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Battery preservation and ‘Desktop Mode’

By | September 17, 2009, 10:09am PDT

Summary: In The correct way to use your MacBook’s battery I wrote that Apple techs recommend that you regularly charge and run down the battery in its notebooks for maximum battery performance and lifespan. In other words – don’t leave your MacBook plugged in all the time. In Apple’s eyes having more charge cycles is better than [...]

sony-ibook-battery-1.jpgIn The correct way to use your MacBook’s battery I wrote that Apple techs recommend that you regularly charge and run down the battery in its notebooks for maximum battery performance and lifespan.

In other words – don’t leave your MacBook plugged in all the time. In Apple’s eyes having more charge cycles is better than having less, in fact, it can even deny a battery warranty claim if your battery has less than 75 charge cycles.

That post resonated with several readers that emailed me to complain that Apple should handle the whole battery charge/discharge process in software, rather than relying on users to remember to do it.

Bruce Kieffer wrote:

I’m listening to PowerPage Podcast Episode 114 and the discussion on batteries. I must say it’s a disappointment that the Mac OS isn’t smart enough to deal with all power situations. Why should I have to mess with cycling my battery? Why can’t the OS know my power habits and take care of conditioning the battery accordingly? I have a PowerBook G4 and I keep it plugged in 24/7. I think in that case the OS should be smart enough to cycle my battery for me.

While I agree with Bruce, the devil as they say, is in the details. After all, how would Apple implement such a technique that keeps the battery optimized while ensuring that you’re not left without charge at the worst possible moment in time.

Apple would have to run the battery down (via software) despite the fact that you have it plugged in.
That would invite a whole host of problems with users that need to spontaneously grab their machine only to discover that the battery is completely dead.

My suggestion is that Apple implement a “Desktop Mode” in Mac OS X that would prompt you, saying “I noticed that you haven’t unplugged your AC power connection in 30 days. Would you like me to go into Desktop Mode? More info… Yes/No”

It could explain that Desktop Mode power cycles the battery “in order to maximize its useful life” or something like that and warn users to make sure to disable Desktop Mode (in Energy Saver > Advanced?) at least 8 hours before running off battery.

Bruce responds:

The best solution would be batteries that don’t need to be cycled. Until then, I like your “Desktop Mode” idea, but it too has its problems. Most often I know in advance when I need my computer on the road. But if I have to take it out on a last minute notice, I could be in trouble if the battery was near the end of a discharge cycle. Maybe the Apple folks could set it up to discharge during down times. Say schedule it for midnight to 6 am. As it is now, I will continue with it plugged in all the time since anything else is too much work relative to any benefit I might get in extending the battery life.

What’s your solution? Do you regularly run down your MacBook battery or are you a “leave it plugged in all the time” type of person?

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Desktop, Battery, Engineering, Jason D. O'Grady

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
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  • Tekserve

    • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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RE: Battery preservation and 'Desktop Mode'
nfiertel 6th Oct 2009
Since many as I have the laptop
plugged in, I just charged the battery
and then took the battery out of the
laptop and if and when I need to use it
in batter mode, I put the battery back
and and off I go. The heat of the
processor is not great for the battery
and this way I have essentially a brand
new battery waiting for its usage.
View in thread
0 Votes
+ -
Second battery.
recurvebowyer 17th Sep 2009
Apple could make a separate 'battery conditioner/charger' device. This conditioner would then cycle the battery and bring it back to specs., while your laptop has the fresh one for use.
0 Votes
+ -
Second Internal Battery
aaronwyatt 18th Sep 2009
What about a second battery option in place of the optical drive. If I
primarily use my laptop on my desk (which i do), i can share another
computer's optical drive if I really need it.

A second internal battery could be set to one of two modes: Desktop
mode or travel mode.

In desktop mode the batteries could be alternately conditioned based
on some optimal schedule, but you would never be left with no juice.
In travel mode they would be set to hold their charges.

