How to get the most out of your MacBook battery and increase its lifespan. The correct process for charging a MacBook It is unacceptable to keep devices on charge for a long time

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Correctly charging batteries for long service life

Actively used laptops (Macbook Pro, Macbook Air), smartphones (iPhone) and tablets (iPad 4, iPad mini) constantly need to be recharged. However, not everyone knows how to charge correctly to extend the life of the battery. So you can hear two different opinions, one of which says that the battery of any mobile device, be it a MacBook Air or iPhone 5, should be completely discharged and then charged to 100%, and the second advises maintaining the device’s charge level at about 40- 80% by regularly recharging devices.

These tips are not without meaning and have a very real background. In the recent past, nickel batteries were common, which had the so-called “memory effect”. So they had to be completely discharged. Nowadays, laptops, smartphones and tablets (especially if we talk about Apple mobile devices) are mainly equipped with lithium-ion batteries, for which this problem is not so acute. However, in order to prolong their uninterrupted operation as much as possible, since their service life is measured in years, it is necessary to adhere to certain rules of use.

1. Devices require regular charging.

The device should not be completely discharged; it needs regular recharging. It would be optimal to recharge after the battery has been discharged by 10-20%, without lowering the charge level even to 50%.

2. It is unacceptable to keep devices charged for a long time.

Lithium-ion batteries do not need to be fully charged at all times. The recommended charge level should be between 40 and 80%, so it is advisable to adhere to these limits. After charging the device to 100%, it is unacceptable to leave it further charging.

Sometimes this seems very convenient, but you should remember that this is what can shorten the battery life. Even if the device is charged overnight, you should make sure that this is done using special energy-saving sockets that will allow you to turn off charging after a certain number of hours.

High-quality phones and laptops have a built-in charge controller, which allows them to signal when they are fully charged and even turn off charging themselves after that. Devices with this function can be kept connected to the network at all times.

3. Once a month, the battery must be discharged to zero and fully charged.

Occasionally, completely discharging your iPhone or iPad is still necessary. Once a month it is recommended to carry out a full cycle of discharging to zero and charging to 100%, which allows you to calibrate the device. After all, on a smartphone or tablet, the remaining charge is most often indicated either as a percentage or in hours and minutes, after which complete discharge will occur. But frequent use of small charges leads to incorrect operation of this function, which is why it is necessary to perform calibration to return the accuracy of these readings.

4. It is unacceptable to overheat the device.

The battery life of, for example, an iPhone device may also be reduced due to overheating, so you should not allow it to be exposed to high temperatures.

By following these recommendations, you can significantly increase battery life. However, you should not panic too much if you are not always able to perform optimal charging. Even if the device is discharged once again to zero or there is a need to charge it to full before a long journey, this should not become a reason for unnecessary worries.

It is worth remembering that taking maximum care of a lithium-ion battery will not allow it to work forever; usually such a battery lasts only 2-3 years. By the way, it will last just as long even if it just lies unused. So you shouldn’t get hung up on strictly following the recommendations; you should stick to the regime that is convenient, but without neglecting and, if possible, using the above rules.

We have updated and improved this article to be better, more specific, based on the latest scientific research and combined with our more than 11 years of experience. It is available at this link:

If your iPhone is no longer able to hold a charge, or the battery needs to be replaced, contact our service centers, we will definitely help!

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2 comments to the article "Properly charging iPhone, iPad, MacBook batteries"

Thank you for such detailed instructions. I was told that I needed to discharge my iPhone to full and charge it to full. That's what I did. Yours is written differently. Who to believe?
Previously, my battery lasted for a whole day of work, but now it lasts until the evening at most, what could it be? Is it time to retire?

Hello! Previously, mobile phones used nickel-metal hydride batteries, for which the best mode of use was to discharge to full and charge to full. But time does not stand still. Technologies are moving forward and Li-ON batteries are now being used in smartphones. iPhones have even more modern Li-Pol batteries. The technology for their correct use is described in this article. So we recommend that you use the article’s recommendations; the battery on your iPhone will last longer.
Regarding your second question: with a high degree of probability, we can say that the battery life of your iPhone has already become less and you have been using it for more than a year. The best solution would be to simply replace the battery with a new one. The procedure is quite fast, the parts in our service are of very high quality and we constantly monitor it using a special device and program. I’m sending you a link where the cost of replacing the battery for your iPhone is listed:
Best regards, SC Administrator.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. .

