How to keep your laptop battery in good condition

The rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power most of our laptops may be the most practical battery technology we have right now, but they naturally degrade over time as their ions flow back and forth – it's an inevitable consequence of the way they're built and The way they workOver time, batteries cannot hold as much charge.

Most modern laptops now come with some form of smart charging technology built in, to limit the number of full charges performed. How this is implemented varies by laptop. I'll talk about this, as well as other ways to ensure your MacBook or Windows laptop's battery stays as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

As with smartphones, due to Chemical reactions If something happens inside your laptop battery, charging or discharging it completely puts more stress on the battery and shortens its lifespan. According to MicrosoftKeeping a laptop plugged in at 100 percent charge is not recommended when it comes to long-term battery health, so it is suggested that users try to avoid full charges and discharges as much as possible.

Then there is the temperature: hot and cold. They are not good for battery health. They affect chemical reactions inside the battery and increase internal wear and tear, so be sure to keep your laptop away from hot cars or icy balconies as much as possible; and if you let your laptop get too hot or cold, slowly bring it down to a more normal temperature. (This also applies to extended periods of heavy use; if your device starts to get too hot, take a break.)

You should also consider temperature and charging if you're going to store your laptop for a while. Make sure to store it in a cool, dry place and charge the battery. up to 50 percent before turning off the laptop, limiting the chances of damage from a full discharge.

Even simple measures like keeping case fans clean and clear can help – the better the air circulation inside your laptop, the cooler the components will run and the less power they will consume.

You may also want to reduce your screen brightness and make sure all your software is up to date – newer versions of programs and operating systems are often more efficient and less demanding.

Apple MacBooks use a built-in feature called Optimized battery chargingwhich will only charge the battery beyond 80 percent when it deems necessary. According to ApplePrevious temperatures and loading patterns are used to help make this decision.

Macs equipped with Apple Silicon (as opposed to an Intel processor) have Optimized Battery Charging turned on by default. If, for some reason, you want to turn it off:

• From Apple menu, select System Configuration…,
• In it Battery tab, click the little “i” next to Battery status.
• You will see the Optimized Battery Charging on/off button.

If you have a Mac with an Intel processor, the feature may still be enabled by default, depending on your operating system. If you want to check or turn it on or off:

• From the Apple menu, select System Preferences > Battery
• Gonna Battery > Battery status
• Look for Managing battery longevity and turn it on or off.

You can further reduce the battery voltage in the Battery Tab: Click Options to set the screen to dim and stream video at a lower quality (reducing system load) when you're using battery power, for example.

There is also a special low-power mode, although Apple doesn't say much about it except that it reduces power consumption. Select the Low power mode drop-down menu and you can set it to be on all the time, only when you're relying on battery power, or only when using a power adapter.

To further reduce energy consumption:

• Select the Lock screen tab in System Configuration.
• Select when to turn off the screen of an inactive laptop by using Turn off the screen on battery when idle Drop-down menu.

Another thing to consider is reducing the number of apps you have open at the same time: the less power you use running apps you don't need, the less often you'll have to charge your battery. Reducing the number of programs that launch with macOS can help here.

Windows offers a feature called Smart charging as an equivalent to the Mac's Optimized Battery Charging feature, although it depends on each laptop manufacturer whether or not it's implemented and how exactly it works. You'll need to check with your particular system manufacturer to see if your laptop has it and whether you can enable or disable it.

There are other power management settings on your computer that can save power usage:

• Launch Settings from the Start menu.
• Select System > Power & Battery.
• Click Screen and sleep to set how long the system waits before turning off the display.
• Choose Power mode to tell Windows whether to prioritize performance or battery life.
• Click Battery saver to have Windows Low Power Mode turn on at a certain battery level or to keep it on indefinitely.
• Battery usage It can let you know how well your battery is performing and how much power your apps are using.
• You may also have a section called Energy recommendations At the top of the Energy and battery page; it doesn't hurt to click there and check out some of those recommendations.

As with macOS, making sure you're only running the apps you need will further ease the strain on your battery—it's a good idea to double-check the programs that start with Windows to make sure there's nothing running in the background that you don't know about.