M1 Max Battery Lifespan

[Lee_Mac]

Had my M1 Max since November 2021, I wouldn't say I've hammered it off power but I was surprised to see such a drop in 14 months of use. Would this be typical only after 34 cycles, 90% already?

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 34

Condition: Normal

Maximum Capacity: 90%

 

[grizzlified]

Weird numbers. Had mine last July 2022 and here are my stats:

I think the cycle count is weird for a device thats already more than 1 year old.

 

[zakarhino]

Weird numbers. Had mine last July 2022 and here are my stats:

View attachment 2170617

I think the cycle count is weird for a device thats already more than 1 year old.

Launch day M1 Max here. It's over..........

@Lee_Mac the fact I have the same max capacity stats as you indicates maybe there's an issue with how the system is calculating max capacity. I have no idea though, maybe just a coincidence. I was expecting it to be way higher than 90% though so not sure if we have dud batteries or not. I usually keep mine plugged in for most of the day with optimized battery charging holding it at around 80%. Recently I've been off power a lot more frequently dropping from 100% to 40% and charging back up again so most of the time optimized battery charging doesn't kick in and my laptop holds at 100% charge.

Odd.

 

[Honza1]

Every battery is slightly different so the number may not be precise with your specific battery. 34 cycles in 14 month suggests use mostly on charger, if you did not calibrate battery recently, system may not read it correctly. There is lots of possibilities. Also, time is very important - old battery with only few cycles will also loose capacity, simply due to age. So not using your battery is counter productive - batteries are consumable item, they will get used and eventually die...
But, it can also be correct, who knows. Batteries vary and there are bad ones once in a while.
Get coconutBattery (free) and compare that that is showing with what system is saying. You can also Compare online (there is button on History viewer of coconutBattery) with others with same system which will answer your question you pose here. I just checked and there is huge variation - at 14 month between 6800-8800 mAh.

 

[Lee_Mac]

Launch day M1 Max here. It's over..........

@Lee_Mac the fact I have the same max capacity stats as you indicates maybe there's an issue with how the system is calculating max capacity. I have no idea though, maybe just a coincidence. I was expecting it to be way higher than 90% though so not sure if we have dud batteries or not. I usually keep mine plugged in for most of the day with optimized battery charging holding it at around 80%. Recently I've been off power a lot more frequently dropping from 100% to 40% and charging back up again so most of the time optimized battery charging doesn't kick in and my laptop holds at 100% charge.

Odd.

It does indeed sit on the power for most of the time and I use it in the field when I'm out working which can be several times per month but is fairly seasonal. Just seemed a larger than expected drop for not much over one years usage. It does sit on the 80% most of the time so I may give it a couple of cycles see if it changes. I thought the whole point of these now was the 80% and while on power is to help prevent early battery degradation.

Weird numbers. Had mine last July 2022 and here are my stats:

View attachment 2170617

I think the cycle count is weird for a device thats already more than 1 year old.

Not weird number when it's mainly used as a desktop.

 

[grizzlified]

It does indeed sit on the power for most of the time and I use it in the field when I'm out working which can be several times per month but is fairly seasonal. Just seemed a larger than expected drop for not much over one years usage. It does sit on the 80% most of the time so I may give it a couple of cycles see if it changes. I thought the whole point of these now was the 80% and while on power is to help prevent early battery degradation.


Not weird number when it's mainly used as a desktop.

Oh so thats the normal battery life of a mbp being used as a desktop. My MBP 16 is the first mac i've got so no idea thats the way battery was consumed. My usual workload is just running RDP into our windows server and doing my development job there so very little stress on the laptop and running on battery my entire shift. Its amazing how much battery consumption being plugged in can do to the battery.

 

[Honza1]

It probably should not be called "consumed" but "worn out". Both time and number of charge cycles are wearing battery out. There are many pages on the web dedicated to dissecting this issue and people have infinite arguments on what is better. Generally all agree, that long time at really full charge (above 80%) and deep discharge (below 10-20%) is bad. Also, time will eventually kill any battery, even unused one. And for system to keep track of battery, occasional discharge to ~20% followed by full charge is a good thing. Anything more and it gets matter of opinion and opens ugly arguments.
Using MBP as desktop is not good for battery. Using AlDente to do some battery exercises once in a while may be good idea. Even then, at some point battery will wear out simply due to time (years).

 

[russell_314]

Using MBP as desktop is not good for battery. Using AlDente to do some battery exercises once in a while may be good idea. Even then, at some point battery will wear out simply due to time (years).

If you leave it plugged in the battery will go down to about 80% with the default setting. Mine is at 77% now plugged in and not charging. The only thing is if you unplug it then plug it back in it wants to charge back up till 100% but will go back down in a few days. This is on my M2 MBA but I suspect it's similar with the MBP

I agree though if you're leaving it plugged in all the time maybe a Mac mini would be the better option.

I've had my MBA for over six months now and it's still at 100% with only 14 cycles (Can you tell it stays plugged in most of the time?) but I don't put too much stock in the percentage numbers. The battery will last me the five years till I upgrade so I'm not worried.

I didn't see it mentioned but heat is a big factor. If someone in a very hot climate using it outside or in their house without AC while constantly checking to see if their Geekbench score has gone down, this might be cause the battery extra wear.

 

[Misheemee]

I have a base M1 Pro not a Max - 30 charge cycles and battery health is 100%, had it since April last year. Mine is a personal machine, not a work machine

edited to add - mine doesn't sit on the charger, it's more so used as a portable not desktop - charge, use until discharged to 10-20%, then repeat