Do you want to be chained to an outlet for the rest of your life?
Thats why you got a laptop in the first place.
This is a myth thats slowly killing your laptop.
Photo: Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto (Getty Images)
Many laptops sit on a charger throughout the workday and all through the night.
We dont even think about it; we just plug in everywhere.
He researches battery degradation and says this fully charged state puts a ton of stress on your laptop.
He recommends charging your laptop fully and then unplugging it to run down throughout the day.
The reason a laptop is under a lot of stress at 100% is due to its lithium-ion battery.
Its when hen there are too many lithium ions on one side that the battery gets stressed.
The Mac, the PC, and all desktop computers before the laptop have been permanently plugged in.
This is flawed logic.
Your laptop is not drawing energy from the wall outlet, like your desktop computer.
Rather, its drawing energy from your battery.
Another reason folks may be perma-charging is so their computer never dies, and I hear you.
But over the long term, this doesnt work as well.
Permanently charging your laptop is not a way to optimize performance, its actually quite the opposite.
Nevertheless, laptops are plugged in constantly.
Why Its Pervasive
The reason laptop perma-charging is pervasive is twofold.
For one, it feels like it should be true.
But thats not really whats going on.
The other reason is that most people are rarely using their computers away from the desk.
The problems start when you leave your desk.
You head on a trip, on the train, to a coffee shop sparsely populated with outlets.
Suddenly, your weak battery is the most noticeable feature of your laptop.
This feature is incredibly helpful for smartphone users, who typically just charge their phones when they sleep.
So the responsibility to care for your battery falls on you.
Stop charging your laptop past 100% today, so you could free yourself from being plugged in tomorrow.
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