All new MacBooks, in which the usual interfaces have been replaced by newfangled USB Type-C, can be charged both from the mains and using external batteries (aka charging banks).

This was the decisive factor for me in giving up and switching to .

Now even the longest journey is not scary for me, because to the 8 hours of autonomy from the built-in battery, I managed to add the same amount from just one charging bank. And this is a victory.

Apple does not have any official explanations regarding charging the MacBook with external batteries. Therefore, we decided to create something like a guide based on personal tests, trial and error. Please.

What Apple itself says about charging the MacBook Pro

Apple insists that new MacBooks should be charged using power adapters that match the power of the ones it includes in the box.

29 W- for 12-inch MacBooks
61 W- for 13-inch MacBook Pro
87 W- for 15-inch MacBook Pro

However, Apple support emphasizes that you can use lower or higher power sources to charge new laptops.

When charging with less watts There simply won’t be enough power to fully use the MacBook.

When charging with a lot of watts There will be no harm to the device up to 100 W. Further - only at your own peril and risk.

If you're using a USB-C to VGA Multiport Adapter or a USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter, the built-in "C" port will only charge up to 60W of charging power, which may not be enough to fully power a 15-inch MacBook Pro.

If you connect several power sources to your MacBook Pro at once, it will use the most powerful one, regardless of the order in which you connected them.

Is it possible to charge a MacBook Pro with a regular jar?

Roma Yuryev also contributed his experiments in this direction. Then he was actually unable to fully use the charging banks with the 12-inch MacBook.

I tried using a USB-C to USB-A cable to connect the most common Xiaomi charging bank for 10,000 mAh (we’ll talk about the meaning of this and other similar values later in the text), which can produce no more than 15-18 W (this is indicated on its back side).

The 2017 MacBook Pro notified me that it had a wall charger plugged into it, but its capacity never rose from 71% in a couple of hours.

Note that I'm also not saying that capacity dropped during two or three hours of low-performance work.

It turns out that due to its low power, such a charging bank simply cannot charge a 13-inch MacBook Pro. However, it is capable of powering it up and significantly increasing the laptop's battery life - by approximately 20-30%.

The figure is not very high, but it’s already something. It turns out that several of these cans on the road will not be useless for work or entertainment, which I will also try to check during the next train journey, which will take about two days.

In the end, it works. And that's great.

Which banks are best for charging a laptop?

But for charging new MacBooks, of course, special solutions that are already appearing on the market are better suited, including in the not-so-expensive segment.

One of the best solutions today is the ZMI 10 charging bank (consider it made by Xiaomi), which Kolya Maslov talked about not long ago.

For example, it is capable of delivering power not just 15-18, but already as much as 40-45 watts. And this is already enough to fully power a 13-inch MacBook Pro.

When working with text and Adobe Photoshop, it refilled my laptop battery by 1% in about 1-1.5 minutes. And its total volume was enough for me to charge the device from 0 to 100%, and I didn’t let it go completely.

New technologies used in such a bank allow it to be charged incredibly quickly. Imagine that a 20,000 mAh monster (this is when charging an iPhone) is fully capable fill in 3-3.5 hours when using a standard power supply from a MacBook Pro 2017.

Remember how long it took to charge banks of this volume before - I once tried to fill a 16,000 mAh Xiaomi power bank with standard charging from an iPhone. 24 hours was not enough for this - the process took 35-40 hours.

How many times can a MacBook Pro be recharged?

20,000 mAh, 16,000 mAh, 10,000 mAh - all these are marketing indicators that really have a right to life, but they do not tell exactly how many times a power bank can fill a particular device.

The thing is that the battery capacity is actually changes at different voltages, at which charging occurs.

For example, the top-end external battery ZMI 10 claims 20,000 mAh at 3.8 V, at 5 V its capacity already reaches only 12,000 mAh, and at 7.2 V it is already less than 10,000 mAh.

The battery capacity is also determined in Wh. For example, in the 2017 13-inch MacBook Pro with and without Touch Bar, it is 49 Wh and 54.5 Wh, respectively.

The manufacturer claims that ZMI is capable of delivering 70.2-72 Wh. It turns out that he can charge such a laptop more than once. Almost, but not quite.

There are still nuances. The declared capacity of an external battery is usually greater than what it is actually willing to give away. There are losses, which depend on a variety of indicators beyond our control.

