MacBook Battery – How to Calibrate Battery on a MacBook

batterymacbook pro

I've been advised in a lot of places (for example: https://www.lifewire.com/calibrate-macbook-air-battery-2260856) to calibrate my Macbook Air's battery from time to time: every three months or so, keep it running until the battery dies, then turn it off and charge it completely again. This allows the battery to give you more accurate readings of the power left.

But it has just occurred to me: when doing this, am I supposed to keep the computer running all the time? Or can I close the lid and let it sleep (without plugging it in) for some of that time? After all, it's kind of hard to keep the Macbook on for 11 hours…

Best Answer

It doesn't matter how the battery runs down; there's no difference whatsoever in the battery (or the computer) when your battery is depleted when the computer is running or when it's asleep. The battery's charge level will fall below the voltage necessary to power on your laptop - one way is just faster than the other. So, bottom line is that either way is fine - which ever you are comfortable with.