Optimize your Apple Macbook’s battery settings in Power Saver preferences to increase battery life.

1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. From the View menu, choose Power Savings.
3. Click Show Details.
4. Choose Battery or Battery Power from the “Settings for” pop-up menu.
5. Choose the longest or best battery life from the Optimize power settings pop-up menu.

This setting will put the hard drive to sleep whenever possible and reduce the performance of the computer’s microprocessor to maximize battery life.

If you are using intensive mac applications, you may want to tweak or change the settings so that the performance of the microprocessor is no longer reduced.

Set your screen brightness to the lowest level that is comfortable for you

Press the F1 (dimmer) and F2 (brighter) keys to dim the screen until the brightness is as low as possible and the screen is still comfortable to view.

Turn off unused features and technologies.

Just as you would turn off the lights in an unoccupied room, turning off unused features and technologies can also help maximize battery life. Here are some suggestions:

• Eject CDs and DVDs that you no longer use. From time to time, the optical drive spins up to read CDs or DVDs. This consumes a small amount of power.
• Unplug peripherals when you’re not using them. Connected peripherals, such as printers and digital cameras, can consume battery power even when you’re not using them.

If you’re not in a place where you need to use AirPort or Bluetooth, you can turn them off to save power.

To turn off AirPort:

1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. From the View menu, choose Network.
3. In the Show selection, choose Network Port Settings.
4. Uncheck Airport from the list.
5. Click Apply Now.

To disable Bluetooth in Mac OS X 10.2 or later:

1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. From the View menu, choose Bluetooth.
3. Click on the Settings tab.
4. Click Turn off Bluetooth.