MacBook 13" white (mid 2007) - how to treat a new battery for optimal battery life? The old battery of my MacBook 13" white (mid 2007) is dead (as I always had the MacBook on my desktop and did not bother calibrating or discharging the battery).

I bought a new one (original Apple battery) and I wonder how to treat it to get optimal performance and a long life.

I found general tips on the apple.com homepage, but they are for MacBook Air/Pro Li-Ion batteries, and if I am not mistaken, the MacBook 13" has a Li-Polymer battery which might be a different story.

So what do I do with the new battery?


first use/charging
daily use
I remember asking the guy at the Apple store this very question back when I bought my black MacBook 13" back in 2007. From what he said and from what I've read over the years regarding battery health, most of what Apple have stated on the page you referenced is applicable to you. If I could offer some more advice, it would be this.


Cycle your battery at least once a month by charging it to 100%, discharging it completely (until the MacBook puts itself to sleep) and leaving it discharged for about 5 hours, then charge to 100% again and let it "over"-charge for about 2 hours. According to Apple, you should get 300 cycles out of your battery before it is considered to be "consumed". That's 300 months of use if you only cycle it that many times.
Only charge the laptop when you need to. Don't leave it constantly plugged in. If you know you're going to be running off of mains for an extended period without the possibility of power failure, then consider  removing the battery altogether to prolong its life. The 2007 model MacBooks have easily removable batteries so it's not too much of a hassle.
As for first use, as far back as I can remember, all Apple products are ready to use straight out of the box. It's annoying to get so excited to have a device, get home, and then have to wait 16 hours for it to do an initial charge. As far as I am aware, this should extend to their batteries as well, although I would hazard a guess that the batteries come with a 50% charge instead of a full charge as the batteries should be stored at around 50% for long-term storage. I would suggest, based on that and the above advice, to utilise the battery the first time without an initial charge, deplete it until the MacBook enters low power state, then charge it fully.