharge of the battery and prolonged operation from the mains. With a deep discharge, I think it's understandable, this has a detrimental effect on the capacity of the battery. But periodic disconnection from the network and work from the built-in battery is necessary because the MacBook is constantly connected to the network, the battery works in more severe conditions than with a slow charge-discharge within 40-80%.

Thus, it is advisable to disconnect the MacBook from the network at least once a week and work on the battery, discharging it to 40-60%. And twice a year, it is necessary to carry out a full discharge cycle up to 20% (when the poppy itself asks for charging) and charge up to 100%.

Long-term storage

Poppy growers rarely part with their pets for more than a few hours, but still there are situations when we have to go somewhere for a long time, leaving an aluminum friend with a bitten apple at home. In this case, as with operation, you need to adhere to simple rules.

First, do not forget about the temperature regime. Apple allows storage of its devices at temperatures from –25º C to + 45º C, however, it is also recommended that the temperature be as close to + 22º C. That is, you should not leave them in the summer sun on a windowsill or in an unheated room in winter.

Secondly, you need to remember about the battery, since it is it that suffers most during long-term storage. Before leaving your MacBook for a long time (more than 6 months), discharge it by about half and store it in this state, a full charge up to 100% is not recommended. And, of course, do not forget to completely turn it off in order to avoid deep discharge and possible loss of your data.

Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions? Welcome to comments - I'm always happy to chat and help. Stay tuned, there is still a lot of interesting things to come!