Will one of these work for iPods as well?

Is there something Mac specific here? Like its allowing the power management circuitry to get in the right state?

Or is this basically just saying that new batteries in general should be fully charged and then fully discharged once when you first get them?

Either way, definitely good advice for those getting a new laptop. Guest I think it would definitely not hurt if you were to do something similar with a new iPod.

Yes, follow this advice with any battery device you buy. (Well, lithium-ion devices anyway, but that's most of them as far as I know.)

You can learn a LOT more than you care about:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

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Small White Car wrote:
Yes, follow this advice with any battery device you buy. (Well, lithium-ion devices anyway, but that's most of them as far as I know.)

Be careful with some devices. Some PDAs will lose everything in their RAM if you run the battery too low. A few (e.g., Palm TX) don't. Be sure to check the user's guide, first. If you do this with a PDA, do a full sync, first. Discharge the PDA, then fully charge it and do another sync.

What's with the "Use it at least 2 hrs" and "sleep at least 5 hours" specs on the MBP?

What supporting documentation / insights do you have? How well-differentiated is this from an old wives' tale or urban legend?

If I'm in a hurry (WTF?!? 5 hours w/o my brand new book?)how much of a difference does this make? And why?

"Inquiring Minds Want to Know!" (R)

I was thinking the same thing, but the source turns out to be Apple:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284

Daveed

Yes, the source of these is Apple. I started printing out (albeit with a nicer look) these same exact knowledgebase articles and putting them on every new laptop that goes out the door.

I have had more thanks given because of this than people complaining that I "ruined the look" of the box. Less battery issues seem to be coming in from new users as well.

This advice is very much something to be followed, especially by those who are just getting a Mac or are getting a MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro and PB 15" SD-DL have quite different batteries than the rest of the portable line.

As well, Apple defines a dead battery as not being able to over 50% of the normal charge time. If calibrated properly Apple is quicker to replace the battery under warranty.

The process of calibrating the battery is actually in the manual that ships with the MackBook Pro. It is also in Help. It's also in the PDF version of the MBP manual that's on every new MBP. It's on the Apple site in various guises (support) and also

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

and

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

and

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=18241

and last but not least, the daddy of battery references

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284

So I think this will answer most, if not all questions about whether its an old wives' tale or not...

Does anyone know if there is any value to performing the calibration procedure with an older battery to ensure it's doing the best it can do?

Thanks!

It is best to do the calibration right when the battery is new. You can perform it on an older battery, but the results will most likely be nil.

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Spider wrote:
It is best to do the calibration right when the battery is new. You can perform it on an older battery, but the results will most likely be nil.

How's this for a "new battery" 10 days old?

The booklet said that it's best to do it within a week. right now my battery's up to 3 hours. Somewhere I saw that the battery that's been calibrated "withina week" is upto 5-6 hours...

thanks

Older is, in my terms, over a month. Ten days and you should be fine.

No guarantees, but I don't see an extra three days hurting it too much.

above is me, Spider. I am at work and not signed in.

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Anonymous wrote:
Older is, in my terms, over a month. Ten days and you should be fine.

No guarantees, but I don't see an extra three days hurting it too much.

So you're saying that after I calibrate my battery, then it'll change the hours from 3 hours to 5-6?

after I calibrate my battery.. should I just leave it recharged just until I need to take it out of the house, or what should I let it run on its own, or what?

Thanks

Another ridiculously complicated thing to remember. Why in the world doesn't the battery charger do any draining automatically? You should be able to plug it in overnight and have it ready in the morning. Better yet, how about a battery that doesn't need this nonsense? Appple has been endlessly inventive, but sometimes they are oblivious to basic problems like this.

Please show us a reference to any laptop that does battery conditioning only when needed.