Is it OK if I unplugged the MacBook battery?

[fekimoki]

Hi, yesterday i bought MacBook, this is my 1st laptop & 1st Mac, so I'm really newbie.
My question is, after I do the Calibrating thing, is it OK if I unplug the battery forever?, because I'm using MacBook on my home and it will always be charged anyway.

thanks in advance.

 

[WildCowboy]

Hmm...it really isn't a good idea to store the battery for long periods of time without "exercising" it.

If you're just using it plugged in, there's really no harm in leaving the battery in. It will save you in case of a power failure or if you do something like accidentally turning off a power strip.

While technically possible, I don't really see a good reason to completely remove the battery forever. But if you can give me a reason, I'd be perfectly willing to be convinced.

 

[fekimoki]

Thanks for the great info. Some of my friends are unplugging laptop's battery, so I don't know why they do that, but a friend ever experiencing short life battery back in year 1999, so now his laptop is 'batteryless' when at home.

OK, guess I will always plug the battery to the MacBook.

 

[PatrickF]

Leaving the battery connected while the laptop is running off mains power does no harm. There's a protection circuit on the battery to prevent it from "overcharging".

Also with Li-ion/polymer batteries you should calibrate the battery once a month just to keep the "juices" flowing. Li-ion/polymer batteries will loose power over time and not calibrating the battery or simply storing and not using it will cause the battery to deteriorate faster so it's not really advisable. If you do intent to leave your battery unplugged then make sure that the battery is only half charged.

Just leave the battery plugged in. It gives you the freedom to unplug your mains if you ever need to and obviously to move your laptop around a bit when you do feel like it.

 

[Malcster]

Not sure if this applies to the MacBook as well but the MacBook Pro has a bug in the new SMC stuff, if you take the battery out your restricted to 1 Ghz (or the minimum step down of the CPU). Will never ramp up whatever you do so leave the battery in for the moment

http://www.increw.com/the_news/latest_news/dont_run_your_macbook_without_batteries.html

 

[PatrickF]

Wow I didn't realise this. I've just tested this and according to CoreDuoTemp my processor immediately went down to 1000MHz and wouldn't budge after I pulled the battery out (still running on mains obviously).

 

[cyberdogl2]

keeping the battery in is nice because if there's a power failure at your house, it'll put a smile on your face when people go "the powers out, everythings gone" while you continue to work on your paper or save your work then shut down. I believe tho, that keeping the battery in exposes it to the laptops heat, which is a critical factor in degrading battery life. If you were really keen on keeping the battery fresh, just store it somewhere. It'll be the same as an unbought laptop battery sitting on the shelf.

store it someplace cool.

 

[sunrobby]

i was keeping my MBP's battery in when the MBP still plugged in the power adapter. I've calibrated my battery 2 weeks ago. Now, eventhough the battery is 100% charged, the light in magsafe still orange, not turning into green anymore. If i unplugged the magsafe and plug it in again, it turns green for a second then turn into orange again. If i look at the battery meter, it's blinking, it's charging. This happen suddenly, no power loss or whatsoever so the battery shouldnt be charged.. I dont know if this is caused by keeping the battery in while still using power adapter or not..

 

[ecks618]

i was keeping my MBP's battery in when the MBP still plugged in the power adapter. I've calibrated my battery 2 weeks ago. Now, eventhough the battery is 100% charged, the light in magsafe still orange, not turning into green anymore. If i unplugged the magsafe and plug it in again, it turns green for a second then turn into orange again. If i look at the battery meter, it's blinking, it's charging. This happen suddenly, no power loss or whatsoever so the battery shouldnt be charged.. I dont know if this is caused by keeping the battery in while still using power adapter or not..

Thats a little bug, it should go away if u plug it out then back in. Thats like the same thing if you put ur laptop to charge when its 95%-99% there is a possibility that it will stay at that percentage and say that its charged(For the MBP and the Macbook)

 

[sunrobby]

Thats a little bug, it should go away if u plug it out then back in. Thats like the same thing if you put ur laptop to charge when its 95%-99% there is a possibility that it will stay at that percentage and say that its charged(For the MBP and the Macbook)

I've tried plug it out and plug back in, the light went green for a second then back t orange. I want to try use the battery till 50% and charge it again, and see what happen..