[DeusExMachina]

I am just wondering because I heard that when you buy your ibook, you should charge t full, then run the battery down completely. so is this true? because my ibook is on 8%, and I am just wondering if I should do this or not. and by doing this, it will cause the ibook to not shut off properly, so will this cause any problems after?

[DBvader]

your iBook will be fine if you let the battery drain.

[MAC365]

You should always charge the battery FULLY (100%) and then discharge it COMPLETELY (till it goes to sleep in fact) every charging cycle, not just when new if you want to get the best out of the battery. This is especially important when it is new though.

I recently bought a new battery for my ibook and have used it carefully for a few months and now get 6+ hours every time (usually on internet with airport but with the screen dimmed as much as possible). When I disconnect it from the charger (its usually plugged in) I let it discharge fully even if I could plug it in to the charger.

[icruise]

It's really not necessary to completely discharge the battery every time. In the past, that was good advice for batteries that developed a "memory" but modern batteries do not. The only reason you're supposed to do it when you first buy the computer is to allow the computer's power management circuitry to gauge how long the battery will last.

[MAC365]

Yes you are correct (this is what i've read too) but i'm still going to let my ibooks battery drain completely before charging it, even though Lithium-ion batteries are not supposed to have a 'memory' effect.

It is no more trouble to do this and i'm very pleased with the new battery so far by following this procedure. Older ibooks always seem to have terrible battery life and some of this can be explained by poor charging by the user.

here is a link to apple about battery maintainance with some good advice.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

[webb3201]

be careful. Check out this faq on lithium batteries that would indicate the total opposite suggestion. The idea is that the battery only has a certain number of complete discharges. If you top off the battery, you will not use a discharge cycle. I know from my experience, my batteries last longer doing this than my wife's batteries. She runs hers dry based on forgetting to plug them in, and we buy her a new battery often. The full discharge is a remnant of nimh batteries that had memory.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

[Big Mac]

Originally posted by webb3201:
be careful. Check out this faq on lithium batteries that would indicate the total opposite suggestion. The idea is that the battery only has a certain number of complete discharges. If you top off the battery, you will not use a discharge cycle. I know from my experience, my batteries last longer doing this than my wife's batteries. She runs hers dry based on forgetting to plug them in, and we buy her a new battery often. The full discharge is a remnant of nimh batteries that had memory.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Well, in fairness to both sides of the debate, the argument is really quite murky concerning Lithium Ion charging practices. All sources state that discharging it completely is dangerous, since it can short out the battery. But opinions differ on just when to recharge. IBM says run down and then fully recharge, while other sources agree with webb3201's contentions above. I think I agree with IBM about regular Lithium Ion batteries (found in laptops), yet I agree with webb about the iPod, due to its Lithium Polymer battery.

[ghporter]

Getting back to the original question, yes you fully charge, and then fully discharge your battery the first time. This allows the iBook to calibrate its battery meter, so it gives you a good reflection of how much power is in the battery.

[MrForgetable]

Maybe it do it once every 6 months to get an accurate reading