MacBook Air 15'' M2 - Charging Issues with USB-C Monitor Plugged in

[andrewashe]

Hi there,

I received my 15 inch Air a couple of weeks ago and so far have tried a few different set ups for charging the laptop. Objective: preserve the battery over the long run.

I use a USB-C monitor with this laptop. Theoretically it has charging built in. However, I've heard that these monitors can wear on the battery life of a laptop.

More recently, I've read that the laptop handles this through the battery management, which I tend to trust. However, I thought I'd try the MagSafe adapter + monitor plugged into USB-C. When I do this, the MagSafe charger never changes from amber to green while the monitor is plugged in.

As soon as I unplug, it goes green. The laptop even shows that it's fully charged while both are plugged in, but the light remains amber. There are some other threads where users say that this is the sign of an issue. This doesn't give me assurance that the laptop handles it all properly.

Options:
- Trust the process and continue the MagSafe / USB-C setup
- Switch to the USB-C only option and let the monitor handle the charging, hoping the laptop handles it properly
- If the monitor is complicating things, I guess I could do a DisplayPort to USB-C cable that doesn't carry any power over it
- Try out an app like Al Dente? (Started to do this but didn't like the idea of disabling the Mac optimized charging setting as it asks you to do.)


Any thoughts or shared experiences?

 

[Fravin]

As soon as I unplug, it goes green.

This is absolutely not an issue. Your Macbook (as all other laptops powered by usbc) will allow power input from the stronger source. Source from Apple

If you connect more than one power source, your Mac charges only from the cable and power adapter or display providing the most power.

Your display are providing more power than the Macbooks’s power brick. Thats why its light shows it isn‘t charging. This displays usually provides about 100w. Take a look in your’s model tech spechs.

 

[JPack]

Why plug in both? USB-C delivers power reliably unless you have a crappy monitor. Trust that rather than plugging in both. The OS will after 1-2 weeks put charging on hold automatically if you provide constant power to the notebook.