Caring for Your Mac’s Battery

Thursday, September 20th, 2007 | Tips

Do you ever worry about the life of the battery on your Mac notebook? Are there ways to prolong battery life and optimize its performance? Yes, there are ways to care for the batter of your Mac to prolong its life and maximize its efficiency.

First thing to do when you purchase a Mac laptop is to calibrate the battery. Usually, instructions for doing this are included in the user’s guide. Calibration helps to ensure that the battery operates at maximum capacity.

There are several things you can do to prolong the charge of the batter while your Mac is in use. First, it helps to turn off services you’re not using. I’m referring to things like Bluetooth and AirPort. Each of these take energy even if they are not in active use. Both can be turned off from the task bar if you have the corresponding icons there. Further, you can dim the screen, lower the volume and close applications that you’re not using.

These are just several tips on caring for the battery of your Mac. Ed Shepard at Barkings! has done a great job of putting together a more extensive piece on battery care for the Mac. Check out his post, “The Love and Care of Lithium-based Batteries,” for more detail and further references to Apple Support articles.

What strategies do you use to prolong the charge of your battery?