Problem solved. Where's my 10% cut?
0 Votes
+ -
Second battery and swappable media bay...
nix_hed 20th Sep 2009
...went away with the Pismo, which was probably the best design apple
had (not from an aesthetic standpoint, but from a functionality
standpoint).

With optical drives being something that isn't as needed built into the
laptop anymore, why not bring this concept back for hot-swappable
storage and/or batteries? And remember kids, SATA is a hot-swappable
technology, so it's no longer a hardware limitation.
0 Votes
+ -
How about this...
pmcgrath@... 17th Sep 2009
Fully charge the battery. In software, disconnect the battery from the computer. This would require hardware modification to the computer or the battery, so it is not a pure software fix.

A user settable timer, periodically checks the condition of the battery. When the battery drops to user selectable level, recharge the battery.

So I tell the computer to check my battery every 24 hrs at midnight. If the battery level is below 75%, recharge it.

The worst case scenario here is that I get an unexpected call and have to leave at 11:30pm and the laptop is only at 75% charge.

Since Li-ion batteries don?t suffer for battery memory and drain slowly this would be a decent solution. Heck you could even schedule a full discharge and recharge overnight every 2 months if you wanted to.
0 Votes
+ -
Well...
zkiwi 17th Sep 2009
You could (as per lots of other software) set up a scheduler for it.

As long as you're not hooked by the last minute grab the laptop and run thing, that'd work, and be totally customizable to your "laptop lifestyle."
0 Votes
+ -
Well, a better solution would be
isulzer 17th Sep 2009
to have the software discharge one cell at a time using it to charge
another. I don't think this is actually possible without some sort of loop.
So hardware changes would be necessary. But having your battery auto
condition itself would be nice.

This feature would have to turn off though, if it was in a situation that
would allow the battery to overheat. For example: a poorly ventilated
area.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Battery preservation and 'Desktop Mode'
rupi42 17th Sep 2009
why is it too much to expect people to take care of their own
equipment. does Ford automatically change the oil in your
car? does Carrier automatically change your furnace air
filter? Do your fingernails clip themselves? wake up Bruce
and start taking some personal responsibility. Is it really that
hard to unplug your computer ONCE PER MONTH as Apple
recommends?
0 Votes
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RE: Battery preservation and 'Desktop Mode'
tomshere 18th Sep 2009
I have an iCal reminder set for the 1st of every month to remind me to unplug. Once a month should be about right to power down then recharge.
0 Votes
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Oil Change Light
jshaw4343 18th Sep 2009
Your method seems reasonable - but I think it should be an option available to the user. Let them choose whether or not they want to regularly be reminded to perform "maintenance" on their battery - with all applicable warnings and benefits. Then I would treat this like the Oil Change light on your car. It's a reminder that you need to perform maintenance. But you pick a time that is suitable to you and when you have sufficient time. Once cycled, the light/message/whatever goes off until the next time for maintenance.

I'm sure you can even add some "green" verbaige to the message to promote the cycling.

Btw, I'm not an apple user, but apply this method to my laptops.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Battery preservation and 'Desktop Mode'
handler2 18th Sep 2009
I run my battery down periodically and recharge it. It just isn't that big a deal.
0 Votes
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Wow... talk about being a spoiled child....
i8thecat 18th Sep 2009
I agree with rupi42 and handler2... It's not
that big of a deal. It's also not a Apple
specific issue. It's the nature of modern smart
batteries... They have to be cycled once in a
while so the device can re-calibrate the top
and bottom. Cell phones, laptops, cameras, practically anything with a battery life
indicator.

