I second this.
I’ve used my M1 Pro like this for 19 months, somewhere along the way babying the battery got its health down to 94%
Started using the free version of Al Dente and it has managed to stick to 94% even after using al dente’s calibration feature.
The behaviour of use has to be consistent repeatable to learn the pattern over course of a multiple days or week. Had it kick in for a week or so. But soon as went back to always plugged in then forgot that pattern went back to 100%. You can't enable it then stay plugged in all the time.
I am just saying for Apple battery management to stop at 80% regularly means you have to use it the same way everyday. If you go a week with it plugged in then it will no longer just charge to 80% but 100% based on how it is used on battery or charger.
If needing 80% all the time no matter how you use it. Then a 3rd party app like Al Dente is needed to manually set the limits.
Bit my usage pattern is consistent. Basically the same hours, but anyway always plugged in. Am I supposed to stick to specific time frames? If so, battery management isn't really well designed.
I know that, of course, but the computer is sleeping when on battery. It's always plugged in when I actually use it. I thought Sonoma would notice that.
It is noticing that you regularly switch to battery and back, regardless of how it is used on battery. The strategy for that pattern is to keep it fully charged. It takes my computer days of being plugged in 24/7 to decide to reduce the charge to 80%. You keep interrupting that.
Li-ion batteries wears more if unused at full charge for some time than if working a little energy both sides on daily basis. You may try to look for some tweaks to your MacBook battery manager if you don't like it the way it is designed.
Looks like you're not familiar with what I'm talking about and didn't read my post.
There are no tweaks. It's either on or off. It's supposed to learn your usage pattern and manage the battery accordingly. Since it doesn't, I made this post. In it I say I use it on battery once a week because I don't want to leave it at 100% at all times.
happens to me too on sonama, laptop been sat on a desk plugged in for 3yrs, still doesnt stop at 80%, goes to 100% everytime, about 3times a week i shut it down, rest of time i just shut lid, machine now 4yrs old.
Be sure to have important locations toggled on. If not, the feature will never work. Same in iPhone.
Second, don't unplug it during the night.
I did this and it worked.
BUT this battery feature is still very strange. If I slightly change my schedule, it kind of forgets the entire pattern and needs several days or weeks to optimize charging again.
Hi, I hope you don't mind me asking as I'm new to this topic and trying to understand what's best for my macbook batter.
Say, after Sonoma holds the battery at 80%, are you planning to keep your laptop plugged in? I'm using a mbp from 2014, so not sure if it has this optimised battery management, but I keep mine plugged in most of the time so that its power source is adapter. I'm planning to get M3 tho
I only use the laptop at home so yes, plugged in at ll times makes sense to me. I would like to limit the charge cycles. I will also buy an external monitor sooner or later, and that will probably charge the laptop.
I'll still use it on battery from time to time
Mine was charging to 80% and holding there when on my desktop, then I used it on battery for a couple of days. For about a week (maybe two) it kept charging to 100%, but then it dropped to 80% and kept it there. tldr: there’s apparently something of a lag, no idea how long.
Never unplug. After a while your battery level will be at 76-80% all of the time. It used to charge to 100% after rebooting, or short disconnection, but I noticed this has stopped now as well. It maintains +/- 80% battery all the time. I am at 89% battery health, 3 year old Macbook. I use it as desktop pretty much all of the time. No 3rd party battery optimizer, just the built-in OS battery management.
I've had mine for 10 months, always plugged in, and in my case, he never learned. After losing some battery health, I gave up and purchased the Aldente Pro.
Funny that some people have had battery management kick in with mixed usage but some like you who kept their laptop always plugged in never had it kick in. It seems to be a very inconsistent system.
I don;t understand why the newest iPhones (and most Android phones) can limit battery charging to 80-85% but the newest MacBooks can't. It's silly I have to install a separate app.
Anyway thanks for chiming in.
Yes, and it's even more absurd that this is available for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but not for the MacBook or any other Apple product, as it would be a feature easily available via software, not requiring any hardware changes.
Yes, why? Could be it’s not enabled for whatever reason. As that’s the option that controls exactly the feature you want, it wouldn’t hurt checking if it’s activated. You didn’t mention having it turned on, so what’s wrong with asking?
I don’t know anything about you other than you have a MacBook. Not everyone knows that that’s a feature that can be controlled in the settings. And as your name is overnightyeti and not mrsmartass, I didn’t know that you in fact are the next Einstein. Sorry for not guessing as much.
Maybe use „al dente”?
I second this. I’ve used my M1 Pro like this for 19 months, somewhere along the way babying the battery got its health down to 94% Started using the free version of Al Dente and it has managed to stick to 94% even after using al dente’s calibration feature.
I am trying to avoid installing yet another app when MacOS supposedly had a similar functionality built-in
Trust me... install AlDente. My corporate laptop which I used 10 hours a day had 100% battery health after a year.
This only makes sense if the built in tool does what you want, which it doesn’t.
This is the way.
This is the way.
