Okay to wait a couple of days to calibrate battery?

[karichelle]

Having just purchased a new Macbook to replace my dead iBook, I'm wondering if it's okay to wait a couple of days to calibrate the battery, given that the new process takes so long with the amounts of time you have to let it rest, let it sleep, leave it plugged in, etc. I need to take it with me to use it tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. and I don't think that whole process will be done by then unfortunately. I have it charging right now, and it says it's at 99% but it's been saying that for a while, still with the amber light. It was supposed to have 6 minutes left to full charge an hour ago. So after it goes green I have to let it charge for 2 hours, then unplug it and let it run down completely until it goes to sleep (probably at least 6 hours, right?) then let it sleep for 5 hours, then plug it back in and charge it fully. That's a lot of time and I'm just not sure I have it between now and tomorrow.

Will it harm my battery if I wait a couple of days, say until Thursday or Friday, to calibrate the battery? I'll need to use the battery power between that time, and while I don't want to harm it, I do need to use it also...not sure what to do.

 

[topgunn]

I bet 95% of Mac users NEVER calibrate their batteries so I say you are pretty safe.

 

[Luigi239]

No, it won't hurt it at all. If fact, I've had my Macbook for 6 months and I've never calibrated it...Oops

It's not a bad idea to do it though, so just calibrate when you can.

 

[leekohler]

Waiting a couple days is fine. But I definitely would calibrate it, especially if you'll be using your battery a lot.

 

[landis]

what does calibrating actually do? I thought i read that with apple's batteries they do not need to be calibrated like old ones because of a different technology.

 

[karichelle]

The different technology is actually what changed the calibration process -- the one for my iBook was much easier...fully charge, unplug, use until it sleeps, plug in and fully charge again. This one has a lot of stipulations. I typically do use the battery exclusively when I am at the office or in class because it's a pain in the butt to drag the power supply around, so I will definitely be calibrating it, likely this weekend.

 

[deadpixels]

what does calibrating actually do? I thought i read that with apple's batteries they do not need to be calibrated like old ones because of a different technology.

i believe calibrating is for your battery to know more or less your usage pattern so it can calculate a more accurate "time remaining" for you you have to do it from time to time because the battery will deplete and obsiously need to be calibrated again to give you accurate readings.