Battery health on 2021 16in macbook pro still 100%.

[mactinkerlover]

Bought this machine in April 2022. My machine has 100% battery health and only 35 cycles. In fact, coconut battery reports I have 101% battery health.



How is my battery health so good after almost 2 years? Is it because the machine stays plugged in at 80% and cool?



What's y'alls battery health and use case on your macbooks?

 

[WilliamG]

Bought my 16" MBP Day 1 release, October 18, 2021. Sits between 65-80% battery using Al Dente. Always plugged in. Still at 100% life.

 

[Zest28]

Mine has dropped to 97%, but I am running it often at full tilt with fans blasting.

My M2 MacBook Air is still at 100% as I don't really stress this machine alot, so it's exposed to less heat.

 

[mactinkerlover]

Mine has dropped to 97%, but I am running it often at full tilt with fans blasting.

My M2 MacBook Air is still at 100% as I don't really stress this machine alot, so it's exposed to less heat.

Interesting. Do you have a 14 or 16 in?

 

[Zest28]

Interesting. Do you have a 14 or 16 in?

16” M1 Max MacBook Pro.

 

[iMacDragon]

Beats me certainly.. m2 16" that's downto 85% in less than year.

Though I suspect that if never allowed to charge to 100% the actual capacity tracking will probably be not accurate, as it will start becoming more and more of an estimate over time without a full cycle to recalibrate.

 

[Moreplease]

Bought this machine in April 2022. My machine has 100% battery health and only 35 cycles. In fact, coconut battery reports I have 101% battery health.

How is my battery health so good after almost 2 years? Is it because the machine stays plugged in at 80% and cool?

That and your cycle count of 35. Your battery has been stored more than used.

Bought my 16" MBP Day 1 release, October 18, 2021. Sits between 65-80% battery using Al Dente. Always plugged in. Still at 100% life.

Any particular reason you got a laptop?

 

[WilliamG]

That and your cycle count of 35. Your battery has been stored more than used.


Any particular reason you got a laptop?

I had different life plans at the time. Didn't we all?

 

[Moreplease]

I had different life plans at the time. Didn't we all?

Ha. Good point.

(Not that you need any particular reason to justify a laptop, especially to a nosy stranger. Was just curious about your very low cycle count.)

 

[WilliamG]

Ha. Good point.

(Not that you need any particular reason to justify a laptop, especially to a nosy stranger. Was just curious about your very low cycle count.)

All good. It was a fair question, too.

 

[Sptzz]

Bought my 16" MBP Day 1 release, October 18, 2021. Sits between 65-80% battery using Al Dente. Always plugged in. Still at 100% life.
View attachment 2338797

How are you finding Al Dente? Thinking of purchasing it. I use my MBP in clamshell mode to an external display 90% of the time and since Apple's own "optimization" doesn't really do much I think it might be worth it?

 

[WilliamG]

How are you finding Al Dente? Thinking of purchasing it. I use my MBP in clamshell mode to an external display 90% of the time and since Apple's own "optimization" doesn't really do much I think it might be worth it?

Yes it's absolutely worth it. Apple's implementation is so wishy-washy, so if you unplug occasionally then it has to "relearn" when you're plugged in not to charge to 100%. Al Dente is a set it and done type thing, though be aware if you're doing a software update that as the system is rebooting and installing, Al Dente of course won't be running, so the laptop will charge during this period.

 

[Sptzz]

Yes it's absolutely worth it. Apple's implementation is so wishy-washy, so if you unplug occasionally then it has to "relearn" when you're plugged in not to charge to 100%. Al Dente is a set it and done type thing, though be aware if you're doing a software update that as the system is rebooting and installing, Al Dente of course won't be running, so the laptop will charge during this period.

Do you need to turn Apple's "optimization" off on battery settings to use Al Dente?

And does it limit charging etc when it's sleeping / shutdown as well? Obviously, when it's doing a software update and rebooting etc it will be ignored I get it. OS updates arent that frequent anyway

 

[GigabitEthernet]

Do you need to turn Apple's "optimization" off on battery settings to use Al Dente?

And does it limit charging etc when it's sleeping / shutdown as well? Obviously, when it's doing a software update and rebooting etc it will be ignored I get it. OS updates arent that frequent anyway

Yes and yes.