Therefore, in the end it turns out that we can only approximately guess how many times a particular device can actually be charged with an external battery. And the same ZMI 10 can fill my 13-inch MacBook Pro 2017 with Touch Bar from 0 to 100% and about 20% more. Normal

Our thoughts on the quality of all accessories

USB Type-C is a public standard, the use of which does not require certification from Apple or any other organizations.

That is why you need to be very careful with it, because if you connect something of poor quality through it, you can simply ruin the same MacBook.

For example, Apple generally recommends using only the supplied power adapter to charge it and insists that each USB Type-C cable must have a special serial number, which allows you to make sure that it is suitable for a particular laptop.

Official USB-C markings from Apple:

If the first three characters of the serial number are C4M or FL4, the cable is designed for use with the Apple 29W USB-C Power Adapter.
If the first three characters of the serial number are DLC or CTC, the cable is designed for use with the 61W or 87W Apple USB-C Power Adapter.

My personal practice shows that in addition to official Apple accessories, you can use USB Type-C cables from Native Union, Nomad and other manufacturers that are well-known by everyone without any problems.

All new MacBooks, in which the usual interfaces have been replaced by newfangled USB Type-C, can be charged both from the mains and using external batteries (aka charging banks).

This was the deciding factor for me in abandoning the MacBook Pro 2015 and switching to the MacBook Pro 2017.

Now even the longest journey is not scary for me, because to the 8 hours of autonomy from the built-in battery, I managed to add the same amount from just one charging bank. And this is a victory.

What does Apple itself say about charging the MacBook Pro? Apple insists that to charge new MacBooks you should use power adapters that match the power of those that it itself includes in the kit.

61 W - for 13-inch MacBook Pro 87 W - for 15-inch MacBook Pro However, Apple support emphasizes that lower or higher power sources can be used to charge new laptops.

When charging with fewer watts, there simply won’t be enough power to fully use the MacBook.

When charging with a large number of W, there will be no harm to the device up to 100 W. Further - only at your own peril and risk.

If you're using a USB-C to VGA Multiport Adapter or a USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter, the built-in "C" port will charge up to 60W of charging power - which may not be enough to fully power a 15-inch MacBook Pro.

If you connect several power sources to your MacBook Pro at once, it will use the most powerful one, regardless of the order in which you connected them.

Is it possible to charge a MacBook Pro with a regular can? Roma Yuriev shared his experiences in this direction. Then he was actually unable to fully use the charging banks with the 12-inch MacBook.

The 2017 MacBook Pro notified me that it had a wall charger plugged into it, but its capacity never rose from 71% in a couple of hours.

Note that I'm also not saying that capacity dropped during two or three hours of low-performance work.

It turns out that due to its low power, such a charging bank simply cannot charge a 13-inch MacBook Pro. However, it is able to power it and significantly increase the battery life of the laptop - by approximately 20-30%.

In the end, it works. And that's great.

Which banks are best suited for charging a laptop? But for charging new MacBooks, of course, special solutions that are already appearing on the market are better suited, including in the not-so-expensive segment.

One of the best solutions today is the ZMI 10 charging bank (consider it made by Xiaomi), which Kolya Maslov wrote about not long ago.

For example, it is capable of delivering power not just 15-18, but already as much as 40-45 watts. And this is already enough to fully power a 13-inch MacBook Pro.

When working with text and Adobe Photoshop, it refilled my laptop's battery by 1% in about 1-1.5 minutes. And its total volume was enough for me to charge the device from 0 to 100%, and I didn’t let it go completely.

New technologies used in such a bank allow it to be charged incredibly quickly. Imagine that a 20,000 mAh monster (this is when charging an iPhone) can be completely filled in 3-3.5 hours when using a standard power supply from a MacBook Pro 2017.

How many times can a MacBook Pro be recharged with 20,000 mAh, 16,000 mAh, 10,000 mAh - all these are marketing indicators that really have a right to life, but they do not tell exactly how many times a power bank can fill a particular device.

The thing is that the battery capacity actually changes at different voltages at which charging occurs.

For example, the top-end external battery ZMI 10 claims 20,000 mAh at 3.8 V, at 5 V its capacity already reaches only 12,000 mAh, and at 7.2 V it is already less than 10,000 mAh.

The battery capacity is also determined in Wh. For example, in the 2017 13-inch MacBook Pro with and without Touch Bar, it is 49 Wh and 54.5 Wh, respectively.

