Tips for Macbook Battery

For any MacBook user, especially those who travel, a long battery life and top notch battery health are vital. The tips below will help ensure you get the most out of your MacBook’s battery over its lifetime.

1) Turn off AirPort Wireless

If you do not require the Internet and if there are no WiFi networks within range, turning off AirPort will considerably save your computer’s battery life. It is also wiser to use an Ethernet cable over wireless if the option exists.

2) Turn off Bluetooth

Once again, if there is no need for a Bluetooth device, the best thing to do is to turn off the Bluetooth feature of your MacBook.

3) Minimize use of iSight Camera

The iSight camera uses plenty of battery power. Keeps its use down to a minimum if trying to extend battery life.

4) Remember to eject discs from the DVD drive  

The motor in the optical drive required to spin DVDs and CDs can use a lot of power. Thus, eject your discs to maximize battery life. If you insist on watching DVDs, say on a long journey, rip them to your hard drive first instead.

5) Reduce screen brightness

Turn down the brightness of the screen to as low as you can comfortably work, and your battery life will significantly rise. The brighter the screen, the shorter your battery life.

6) Turn down/off the backlit keyboard

Similar to the brightness of the screen, keeping your backlit keyboard (if you have one) at its lowest or off will save plenty of battery juice.

7) Turn down volume or use headphones

Loud volume on your MacBook requires more energy. It is more energy efficient to plug in headphones instead if you fancy listening to loud audio/music.

8) Run fewer applications at once/turn off unneeded applications

By running less applications simultaneously, or installing more RAM, you reduce your risks of having unused parts of your memory being called for tasks, thus saving battery life. 

9) Do NOT disable a CPU core

For all MacBooks with more than one CPU core, disabling a core is NOT wise. Your MacBooks chips were designed to run most efficiently with multiple cores active. Disabling one not only requires more power, but also generates more heat. Some users have reported losing up to 40 minutes of battery life by turning off a core!

10) Calibrate the battery once every 1-3 months

Finally, if your battery is showing signs of shorter run times, you may want to calibrate the battery (once every 1-3 months). To calibrate the battery, follow these instructions:

a) Fully charge your MacBook.

b) Once fully charged, leave it plugged in for at least another 2 hours.

c) Remove the MagSafe power adapter, and use your computer until you get the battery level warning message.

d) Ignore that message and keep running your notebook.

e) Eventually the machine will go to sleep.

f) Do NOT plug it in. Instead, let it sleep for at least 5 hours.

g) After the time has passed, plug it back in, and let it fully charge.

h) Once fully charged, your battery has been properly calibrated.

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