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Battery Health management

T

tosbsas

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 22, 2008
1,302
439
Lima, Peru
Hi guys

I already killed one battery on my 2018 MBP cause I used it nearly always plugged in. The new management feature seems to be awesome, but I still don't understand it. too well. Sometimes I see my mbp charge to 80% and than it says - full charge in 5 hs or 7 hs, but during the day it will always charge to 100%. I learned that always plugged in is bad for battery.

I am tempted to use Al Dente and just keep it at 80% always, and only charge it to 100% when I know I will unplug it.

Suggestions?
 
I would love to hear folks' thought on this. And is there info or proof that keeping a MacBook plugged in actually does damage the battery, or does constant use age a battery faster?
 
srbNYC said:
I would love to hear folks' thought on this. And is there info or proof that keeping a MacBook plugged in actually does damage the battery, or does constant use age a battery faster?
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well constant plugin killed my battery in less than a year. Original charger. I had only 87 cycles
 
maybe a better idea as the health manager is to buy a smart grid adpater and program it to cycle the power on/off every hour or so :) this way you can leave it perma plugged in :)
 
GumaRodak said:
maybe a better idea as the health manager is to buy a smart grid adpater and program it to cycle the power on/off every hour or so :) this way you can leave it perma plugged in :)
Click to expand...

Good idea. But as I Said. I am still wondering How this is suposed to work
 
tosbsas said:
Good idea. But as I Said. I am still wondering How this is suposed to work
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the only way how i believe this can be explained is to actualy attache a power logger and monitor the power draw by the mbp in situations like for example Charging+Health ON, Charging+Health OFF in different battery conditions etc and then compare the results
 
tosbsas said:
Good idea. But as I Said. I am still wondering How this is suposed to work
Click to expand...
Here are some things I try to keep in mind on my own devices:
  • The macOS and iOS "smart" battery management feature is supposed to learn your usage and charging patterns. Then if your device is plugged in and the OS thinks the device is entering a lengthy period when it is usually idle (say, you put your phone on a charger when you go to sleep every night), it will stop charging at 80%. Then charging resumes near the end of the idle period.
  • The most stressful charging periods for battery wear are when a a battery is close to being fully discharged and when a battery is close to being fully charged.
  • When a battery is on the last few percentage points of charging up–I think the threshold is around 95% or 96%–it begins trickle charging as a safety measure. In other words, the battery slows down its charging activity just before it reaches a full charge.
  • If a laptop, tablet, or phone is left always connected to its charger, it can end up constantly trickle charging. The battery charges to 100%, usage brings the charge down a couple of percentage points, then trickle charging starts up. This repeats over and over and over...
  • Apple counts "charge cycles" as a full discharge-charge cycle. So it can take a large number of 1% or 2% trickle charges to add up to an Apple-defined charge cycle. But the battery is still going through the chemical and electronic effects of charging.
 
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@KaliYoni
thanks that helps a lot. I see that it somehow learned that during the day coming afternoon it should only load to 80% and have it at 100 at 7 am. :)) Now needs to learn what to do during the day
 
I use charge limiter (similar to Al dente) to keep my MBP 2018 at 60%. I will only charge it to 100% if I know I will be on the road, which hasn't happened since COVID.
 
Does anyone have concrete info on best practices for an iPad? I find tht usage drains it faster than my iPhone, so I tend to keep it plugged in so it’s always charged. (I don’t always know in advance when I might be taking it somewhere for portable use.) Is that bad?
 
srbNYC said:
Does anyone have concrete info on best practices for an iPad? I find tht usage drains it faster than my iPhone, so I tend to keep it plugged in so it’s always charged. (I don’t always know in advance when I might be taking it somewhere for portable use.) Is that bad?
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Yes, that is bad. All lithium batteries undergo "stress" during full charge or full discharge. The ideal charge is maintaining from 20-80%. That is don't let it drain below 20% and don't charge more than 80%.

For my MBP, I use charge limiter when plugged in to the wall. I set it at 55-60%.
 
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iPhones and MacBooks have all cycled from 95-100% when at 100% to help with those that plug in all the time. Granted, this is not as good as 40-80% or just sitting at 70% with AlDente.

My wife and I both got 2017 MBPs - identical. And while she uses her laptop a lot more than I do, her battery life went down to 78% capacity after 29 months while mine was 94%. I think there's a big range of "luck of the draw" when it comes to the battery you get, how you use it, and how it ages.

Right now, my 2020 MBP 13' is showing almost 0 usage with me utilizing Al Dente to keep it at 70-80% all the time when I plug it into the wall. 5 months of ownership and according to coconutBattery I haven't lost any capacity.

My MBA 2015 spent most of its life plugged in and was 90%+ after almost three years - same for my wife's 2015 MBA. <shrug>.

Batteries are something that will get old and lose capacity over time - but from my experience, seems like AlDente at 70% is the way to go especially for those of us who use our MacBooks like desktops.
 
srbNYC said:
I've got AlDente installed and set to 70%, and my MacBook has changed repeatedly to 100%.... :(
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If your Mac crashes and resets or has an update - upon rebooting, the Mac will charge to 100%. Just open AlDente and re-set the % - that does it for me. I think the later versions of Al Dente have a helper that helps keep that assigned as well. I'm on 2.2 right now but I think 2.3+ is out.
 
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BigMcGuire said:
If your Mac crashes and resets or has an update - upon rebooting, the Mac will charge to 100%. Just open AlDente and re-set the % - that does it for me. I think the later versions of Al Dente have a helper that helps keep that assigned as well. I'm on 2.2 right now but I think 2.3+ is out.
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nope 2.2 still latest
 
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