The manufacturer claims that ZMI is capable of delivering 70.2-72 Wh. It turns out that he can charge such a laptop more than once. Almost, but not quite.

There are still nuances. The declared capacity of an external battery is usually greater than what it is actually willing to give away. There are losses that depend on a variety of indicators beyond our control.

Our thoughts on the quality of all accessories USB Type-C is a public standard, for the use of which you do not need to be certified by Apple or any other bodies.

That is why you need to be very careful with it, because if you connect something of poor quality through it, you can simply ruin the same MacBook.

Official Apple USB-C markings: If the first three characters of the serial number are C4M or FL4, the cable is designed for use with the Apple 29W USB-C Power Adapter.

If the first three characters of the serial number are DLC or CTC, the cable is designed for use with the 61W or 87W Apple USB-C Power Adapter. My personal practice shows that in addition to official Apple accessories, you can use USB Type-C cables from Native Union, Nomad and other manufacturers that are well-known by everyone without any problems.

In order not to harm your device, just do not use nameless Chinese accessories, which even look just disgusting.

And may you always be pleased with the autonomy of your MacBook. Good luck!

I've been asked to write more educational articles about iPad and iPhone. I'm always FOR! I decided to transform the following instructions a little and instead of the standard format there will be 10 useful facts about iPhone, iPad and Mac batteries. It seems to me that in this format the information will be better settled in the minds of readers.

Fact 1. Different devices have different guaranteed number of charging cycles!

iPhone – 500 cycles
iPod - 400 cycles
iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook – 1000 cycles

This is the number of cycles after which the device’s battery must have at least 80% of its original capacity. Do not confuse this with the guaranteed period, which is 1 year for all batteries.

It's funny that the iPhone claims to have twice as many cycles as the iPad. In practice, this is what happens: people change their iPhone battery much more often.

Fact 2. The charging cycle is 100% charge

The lithium-ion battery in Apple devices does not need to be fully discharged. You can charge at any time and this will not affect battery wear. Cycles must be counted at 100% discharge. How to understand this? Will explain.

If you drain your iPhone battery from 100% to 50% for 10 days in a row, and then charge it, then you will consume a total of (100-50)*10=500% of the charge. 1 cycle is 100%. Therefore, you have spent 5 charge cycles. If you drain the battery from 100% to 0% for 5 days in a row, then you spend the same 500%, and therefore the same 5 cycles.

That is, use your phone for your pleasure and charge/recharge it at any convenient time.

Fact 3. The current battery capacity can be viewed in the Battery Life application

Here is the App Store link. Download it, because in the App Store search you may come across fake applications with the same name.

The program is shareware. To view battery wear, the free functionality is enough. In the “Current data” section everything is clear and understandable.

Should I change the battery based on this data? My opinion is yes, but only if you are not satisfied with how the battery holds its charge. For example, I am still satisfied with the current capacity of 2100 with the original 2915. If it was about 1000, I would run to change the battery. How much does it cost to replace a battery? Depends on the device, for example, on the website x-repair.ru, I found out that repairing an iPad Air to replace the battery will cost 3,000 rubles.

Fact 4. There are two phases of charging iDevices

The iPhone and iPad battery charges up to 80% very quickly. This is the so-called fast charging. Then the current automatically decreases and the battery is charged more slowly to 100%. This approach allows you to extend the battery life.

Fact 4. The ideal operating temperature for the iDevice is from +16 to +22 degrees

The optimal temperature for using iPhone and iPad is from 0 to +35 degrees.

Above 35 degrees, the device is dangerous to charge and is undesirable to use for a long time. If you charge at 35 degrees, the system will most likely block charging above 80% at the software level.

At high and low temperatures, the battery capacity may drop, but at low temperatures this is a temporary phenomenon, but at high temperatures the capacity drops irreversibly.

Still, try not to store your iPad and iPhone at temperatures above +35 and below 0 degrees, although Apple allows storage from -20 to +45.

Fact 5. Battery charge is affected by iOS version

It has already been experimentally proven that some versions of iOS are less energy efficient. Apple recommends that you always update your system to the latest version of iOS to improve battery performance. HA-HA-HA three times! On the contrary, if you don’t want problems with the battery, then wait until everything is updated - read reviews online from owners of the same iPhone/iPad. For example, after the release of the first versions of iOS 9, iOS 11, and to a lesser extent iOS 10, there were complaints about the battery for several months.