Asking Apple to do this would be like asking a
car maker to build a car that changes its own
oil at the required mileage interval.. Problem
is, sometimes you can't pull off the road when
you happen to hit 3000 miles exactly. It's an
asinine request. People should take care of
their stuff. If they don't know how or are
new/ignorant, then they need to seek help and
advice. Not everyone changes their own oil,
mows their lawn, takes care of their pool, and
not everyone maintains their computers. But if
they are going to own something and not have
some paid help, then it's their responsibility
to learn how to take care of it. If they don't
then they deserve what they get.
0 Votes
+ -
Ouch... that is harsh.
james@... 18th Sep 2009
I do think Apple needs to address this with a simple alert message to the user. I know I lose track of time and frankly my life is way to complicated as it is. If the battery needs to be cycled then it should tell me (it is a computer after all).
0 Votes
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Apple, Microsoft, and other OS Developers
nix_hed 20th Sep 2009
should all really have this reminder for laptops. It's not just a Mac thing,
it's every laptop.

Also, this is why it's a good idea to have a game or two installed on your
laptop. Something that can draw a lot of power, like Quake Wars or Sims
3 (and before you say anything, I've remotely monitored 5 different
machines running Sims 3... the game sucks up a good percentage of
available processing power from both GPUs and CPUs, even more so than
Quake Wars or Crysis can at times).
0 Votes
+ -
The point
odcchaz 18th Sep 2009
of this article seemed to be that given
computer software and hardware are becoming
more linked (especially in Macs) that creating
a feature to maintain battery life is very
possible. Not creating a feature like this
based on the principle of "be responsible"
isn't really an argument. It's just your ornery
opinion. There are no real cons to an opt-in battery maintenance application. And in such a
case you still have the opportunity to be
responsible by setting it up correctly so
you're never SOL on battery life.

Also in the case of Apple, this feature could
put more accountability on their manufacturing
processes and claims about battery longevity.

Third, we CAN create software to maintain
laptop batteries. We CAN'T design a car that
changes its own oil.
0 Votes
+ -
After 2 years/service you can spare the $129
Herrie 18th Sep 2009
Anyone knows batteries are not everlasting. Spending $129
after 2 years on a new battery for your not-so-cheap Apple
won't kill you.

Having a drained battery when you really need to power up
will cost you more!
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Battery preservation and 'Desktop Mode'
trimordial@... 18th Sep 2009
I used to leave my MacBook Pro plugged in whenever I was
using it, until I read about the charge / discharge cycling that
is recommended. But I think I let it get too close to zero
charge a few times, which I also read is bad. Now my battery
life seems way shorter than before I started cycling it. I leave
it plugged in again now.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Battery preservation and 'Desktop Mode'
eyecoin 18th Sep 2009
good article, but this area is the only thing about Apple that
makes me mad. They have great everything. My iPod, iPhone
and laptops always are great. The Macbook Pro battery is a
total piece of garbage. I bought a new one, and within a year,
it wont keep my computer on more than 45 minutes. So
much for watching DVD's on the plane.
0 Votes
+ -
20%?
Olivier- 19th Sep 2009
From what I've read recently concerning PC batteries (and I think they are similar to Apple batteries), discharging the battery completely is not actually good for the battery but it needs to be done regularly to allow for recalibrating (once a month). They recommended to regularly use the battery but not let is discharge to less than 20%.

Now I would like something that takes care of that for me because when I am plugged in I am also usually on a docking station and to discharge the battery I need to undock, which means losing the second screen, the network, the mouse, etc... unless I unplug them all from the docking station and plug them onto the laptop.

I'd like to have a battery with a usable life for when I need it but I'd rather work plugged in rather than keep adjusting the power settings for when I am just running the battery down for conditioning (and still working, keeping an eye on the remaining juice) or when I am out on the battery and accept lower brightness and lower speed.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Battery preservation and 'Desktop Mode'
nfiertel 6th Oct 2009
Since many as I have the laptop
plugged in, I just charged the battery
and then took the battery out of the
laptop and if and when I need to use it
in batter mode, I put the battery back
and and off I go. The heat of the
processor is not great for the battery
and this way I have essentially a brand
new battery waiting for its usage.

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