Charge limiter app AlDente - now works on M1 Macs

[petterihiisila]

I had a bit of trouble getting my mind round what Allow Discharge actually does, so did some tests using a Satechi USB-C in line power meter to observe what was going int the machine.

Coconut Battery has a near-real-time "Charging with" measurement, which I've found to work well. There have been no anomalies with AlDente after I knew not to try the auto-discharge feature in clamshell mode.

Also glad to report that after 39 cycles and 3 months the Air is still holding steady at 100% battery health. It went down to 98% at some point, but with AlDente and better charging habits, it consistently returns to a few mAh above the Design Capacity.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Coconut Battery has a near-real-time "Charging with" measurement, which I've found to work well. There have been no anomalies with AlDente after I knew not to try the auto-discharge feature in clamshell mode.

Also glad to report that after 39 cycles and 3 months the Air is still holding steady at 100% battery health. It went down to 98% at some point, but with AlDente and better charging habits, it consistently returns to a few mAh above the Design Capacity.

Yes I have Coconut and it correctly shows "Charging with 0 watts". Of course the meter still shows 0.3/0.4A being supplied to run the machine from the charger.

You are doing a lot better than me, here is mine today:

94.5% after 18 cycles For the first ten weeks it was plugged in nearly all the time with Apple Optimise Charging turned on. Then two weeks ago I started with AlDente, but fear the damage is done and I won't get that 6% back.

 

[jdb8167]

Yes I have Coconut and it correctly shows "Charging with 0 watts". Of course the meter still shows 0.3/0.4A being supplied to run the machine from the charger.

You are doing a lot better than me, here is mine today:

View attachment 1740654

94.5% after 18 cycles For the first ten weeks it was plugged in nearly all the time with Apple Optimise Charging turned on. Then two weeks ago I started with AlDente, but fear the damage is done and I won't get that 6% back.

Charge it back to 100% and see if the full charge capacity increases. Battery chemistry is not very predictable. I’ve seen mine increase significantly after charging.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Charge it back to 100% and see if the full charge capacity increases. Battery chemistry is not very predictable. I’ve seen mine increase significantly after charging.

Thanks. I did that earlier today and it did improve from 94% to 94.5%.
I realise it's not predictable and I'm not unduly worried. Battery life is so good, and not actually very important for me, and have AppleCare.

 

[ksloth]

Thank you for this, what a great little utility I had no idea about. Working great on my M1 Pro.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Anyone else having trouble with a fresh install of Aldente on 11.2.3? I can't get it to install.

 

[Maxym77]

I have found a simple solution for limit charge without software. I recommend this.
When i use the macbook, i charge it with 2 Ampere power adapter from old phone with USBA -> USBC adapter .
The macbook show "not in charge" but the % remain stable (example at 65%) and don't go down or up for hours.
Only if you close the lid (standby) there is a very slow % charge increase (5% in 1 hour) but i disconnect the cable and there is no problem. I use a magnetic usb-c cable for simple use).
Easy and functional.
Sometime (Once a month) i charge it to 100% with apple charger (is important for cells auto balancing).
I also use the "sleepwatcher" program for disable wifi and bluetooth when lid is closed, with this, there is no battery drain (0 autowake) when the lid is closed. (1% max lost for every day).
After 4 months i have only 5 cycle count of battery and I haven't lost any mAh from battery capacity.

 

[stanleydesu]

I have found a simple solution for limit charge without software. I recommend this.
When i use the macbook, i charge it with 2 Ampere power adapter from old phone with USBA -> USBC adapter .
The macbook show "not in charge" but the % remain stable (example at 65%) and don't go down or up for hours.
Only if you close the lid (standby) there is a very slow % charge increase (5% in 1 hour) but i disconnect the cable and there is no problem. I use a magnetic usb-c cable for simple use).
Easy and functional.
Sometime (Once a month) i charge it to 100% with apple charger (is important for cells auto balancing).
I also use the "sleepwatcher" program for disable wifi and bluetooth when lid is closed, with this, there is no battery drain (0 autowake) when the lid is closed. (1% max lost for every day).
After 4 months i have only 5 cycle count of battery and I haven't lost any mAh from battery capacity.

Cool. One needs to get the right power adapter based off their usage. I find the 12W adapter works well for me (50% brightness, Safari, VSCode, Discord).
Haven't tested, but the other day my battery temperature seemed higher than normal using the 12W (~33°C), so I swapped back to the stock adapter and it decreased.
For prolonging battery I'd use it for charging (slower charging better), but for now I use the stock adapter and AlDente.

 

[stanleydesu]

Anyone else having trouble with a fresh install of Aldente on 11.2.3? I can't get it to install.

I just uninstalled to try. I have the same issue now lol
Edit: Ah I see you've already made an issue on GitHub
Edit 2: For now I'll use https://github.com/davidwernhart/AlDente/issues/52#issuecomment-778110894

 

[Maxym77]

Cool. One needs to get the right power adapter based off their usage. I find the 12W adapter works well.
Haven't tested, but the other day by battery temperature seemed higher than normal using the 12W, so I swapped back to the stock adapter and it decreased.
For prolonging battery I'd use it for charging (slower charging better), but for now I use the stock adapter and AlDente.

i have no problem with temperature, battery stay fixed at 25° with or without charge

 

[jdb8167]

I have found a simple solution for limit charge without software. I recommend this.
When i use the macbook, i charge it with 2 Ampere power adapter from old phone with USBA -> USBC adapter .
The macbook show "not in charge" but the % remain stable (example at 65%) and don't go down or up for hours.
Only if you close the lid (standby) there is a very slow % charge increase (5% in 1 hour) but i disconnect the cable and there is no problem. I use a magnetic usb-c cable for simple use).
Easy and functional.
Sometime (Once a month) i charge it to 100% with apple charger (is important for cells auto balancing).
I also use the "sleepwatcher" program for disable wifi and bluetooth when lid is closed, with this, there is no battery drain (0 autowake) when the lid is closed. (1% max lost for every day).
After 4 months i have only 5 cycle count of battery and I haven't lost any mAh from battery capacity.