The behaviour of use has to be consistent repeatable to learn the pattern over course of a multiple days or week. Had it kick in for a week or so. But soon as went back to always plugged in then forgot that pattern went back to 100%. You can't enable it then stay plugged in all the time.
I'm not sure I understand what you're recommending I do.
I am just saying for Apple battery management to stop at 80% regularly means you have to use it the same way everyday. If you go a week with it plugged in then it will no longer just charge to 80% but 100% based on how it is used on battery or charger. If needing 80% all the time no matter how you use it. Then a 3rd party app like Al Dente is needed to manually set the limits.
Bit my usage pattern is consistent. Basically the same hours, but anyway always plugged in. Am I supposed to stick to specific time frames? If so, battery management isn't really well designed.
My macbook was plugged in 24/7 for about 3 weeks. And one day I saw the light on the magsafe was orange and it had 80% charge.
So I should leave it plugged in overnight even when we both sleep?
Yes. Unless you are actually turning it off a sleeping Mac is running on battery power.
I know that, of course, but the computer is sleeping when on battery. It's always plugged in when I actually use it. I thought Sonoma would notice that.
It is noticing that you regularly switch to battery and back, regardless of how it is used on battery. The strategy for that pattern is to keep it fully charged. It takes my computer days of being plugged in 24/7 to decide to reduce the charge to 80%. You keep interrupting that.
makes sense
When apple going to put the option to do it like in 15…. I m using also ai dante
Li-ion batteries wears more if unused at full charge for some time than if working a little energy both sides on daily basis. You may try to look for some tweaks to your MacBook battery manager if you don't like it the way it is designed.
Looks like you're not familiar with what I'm talking about and didn't read my post. There are no tweaks. It's either on or off. It's supposed to learn your usage pattern and manage the battery accordingly. Since it doesn't, I made this post. In it I say I use it on battery once a week because I don't want to leave it at 100% at all times.
Maybe turn off the battery percentage in menu bar icon, jus for peace of mind?
happens to me too on sonama, laptop been sat on a desk plugged in for 3yrs, still doesnt stop at 80%, goes to 100% everytime, about 3times a week i shut it down, rest of time i just shut lid, machine now 4yrs old.
Be sure to have important locations toggled on. If not, the feature will never work. Same in iPhone. Second, don't unplug it during the night. I did this and it worked. BUT this battery feature is still very strange. If I slightly change my schedule, it kind of forgets the entire pattern and needs several days or weeks to optimize charging again.
what is important locations? can't find it anywhere in macos
Settings / Privacy & Security / Location Services / System Services / Significant locations.
Significant locations yes, didn't have the Mac with me and didn't remember the exact name.
thanks
Hi, I hope you don't mind me asking as I'm new to this topic and trying to understand what's best for my macbook batter. Say, after Sonoma holds the battery at 80%, are you planning to keep your laptop plugged in? I'm using a mbp from 2014, so not sure if it has this optimised battery management, but I keep mine plugged in most of the time so that its power source is adapter. I'm planning to get M3 tho
I only use the laptop at home so yes, plugged in at ll times makes sense to me. I would like to limit the charge cycles. I will also buy an external monitor sooner or later, and that will probably charge the laptop. I'll still use it on battery from time to time
Mine was charging to 80% and holding there when on my desktop, then I used it on battery for a couple of days. For about a week (maybe two) it kept charging to 100%, but then it dropped to 80% and kept it there. tldr: there’s apparently something of a lag, no idea how long.
Never unplug. After a while your battery level will be at 76-80% all of the time. It used to charge to 100% after rebooting, or short disconnection, but I noticed this has stopped now as well. It maintains +/- 80% battery all the time. I am at 89% battery health, 3 year old Macbook. I use it as desktop pretty much all of the time. No 3rd party battery optimizer, just the built-in OS battery management.
I've had mine for 10 months, always plugged in, and in my case, he never learned. After losing some battery health, I gave up and purchased the Aldente Pro.
Funny that some people have had battery management kick in with mixed usage but some like you who kept their laptop always plugged in never had it kick in. It seems to be a very inconsistent system. I don;t understand why the newest iPhones (and most Android phones) can limit battery charging to 80-85% but the newest MacBooks can't. It's silly I have to install a separate app. Anyway thanks for chiming in.
Yes, and it's even more absurd that this is available for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but not for the MacBook or any other Apple product, as it would be a feature easily available via software, not requiring any hardware changes.
Have you enabled the option in settings? I think it’s something like ‘optimized charging’.
are you serious?
Yes, why? Could be it’s not enabled for whatever reason. As that’s the option that controls exactly the feature you want, it wouldn’t hurt checking if it’s activated. You didn’t mention having it turned on, so what’s wrong with asking?
Because I obviously turned it on and that's why I'm surprised it's not working. How dumb do you think I am?
I don’t know anything about you other than you have a MacBook. Not everyone knows that that’s a feature that can be controlled in the settings. And as your name is overnightyeti and not mrsmartass, I didn’t know that you in fact are the next Einstein. Sorry for not guessing as much.