MacBook pro Weird Charging Issue

[nollimac]

So, I have been experiencing this weird charging issue where if I go to the coffee shop or library and plug in, my mac won't charge the battery. Researched and saw many people having the same issue where their Mac only charged on certain outlets.

So, as an experiment, I took my power strip to the coffee shop. First, I plugged in my Mac to see whether it still had the issue charging and sure enough, it wouldn't charge. Then I plugged in my power strip and plugged in my Mac power adapter...it started charging...doesn't make sense. Is the Mac reading the source? Not cool if so...why the hell would Apple do that?

I have had several Macbook pros...I still have all except one that I had sold...never experience anything like this before...wow! Don't say reset SMC because I did several times...I ever flashed the Pram even though it doesn't work on my 2018 model. Its time Apple resolve that since I have seen others with M chip having same exact problem.

 

[SuperCachetes]

Have you ruled out the battery optimization? What happens if you plug in at the coffee shop or library without the power strip and click "charge to full now" on the battery in the menu bar?

 

[nollimac]

click "charge to full now" on the battery in the menu bar?

I should have disclosed that I am on Sonoma 14.5 beta and believe it's the recent update beta that came out this pass Tuesday that's causing the issue. For some reason, I don't have that "charge to full now." Well I haven't ruled out battery optimization and I have it enabled...I will disable it.

 

[stevemiller]

This happens to me constantly, starting immediately after updating to Sonoma. I plug in my laptop and it doesn’t charge. Initially thought it was optimized charging, but the machine will run down to zero and shut off all while plugged in.

Also realized optimized charging will still show when it knows you’re plugged in and say “charging on hold” in the menu bar. This issue just does not recognize the MagSafe charger at all.

Further it will eventually detect the cord and start charging if you unplug and replug a couple of times. I checked and there is no debris or damage on either the cord or port. Combined with the fact that it started right after a software update, I’m leaning towards yet another in the mountain of bugs that Apple seems to have stopped caring about.

But hey we gotta pool our limited trillions into AI everywhere to appease the latest-buzzword-obsessed investors. (And since that’s every tech company right now it’s not like you can threaten to take your business elsewhere) </rant> 🫠

 

[nollimac]

After checking the charger out by plugging into another, it appeared my charger, not the cable, is bad/no good/died...bummer.

Still, I wondered why that battery menu "charge to full now." isn't showing...