My M1 is at 85% after two years with 173 cycles. I’m sure there’s something wrong somewhere but frankly I don’t really care at this point.

 

[Tankmaze]

I was contemplating on using Al Dente few months before, But I was on the road and use the battery often and now after a few days back in the office plugged in almost 12 hours a day, my macbook has this "battery charge on hold".

Which is surprising to me, I never knew about this before.
So I don't think I will be using Al Dente, just use Apple built in battery management.

 

[WilliamG]

I was contemplating on using Al Dente few months before, But I was on the road and use the battery often and now after a few days back in the office plugged in almost 12 hours a day, my macbook has this "battery charge on hold".

Which is surprising to me, I never knew about this before.
So I don't think I will be using Al Dente, just use Apple built in battery management.

The problem with Apple's is you have no control over it. You can see your battery will charge to full by 5:30pm. No thanks. Al Dente is just excellent, and well worth it.

 

[WilliamG]

Do you need to turn Apple's "optimization" off on battery settings to use Al Dente?

And does it limit charging etc when it's sleeping / shutdown as well? Obviously, when it's doing a software update and rebooting etc it will be ignored I get it. OS updates arent that frequent anyway

Hey sorry, missed this. I'm not sure if you have to turn off Apple's optimization, but I did, anyway. I never shut my system off or sleep it but according to Al Dente, yes to your questions:

"AlDente Pro has features called “Stop charging when sleeping” and “Stop charging when powered off” to counteract this behavior. You can read more about these features in our blog:

• Feature Explanation: Stop charging when powered off/app closed
• Feature Explanation: Stop charging when sleeping."

 

[ignatius345]

Ha. Good point.

(Not that you need any particular reason to justify a laptop, especially to a nosy stranger. Was just curious about your very low cycle count.)

My grandmother had a MacBook Air on her desk for like 8 years that she *never* unplugged. I would unplug it when visiting and let it discharge a bit, but other than that it was on AC 24/7 for almost a decade. When I finally got her a new one, that battery had something like 5 cycles on it. I tried to get her an iMac as a replacement, but she wanted another MacBook because really likes the idea of closing her laptop when she's done with it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[ignatius345]

The problem with Apple's is you have no control over it.

There's nothing to control. It stops charging when it's full. You really don't think Apple built battery management into MacOS?

 

[WilliamG]

There's nothing to control. It stops charging when it's full. You really don't think Apple built battery management into MacOS?

No, I know they did. I also know it's half-assed. You want it to stop charging at 60% or 72%? You can't do that. You charge to full one time to go on a trip, and then want it to stop immediately at the next charge at 80%? Nope. Can't do it. You have to wait until Apple decides 80% is enough, which can take days, or never, if you take your laptop off charge once a day. It's just not good enough.

 

[Tankmaze]

The problem with Apple's is you have no control over it. You can see your battery will charge to full by 5:30pm. No thanks. Al Dente is just excellent, and well worth it.

I agree, I have no control over it. But I have the luxury of just using the mac & battery and care less about maintaining with 80%, discharge, battery calibration etc...

I have experienced Al Dente before, with my mid 2015 15" MBP and set to max 75% limit charge , and now I can't fully charge the battery even though I have uninstalled Al Dente and reinstalled macOS, it always stays within 65-75% range it wont charge to 100%. But I am using the free version, I don't know if its because of that version...

 

[Sptzz]

I agree, I have no control over it. But I have the luxury of just using the mac & battery and care less about maintaining with 80%, discharge, battery calibration etc...

I have experienced Al Dente before, with my mid 2015 15" MBP and set to max 75% limit charge , and now I can't fully charge the battery even though I have uninstalled Al Dente and reinstalled macOS, it always stays within 65-75% range it wont charge to 100%. But I am using the free version, I don't know if its because of that version...

Send them an e-mail. They have instructions on how to uninstall properly on their website. Btw, Al Dente isn't doing anything magical, their devs already stated, what al dente does is already possible within macOS, they're not "hacking" anything. So nothing is broken.

 

[h.gilbert]

How is my battery health so good after almost 2 years? Is it because the machine stays plugged in at 80% and cool?

Basically yes. Heat and high/low states of charge are the worst things for batteries, you've avoided that.