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How Much Is Too Much To Leave Running?

At your suggestion I no longer turn my Mac Book Pro off. I just leave it on and plugged in; then put it to sleep until next use. I haven’t added a cycle to the battery in 3 months.
Q: Apps like Safari, 2 mail apps, Calendar, I always quit at the end of the day leaving Finder as the only “indicated” running app. Is this necessary, or can I leave them running in the background as well? (each email, calendar, get their own space)
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Greg

Comments: One Response to “How Much Is Too Much To Leave Running?”

    4 years ago

    No, that's not necessary. Apps don't use much in terms of resources if they aren't doing anything. Calendar just sits there. Mail will check for new messages, but that is what you want it to do. You don't want to quit it and then have to have it catch up with a lot of email and syncing when you launch it. (What's your second mail app? Why 2?)
    Safari is fine too, but don't get in the habit, like some people do, of using a ton of tabs. A few tabs (or windows) open is fine. But I see some people with like 40 tabs open and that can hurt performance. It is OK to use a lot of tabs, but just don't keep them around unless you are really using them.
    How I work: I almost always have Mail, Reminders, Notes, Safari and Messages running. It is rare that of of these is not. I usually have about 2-3 tabs open in Safari, but that can go to about 5-7 if I am working (researching, etc). Then in addition, I have apps open that I'm using for a particular task at the moment, like Pages, Pixelmator Pro, Screenflow, iMovie, or whatever I am doing. But I usually quit those when I am done using them for the time being.

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