Maximise your Macbook battery life
As many of us know that keeping batteries at full charge level decreases its life. Here is a article from Battery University that you may want to read for great detailed analysis : How to prolong battery lifeIt's not problem for people that travel often since they need fully charged MacBooks for maximum battery life. But for people like me and/or you who most of the times have their Macbooks plugged in for charging, it may be a problem in long time span. When the battery is charged to a 100%, it's voltage is 4.20v for most charging circuits. When battery is maintained at this voltage for periods of time, it induces voltage related stress which badly affects battery life. That's why turning off charging and only powering the Macbook from AC adapter is the solution for us.
The charger will only provide the power to keep the Macbook running, it won't charge the Macbook. The Macbook will hence remain at the same charge which will be pre charged at optimum level which is about 65%(60%-70%)
How to do this??
This is how you do it. Cover the middle pin of the charging connector with tape(make sure it can be removed again) and connect it.
IMPORTANT: Please take care not to damaged the adjacent four pins. If you are not good with doing delicate things, I recommend you stop here. Author of this article won't be responsible for any kind of damage that you may cause.
You'll see that the battery isn't charging anymore. The middle pin is responsible for sending the charger information and turning the LED on. The LED doesn't come ON when it's connected in this way. Since, the Macbook doesn't receive any charger info, it prevents the charger from charging the battery.
It's more preferable for you to do this if you have a extra MagSafe Adapter, not when you have a single MagSafe Adapter. You can use one for just powering the Macbook when you are at home and the other one for powering as well as charging. The optimum charge level for longer use whilst connected to charger is 60-70%.
1) First charge the Macbook to 70% using the normal charger
2) Connect it to the modified charger when using for longer periods.
Use your Macbook with maximised battery life!!!
