With a little bit of care, you can maximize the battery life of your Notebook

Your New Notebook-- Be sure to fully charge your portable when you plug it in for the first time, and then run Software Update to ensure you have the latest software. Apple periodically releases updates that may improve battery performance.

Standard Maintenance

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based laptop battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her MacBook Pro on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge. This keeps the battery juices flowing. If on the other hand, you use a desktop computer at work, and save a notebook for infrequent travel, Apple recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month. Need a reminder? Add an event to your desktop’s iCal.

Long Term Storage

If you don’t plan on using your notebook for more than six months, Apple recommends that you remove and store the notebook battery with a 50% charge. If you store a battery when it’s fully discharged, it could fall into a deep discharge state, which renders it incapable of holding any charge. Conversely, if you store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may experience some loss of battery capacity, meaning it will have a shorter life. Be sure to store the ejected battery at the proper temperature. (See “Notebook Temperate Zone.”)

Optimal Setting

You can choose to use your Apple notebook in a way that maximizes its battery life.

Energy: The Energy Saver control panel offers several settings that determine power levels for your PowerBook. Your portable knows when it’s plugged in, and runs accordingly. When on battery power, it will dim the screen and use other components sparingly. If you change this setting to maximize performance, your battery will drain more quickly.

Brightness: Dim the screen to the lowest comfortable level to achieve maximum laptop battery life. For instance, when watching a DVD on an airplane, you may not need full brightness if all the lights are off.

AirPort Wireless: AirPort consumes power, even if you are not using its features to connect to a network. You can turn it off in its control panel to save power.

Bluetooth Wireless: Likewise, you can turn off Bluetooth to maximize your battery life, as it also consumes power when not in use.

Applications and peripherals: Disconnect peripherals and quit applications not in use. Eject CDs and DVDs if not currently accessing them.