Fact 6. The battery capacity of models in the line of devices both increases and decreases

Surprisingly, this is true. iPad 1 had a capacity of 6600 mAh. iPad 3 and 4 have the maximum capacity among all models – 11560 mAh. The iPad Air has 8827 mAh. The iPad Air 2 has even less. But for absolutely all iPad models, approximately the same operating time is stated. This is due to the development of technology: the advent of the retina screen prompted engineers to greatly increase the capacity, and then more energy-efficient processors began to appear. It seems that Apple is based specifically on the operating time of the device, which should consistently deliver 10 hours during normal use on a Wi-Fi network.

Fact 7. If you remove the battery in a MacBook, the performance will drop by half

Not everyone knows this interesting fact. If the battery on your MacBook is dead and you are working from the network, then the processor speed automatically drops by half. You will feel like your MacBook is slowing down, although it will still work. Also, a System without a working battery will not allow itself to be updated. This is Apple's defense. I recommend changing the battery.

I don’t know about the iPhone and iPad (and I don’t want to know if they work on charging without a battery).

Fact 8. Modern batteries do not require calibration

For some reason, not everyone knows about this either. People buy an iPhone, iPad, Mac and start charging it to 100 percent several times in the old fashioned way and discharging it to zero. Apple device batteries released since mid-2009 do not require calibration. This must be understood and remembered.

Fact 9. It is best to store a device with a lithium-ion battery half charged

If you store it completely discharged, the device may go into deep discharge mode and it is not a fact that you will charge it again. It will simply forget how to store charge.
If you store it fully charged, the device may lose its capacity.

If you do not use the device for more than six months, then remember about it sometimes and charge it at least once every six months to 50%.

Fact 10. About covers and heating

Some types of cases cause the device to heat up while charging. If the battery gets very hot when charging, this is a sure sign that you need to either charge without a case or change the case.

For any portable device, maximum battery life, charging speed and battery life are among the most important criteria. However, not everything depends on the manufacturer - proper operation and storage of the device will help to significantly increase the battery efficiency. And how to properly charge laptops Apple?

Apple uses chemical batteries in its laptops that are designed with industry leading technologies. According to the developers, such a battery after 1000 complete charge/discharge cycles will reduce its maximum capacity by only 20%. In addition, with the transition to adaptive charging technology, the company's engineers managed to increase the overall battery life to 5 years. However, as mentioned above, these indicators imply correct operation of the device.

Common Use

So, the first time you turn it on, fully charge the battery and update the software (Apple quite often releases its devices that optimize their power consumption). When using the laptop further, keep in mind that for batteries prolonged downtime is extremely harmful. Apple describes the ideal user as someone who runs the device on battery power for part of the day and then places the batteries to charge. Apple does not recommend keeping your laptop plugged in at all times. If you rarely use your laptop without connecting to a power outlet, it is recommended to perform a full discharge/charge cycle at least once a month.

Long-term storage

If you need to “mothball” your MacBook for 6 months or more, it is recommended to discharge its battery by half. If the device is left idle for a long time with an “empty” battery, the device may stop charging (we will not mention traditional methods of “reanimation”), and long-term storage with a full charge can reduce the maximum capacity of the battery. In addition, it is necessary to remember the ambient temperature - in theory, Apple laptops can be stored at temperatures ranging from -25 to +45 degrees Celsius, but the ideal temperature is close to room temperature.

Operating system settings

As mentioned above, Apple software developers are constantly trying to improve the energy efficiency of the system, but the user himself can influence the battery life of the device. Below are parameters that can be adjusted to help save battery power.

Energy saving. This settings section allows you to define a number of parameters that automatically take effect when the MacBook is disconnected from the power supply. For low battery consumption, the device can reduce screen brightness, performance, resource consumption, etc.;
Brightness. Apple developers recommend using the minimum comfortable level of screen brightness even in cases where it is important to maintain the functionality of the laptop for as long as possible;
AirPort and Bluetooth. Wireless modules are constantly searching for connections and consume battery power even when there is no need for it. Disable these features to reduce your computer's power consumption;
Applications and peripherals. Disconnect all unused devices (speakers, external keyboard, Bluetooth keypad, etc.) and close unnecessary applications - even in the background they can affect the battery life of your MacBook.