macbook owners please answer (Y/N question)

I have a brand new macbook less than a month old.

I left my macbook with the AC adapter on all the time but my battery keeps draining very slowly from 100%...99%....98%.... in a matter of days.

Is this normal?

Thanks.

 

yes, its normal.

ideally, if you are not planning on using your battery (ie. always on the AC adapter)

you should store your battery at about 40% charge in a cool or even cold environment (like a fridge)

also, make sure you use the battery from time to time.

 

nice what other tips you have for maintaining battery life? I heard that doing a full charge and full discharge everytime is what works best

 

discharge the battery, let it sit for 5 hours, then charge the battery.

that is how you calibrate it.

just do that every once in a while, if you are interested in knowing your accurate battery health or if you battery health goes to like 60 percent or something.

 

For more in-depth information you can read the Battery Guide by Chris Yano. It's very informative.

 

^^^ very useful info!

thanks

 

I don't know if it is a good idea of running your macbook and MBP with battery removed.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305336

the battery is removed from a MacBook or MacBook Pro, the computer will automatically reduce the processor speed. This prevents the computer from shutting down if it demands more power than the A/C adaptor alone can provide.

Additional information
Important: It is strongly recommended that you do not use your MacBook or MacBook Pro while the battery is removed. Accidently bumping the A/C adaptor could disconnect power and shutdown the computer. Any information that was not saved on your computer would be lost.

 

True, but if you're careful that won't happen.

 

great battery info. I'll keep those tips in mind. thanks.

 

once charged to ~100%, the charger won't begin charging the battery again untill it hits ~94%. this helps to reduce cycle loss from constant charging.

also, all batteries slowly loose charge when sitting.

 

The processor does downclock a little bit when you are off of the battery. Just slight, no biggie. Even for gaming it doesn't affect the frame rate in a significant way.

If you accidentally bump your a/c adapter, you could lose power. True. But you would obviously only do this sitting at a desk. I won't be on a train or anything. If I bump my desktop PC hard enough, I could lose power too...

Plus, if you are gaming or have high temps for some other reason, you will be very likely to shorten your battery life (especially in the long run) whether you are careful or not.