I know a lot of people haven't had much luck with Apple's optimized battery charging but it has worked very well for me on my M1 MacBook Air. For the last 5 days, I've been sitting at around 92% (Apple's battery menu extra) or about 87% based on the real current charge value (coconutBattery). Absolutely rock steady with only a slight upward charge when I was installing 11.2.3.

I expect that at some point the system will start charging to 100% and then allow the battery to drop back to 90% or so. I'm curious as to when this will happen. I'm hesitant to use the MacBook on battery right now because I don't want to disturb the algorithm. It hasn't been unplugged since last Saturday (6 March) when I switched to a new charger. Before that it hadn't been unplugged for the previous 3 days.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Anyone else having trouble with a fresh install of Aldente on 11.2.3? I can't get it to install.

Confirmed here.

 

[ksloth]

Note - If you get a malware alert with the software in Big Sur, it is because the developer's certificate has expired. He is aware and updating it. Threw me for a minute when I opened my Macbook and had an ominous warning appear on my screen!

 

[petterihiisila]

Confirmed here.

(@ksloth just posted this, but here are the links.)

The developer confirmed that his developer certificate was expired. Keep watching the release page.

 

[jsamuels]

Version 2.1.2 is available and is working on my MBP.

 

[tosbsas]

Update is out

 

[ksloth]

Had to do this, FWIW.

"For anyone who still has problems (regarding old helper versions that are now marked as a "threat" by MacOS), please try the following steps:

• Delete /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.davidwernhart.Helper.plist
• Delete /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.davidwernhart.Helper
• Restart your MacBook
• Install this new version of AlDente as usual"

 

[petterihiisila]

Had to do this, FWIW.

"For anyone who still has problems (regarding old helper versions that are now marked as a "threat" by MacOS), please try the following steps:

• Delete /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.davidwernhart.Helper.plist
• Delete /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.davidwernhart.Helper
• Restart your MacBook
• Install this new version of AlDente as usual"

I didn't need a restart. I did this:

1. Quit AlDente (mine was running, I never quit it during this debacle)
2. Quit the helper process via Activity Monitor
3. Delete the helper and plist files mentioned above (careful, needs sudo/password)
4. Install the new version and its helper tool

And it works.

 

[zpafis]

It works fine here with my MacBook Air M1.

 

[Apple_Robert]

AlDente 2.2 has been released.

Fixed a bug that caused increased CPU consumption over time on some systems.
Added automatic updates
Slight UI changes

 

[Mike Boreham]

I am still unclear about whether/how to use the "Allow Discharge" option in normal/everyday use.

What were the author's reasons for including this option?

Two possible use cases I can see:-

1. If for some reason the charge goes to 100% (eg machine left plugged in while shut down) "allow discharge" will bring it down quickly. Without Allow Discharge it could take a very long time.

2. To do an occasional exercise cycle of the battery (between say 20% and 100% using the Al Dente slider). Without "Allow Discharge" it could a very long time to get down to 20%.

For these two occasional situations one could turn on "Allow Discharge" as required, or maybe might as well leave it on the time? What difference would it make in normal use?

How are you using "Allow Discharge"?

Thanks

 

[Apple_Robert]

AlDente just sent out invites for a limited number of beta testers for their pro version. Beta testers get 50% off the price of the pro version.

send an email to news@apphousekitchen.com. State your Mac model and say you want to beta test Aldente Pro.

Link shows what the pro version will include.

AlDente

AlDente – Charge Limiter The ALL-IN-ONE charge Limiter App for MacBooks. Download Free Get AlDente Pro AlDente gives you the tools you need to extend the life of your MacBook battery. Why do I need this? Li-ion batteries (like the one in your MacBook) last the longest when operated between 20%...

apphousekitchen.com

Pricing

AlDente Free Charge Limiter Discharge Automatic Discharge Discharge in Clamshell Mode Heat Protection Sailing Mode Control MagSafe LED Top Up Calibration Mode Apple Shortcuts Support Right Click Live Status Icons No Support Full License Download Free Notarized by Apple AlDente Pro Subscription...

apphousekitchen.com

 

[BigMcGuire]

AlDente just sent out invites for a limited number of beta testers for their pro version. Beta testers get 50% off the price of the pro version.

send an email to news@apphousekitchen.com. State your Mac model and say you want to beta test Aldente Pro.

Link shows what the pro version will include.

AlDente

AlDente – Charge Limiter The ALL-IN-ONE charge Limiter App for MacBooks. Download Free Get AlDente Pro AlDente gives you the tools you need to extend the life of your MacBook battery. Why do I need this? Li-ion batteries (like the one in your MacBook) last the longest when operated between 20%...

apphousekitchen.com

Pricing

AlDente Free Charge Limiter Discharge Automatic Discharge Discharge in Clamshell Mode Heat Protection Sailing Mode Control MagSafe LED Top Up Calibration Mode Apple Shortcuts Support Right Click Live Status Icons No Support Full License Download Free Notarized by Apple AlDente Pro Subscription...

apphousekitchen.com

I just signed up for this too. After you paid, did you get a download link or key?

 

[Apple_Robert]

I just signed up for this too. After you paid, did you get a download link or key?

Yes, I got a key right away.

 

[tosbsas]

got myself a license too - awesome little program )

got one question though: it says when activated its inhibiting charging - but that doesn't fit the description