How Do I Maximize MacBook Pro Battery Life?
Question:
How can I increase the battery life of my MacBook Pro?
- Asked by Roberto B. September 16th, 2011 (Updated: December 9th, 2014)
Answer:
The screen brightness setting plays a larger role than any other system setting in determining your battery life. You can decrease the brightness of your screen by pressing the F1 key. In some cases, decreasing brightness from the highest setting to the mid setting can nearly double your battery life.
You can adjust other battery related settings by going to the Apple menu at the top left of your screen, selecting System Preferences, and choosing Energy Saver. Select the Battery tab and then enable the following options:
- Automatic graphics switching (only applies to some Macs)
- Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible
- Slightly dim the display when using this power source
- Automatically reduce brightness before display goes to sleep
- Better battery life option (if available)
- Move the computer sleep and display sleep settings to the left
Other tips for extending your battery life:
- Quit applications that you are not using
- Turn off AirPort if you are not connected to a wireless network
- Disable Bluetooth if you are not using it
- Eject CDs and DVDs from the optical drive if they are not being used
- Disconnect unused peripheral devices, like printers or speakers
Battery calibration is also an option, but if you have a newer Mac laptop, you do not need to calibrate its battery. The models listed below do not need battery calibration.
- All MacBook Air models
- White MacBook, late 2009 and later
- MacBook Pro, early 2009 and later