What's the correct way to charge a macbook pro?

So I'm like a laptop noob lol. I used desktops all my life and I got a macbook pro today. I have a couple questions.

Do i charge the macbook pro turned off or on?
How do i know when the macbook is fully charged? How long is a full charge going to take? i have the 13 inch one. According to apple, the macbook pro has 1000 charges, so does that mean everytime i put the power cable in, it's going to use 1 charge cycle?
When I'm using it in the school library, should I have the charger plugged in? If i do, is that going to eat up a cycle?

pro macbook charging

asked Feb 24 '11 at 23:10

Gary
1.2k●25●35●51

edited Feb 24 '11 at 23:11

3 Answers:

oldest newest most voted

You correctly charge it by plugging it in. It doesn't matter if it is on or off.

1000 charge cycles means, if you charge it from %0 to %100, that's one cycle. If you charge it from %75 to %100, that's a quarter of a cycle. So basically keeping it plugged in as much as possible will extend the battery life to its full potential, rather than keeping it unplugged. Keep in mind that the battery should be exercised and fully discharged at least once a month. Also keep in mind that your computer is a lot faster when it is plugged in.

Also, after 1000 charges, it's not like the battery is dead, it should still retain %75 or so of it's original charge, meaning that it will still work, but it won't last as long. It's not like the battery just dies after 1000 cycles.

EDIT: I hope you got the new Macbook Pro that came out this morning?

answered Feb 24 '11 at 23:18

Zlpha
4.6k●52●78●128

edited Feb 24 '11 at 23:19

So how will I know when the charging is done? I'm charging it at 30% now and I see an orange light on the charger. Is it suppose to turn green when it's at 100%?

(Feb 24 '11 at 23:20) Gary

Yes it will turn green, or you can see the exact percentage in the top right corner of the screen, but this shouldn't matter, if you are near an outlet, keep it plugged in whether it is charging or not.

(Feb 24 '11 at 23:22) Zlpha

ok thanks. I can usually have it plugged it except when taking notes in class.

(Feb 24 '11 at 23:29) Gary

Ya to be honest I wouldn't worry about it, 1000 charge cycles is almost 3 years if you discharge the entire battery EVERY SINGLE DAY, which you definitely won't be doing. I find it a little hard to believe though, Apple has a way of fudging up their battery tests, although they do have good battery life (My old Macbook Pro, which I sold last for EVER) 1000 cycles is alot... but even so, don't worry about it.

(Feb 24 '11 at 23:32) Zlpha

It will charge faster turned off. However if you are near your charger, don't let that persuade you from not plugging it in while using it! =D

You get better performance when a laptop is plugged in, and it's charging while your using it, which makes it better than turning it off to get a fast charge. Obviously you would want to do this overnight, when your not using it. =D

answered Feb 24 '11 at 23:30

_GTech
1.3k●16●23●43

edited Feb 24 '11 at 23:33

I'm not sure that it makes any difference in how fast it charges whether it's on or off.

(Feb 24 '11 at 23:35) Zlpha

0	This is from Apple worth of reading http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html Hope that help. answered Nov 30 '12 at 11:24 ryscript 1

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