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Let the battery run down occasionally. If you keep charging it when it's only half-full you'll run the battery life down a lot quicker, but if you're doing something like watching a DVD then keep it plugged in.

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Apple advises you to go through at least one charge cycle a month with iPods, and I think once a week with MacBooks. I personally keep mine plugged in until it's fully charged and then if I move it around I unplug it, otherwise keep it plugged in in my room.

It won't make a whole lot of difference, as long as you don't keep it fully charged all the time it should be fine. Unplug it every other day or every few days if you always keep it plugged in.

Apple have a special circuit in their batteries to prevent it from getting too low and causing damage. This is automatically activated when your battery gets low and the MacBook enters deep sleep mode, so you needn't worry about that.

Post edited at 11:57 am on July 1, 2008 by marshmellowman

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Intelligence is the ability to avoid doing work, yet getting the work done.

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This is a common question. MacBooks use a Lithium-Polymer battery which aren't really susceptible to the memory effect in Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries and Nickel-Cadmium batteries.

Apple advises you to go through at least one charge cycle a month with iPods, and I think once a week with MacBooks. I personally keep mine plugged in until it's fully charged and then if I move it around I unplug it, otherwise keep it plugged in in my room.

It won't make a whole lot of difference, as long as you don't keep it fully charged all the time it should be fine. Unplug it every other day or every few days if you always keep it plugged in.

Apple have a special circuit in their batteries to prevent it from getting too low and causing damage. This is automatically activated when your battery gets low and the MacBook enters deep sleep mode, so you needn't worry about that.

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Standard Maintenance
For proper maintenance of a lithium-based 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 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".)

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And as for what qualifies me to say this, I'm an IT Technician for a living, I'm CompTIA A+ & N+ Qualified, I'm also a Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator. thus you might say i know a lil about computers...

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I touched the sky, then gave it away to make the world a lil better
LiveWire History Group
Not allowed to say lesbian anymore, Its women in comfortable shoes

Avoid discharging the battery completely. Li-ion batteries do better with short discharges followed by a recharge--the opposite of the old NiCad batteries. But every few months or 30 discharge cycles, you should let the battery discharge completely to calibrate its internal circuitry which tells your laptop how much power is left in the battery.

Post edited at 4:06 pm on July 1, 2008 by shadowpool