Leave it plugged in at 100%

Im used to removing the battery (@ 100%) when my laptop is at home. Now I have the umbp and i was wondering if i should unplug when it reaches 100 or should i just keep it plugged in and now worry?

 

If you are storing the laptop for an extended period of time then yes. If you will be using your mbp on a regular basis then I would advise against it. Keep in mind your battery also acts as a battery backup in case the power goes out. What hurts a battery more often then not is charging cycles and that's what will happen happen every time you remove the battery and put it back. It will begin to charge again.

The battery in your laptop is smart enough to know when it is fully charged and it will stop charging. My advise is to leave plugged in and don't worry.

 

nooo do not leave it plugged in all the time. a couple of hours not bad but 10+ let discharge a little bit. here is a link for info on MacBook Pro battery's. Apple does not recommend leaving it plug in all the time

Apple - Batteries - Notebooks

this app will tell you your battery health and how old your mac is too.
http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/

 

coconut battery... omg my mac is 4 weeks old and ive only had it for a half a week...

any other fun apps

 

istats! iStat Menus, a Mac app by Bjango

they also have a older version where its free but the network bandwidth tab is broken.

 

you should leave it in most of the time... no it doesn't hurt it to leave it plugged in. Many people think the power plug is a "battery charger" and the laptop runs off the battery... that is not true.

When you have it plugged in, the power is directly running your laptop and your battery is NOT being used or charged (if its fully charged). The charging circuit in your laptop knows that your battery is full and does not try to charge it... usually until it drops under 95%.

Apple recommends not running it plugged in all the time for various reasons. Technically the statement is correct, because "all the time" can mean several months (they aren't talking about hours or days). You should run it on battery occasionally for the health of the battery. If a battery is not used, it can shorten its usefulness and life. As Apple recommends, you really should try to go through at least 1 complete cycle per month... meaning at least once a month let it use up the battery and recharge it...

 

^correct.

You will be fine leaving the laptop connected, and if you notice after a while your battery will slowly start to discharge by itself. Also when running certain CPU/GPU heavy tasks, your MBP will actually use both AC and battery power. I'm not 100% sure whether if this is still the case for current generations, but I know the Santa Rosa C2D's was.

 

And therein lies the issue - if you use Bootcamp and heavy gaming you will often find it doing the 'slight recharge' thing, and I have definitely found that it impacts the overall battery life compared to normal usage. But that really depends on usage - my late 2008 uMBP is really a 'desktop' and the battery is lucky to last 30 minutes at this point (which was the case just after warranty as well). My newer one I use in a typical 'mostly on battery' manner and never see those issues.

 

Do you get frequent power failures? Do you travel a lot? I've left my laptop battery at 100% while I'm using it for the past 3 years and have noticed only slight battery degradation. I use my laptop on A/C most of the day, but a couple times a week, I'd run it on battery and drain from 100% to 10%. I get power failures and spikes so I keep the battery in so I don't lose what I'm working on.

 

That is exactly what I have done with all my MacBook Pros.