Battery Charging On Hold (rarely used on battery).....

[scaramoosh]

This is the best feature of these new MacBooks, why is no one else doing it? I've used so many Windows laptops and none of them have this feature. I just bought a new Windows laptop recently to try out some VR, and it doesn't do it either despite being £2000. However on this M1 Max laptop, it's sitting at 80% and slowly discharges over time, then when it gets low enough it charges back up to 80 percent. So I'm guessing the laptop is running off of the power cable and the battery is just idling. This is great as normally with my laptops, I leave them plugged in 24/7 and the battery is shot after a couple years.

And before anyone asks why I don't just buy a desktop, because I move around a lot and living with stuff you cannot whack in a bag sucks.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Its the optimized battery charging feature

 

[Mike Boreham]

There are a lot of threads about it, and I think most people use it. May even be on by default.
You are lucky. It has never worked for me on my two mostly-plugged-in M1 MBAs, so I use the third party app AlDente which does the same thing with much more control.

 

[jparker402]

Its the optimized battery charging feature

Please tell me more! I just noticed this on my new MacBook Pro 14, and it looks like charging has stopped at 80%. I do leave mine plugged in on the charger all the time, like I did with my 2015 MacBook Air. The old air would go to 100%, but this one stops at 80%.

 

[doboy]

Please tell me more! I just noticed this on my new MacBook Pro 14, and it looks like charging has stopped at 80%. I do leave mine plugged in on the charger all the time, like I did with my 2015 MacBook Air. The old air would go to 100%, but this one stops at 80%.

Because lithium ion battery constantly at 100% is not good for longevity.

 

[evertjr]

Its a very nice feature. Mine sometimes stays on hold for weeks. The secret is if your Mac is sitting on 100% for a while (days, weeks) unplug and let it discharge bellow 70% and plug again, there's a good chance it will trigger the charging hold.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Please tell me more! I just noticed this on my new MacBook Pro 14, and it looks like charging has stopped at 80%. I do leave mine plugged in on the charger all the time, like I did with my 2015 MacBook Air. The old air would go to 100%, but this one stops at 80%.

Here is a post I made explaining more about it.

I keep my M1MBA at 50% max because that is the optimum storage % for Li-ion. And I have more than enough usage on battery with 50%. At 50% charge the cells are only charged to 3.84V, compared to 4.5V at 100%.

80% is a compromise between the optimum storage condition and available usage time. I use AlDente Pro, which is more flexible than OBC.

 

[jparker402]

Thank you for the info!

 

[russell_314]

I thought it keeps it at 80% but I noticed this today. How low will it go?
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[doboy]

I thought it keeps it at 80% but I noticed this today. How low will it go?
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View attachment 2054141

perfectly fine. I've seen mine drop to ~76% before climbing back up.

 

[russell_314]

perfectly fine. I've seen mine drop to ~76% before climbing back up.

Awesome I figured as much but I was just for some reason under the impression that it would only got 80%. I’m sure it knows what it needs to do

 

[uller6]

Here is a post I made explaining more about it.

I keep my M1MBA at 50% max because that is the optimum storage % for Li-ion. And I have more than enough usage on battery with 50%. At 50% charge the cells are only charged to 3.84V, compared to 4.5V at 100%.

80% is a compromise between the optimum storage condition and available usage time. I use AlDente Pro, which is more flexible than OBC.

Are you sure the new Apple batteries charge all the way up to 4.5V? That’s awfully high, even for NMC811 cathodes, and would definitely start to cause irreversible cathode phase changes and electrolyte breakdown when held at full charge for too long. I would expect something closer to 4.3V at maximum charge.

 

[MacCheetah3]

About battery health management in Mac notebooks - Apple Support

Mac notebook computers with Apple silicon use battery health management, a feature designed to improve the lifespan of your computer's battery.

support.apple.com

 

[Mike Boreham]

Are you sure the new Apple batteries charge all the way up to 4.5V? That’s awfully high, even for NMC811 cathodes, and would definitely start to cause irreversible cathode phase changes and electrolyte breakdown when held at full charge for too long. I would expect something closer to 4.3V at maximum charge.

You're right. I just took mine up to full charge to check. 4.31V at 100%:

 

[B....]

Here is a post I made explaining more about it.

I keep my M1MBA at 50% max because that is the optimum storage % for Li-ion. And I have more than enough usage on battery with 50%. At 50% charge the cells are only charged to 3.84V, compared to 4.5V at 100%.

80% is a compromise between the optimum storage condition and available usage time. I use AlDente Pro, which is more flexible than OBC.

Thanks for your info on AlDente. A couple questions : Why the "pro" version over the free one? If I get AlDente pro lifetime licence, will it transfer OK to my next MBP? Do you leave it (your MBA) plugged in at home & if so, does it automatically start re-charge to the 50% when it reaches a preset minimum? Thanks again. B....

 

[Mike Boreham]

Thanks for your info on AlDente. A couple questions : Why the "pro" version over the free one? If I get AlDente pro lifetime licence, will it transfer OK to my next MBP? Do you leave it (your MBA) plugged in at home & if so, does it automatically start re-charge to the 50% when it reaches a preset minimum? Thanks again. B....

I haven't followed all the differences between free and Pro Al Dente but at the time I bought Pro a while ago, Clamshell mode was only supported in the Pro version.
It transfers easily between machines and activates with the serial number.
Yes everything is automatic. It does not work while the machine is installing a new OS or while booted in Recovery. If different users use the machine it needs to be set up for each user. So in practice, because I do a lot of testing,I find that it is frequently going above 50% for various reasons, so I make quite frequent use of the discharge feature.

 

[B....]

I haven't followed all the differences between free and Pro Al Dente but at the time I bought Pro a while ago, Clamshell mode was only supported in the Pro version.
It transfers easily between machines and activates with the serial number.
Yes everything is automatic. It does not work while the machine is installing a new OS or while booted in Recovery. If different users use the machine it needs to be set up for each user. So in practice, because I do a lot of testing,I find that it is frequently going above 50% for various reasons, so I make quite frequent use of the discharge feature.

Thanks Mike. I have a newly purchased 14" M1 pro & it always seems to charge fully on the optimized battery setting for some reason so I'll give AlDente a try (for reasons you've given).
I would also appreciate your take on how often the M1 MBPs should be shut down overnight rather than sleep, & the reasons for that. Much thanks in advance.
EDIT: My AlDente Pro now up & running. Lots of help on their site.

 

[Mike Boreham]

I would also appreciate your take on how often the M1 MBPs should be shut down overnight rather than sleep, & the reasons for that. Much thanks in advance.

I don't really have an opinion on that...not sure that there is a correct "should". My two M1 MBAs are on 24/7 and never sleep. They get rebooted for various reasons quite often.

 

[jdb8167]

You should allow your Mac to sleep overnight at least some of the time. MacOS does maintenance overnight. If you always shut down then either the maintenance is not done or it’s done while you are actively using the computer.

 

[B....]

You should allow your Mac to sleep overnight at least some of the time. MacOS does maintenance overnight. If you always shut down then either the maintenance is not done or it’s done while you are actively using the computer

I just let it sleep most always but wondered if a periodic overnight shutdown has practical benefit. I recall mention of that someplace but a reboot now & again has been my habit forever.
Edit: with the new silicon macs this practice got my curiosity.