A thread on Mac laptops in another forum got me thinking about this again.
Based on thoughts I got (here?), I started just putting my Macbook Pro to sleep when not using it instead of shutting it down, like I used to. But I also often take it off AC power during these times, and it was pointed out that doing so unnecessarily uses up battery life.
Is there any reason to go back to shutdown instead of sleep?
It really depends on what’s important to you. I like the almost instant-on aspect of sleep mode and rarely actually shut down my computer. I leave it plugged in most of the time, but will occasionally use unplugged. Apparently, you’re supposed to “calibrate” the battery meter by using it until it shuts down and then plug it in and recharge it fully after a few hours of being in a very low power state, but I’ve never done that consistently.
Honestly, it probably doesn’t matter all that much. My last laptop was a PowerBook G4 that I used for about 5 years before getting my current MacBook Pro, and even as old as it is and with me having done as little manual maintenance as I did during that time, it still holds enough charge for about 2.5 hours of work unplugged. And that thing was a power-hog compared to my current computer.
I was under the impression that Macs will automatically hibernate from sleep mode after a certain amount of time. Hibernating does not drain your battery.
Also, the new Mac OS Lion is going to let you resume exactly from where you were even if you turn off the computer or restart the OS. It’s actually the first time since Windows XP that I’ve been excited about an OS.
Is this true, though? (I assume by “uses up battery life” you mean how many years the battery will last.)
A quick Google didn’t turn up anything reliable.
For my laptop I either leave it on to stream media/finish downloads, or turn it completely off. Something’s wonky with the way the built in wifi works, so waking from sleep doesn’t really shave any time off for me vs a cold boot when accessing the internet.
For my (ancient) desktop, I usually just hibernate it when done. It actually seems to go faster than a full shutdown. Every few weeks I’ll do a full shutdown or a restart, just to keep things running smoothly.
(Geez, forgot about this thread for a while, sorry!)
Ehh, it was expressed as a “surely it’s logical” thing:
Dunno if it’s so, tho’.
I almost never shut my MacBook down. It sleeps happily in it’s computer bag every evening and all weekend, ready to be opened up on Monday morning. Currently have around 3 years on the battery, and it still will run the machine for 3 hours or so.
Mac laptops use very little power when sleeping. I can leave my laptop asleep for 24 hours, and it’ll use up about 5% of a single charge of my battery. That’s basically a rounding error. In the time it takes that sort of drain to meaningfully affect the battery life of my computer, I’ll be on the laptop after the next.
The laptop should use very minimal power when in sleep mode. I never shut mine down.
This isn’t really true for your typical Lithium Ion laptop batteries these days. Lithium Ion batteries have a really good energy density for their size and weight, but they age horribly. They lose a certain amount of capacity every year no matter how good or bad you treat them. The effect of power cycles is generally much less significant.
For Lithium Ion batteries, heat kills. If they constantly run hot they’ll die a quick death, and unfortunately a lot of laptops run hot. A good laptop design will keep the heat away from the battery.
Keep the battery cool as much as possible and plan on replacing it after 4 or 5 years no matter what, and don’t worry too much about the power cycles unless you really get excessive about it.