“Optimized battery charging” is killing my battery

[derekww]

Since using a usb-c cable with power delivery to connect my M1 MBA to my monitor my battery health is dropping about 10x faster.

I was using a display port (non-charging) cable for monitor before and I only plug in a charging cable when the battery drops to 20% and I would charge it to 80% and then unplug the charging cable. Using CoconutBattery I see the battery health drops around 0.3% per month. Very good.

About a month ago I started using another monitor during the weekend and that monitor can use one usb-c cable to also charge my M1. Nice and clean. But I noticed my battery is charged to 100% and stayed at 100% pretty much all the time. Occasionally it would stop charging at 80% for a short while and then shoot to 100% and stay there for the whole weekend. Using CoconutBattery I see the battery health drops around 3% per month. At this rate I may need to replace the battery every 6 months!

Q: For those who relies on “Optimized battery charging” (instead of using 3rd party battery control app) how much does your battery health drop per month on average? (You can calculate using CoconutBattery's history.)

Q: For those whose usage pattern varies daily, or has a weekday pattern and a different weekend pattern, is “Optimized battery charging” smart enough to hold off charing at 80% in your experience?

 

[TiggrToo]

Most of the time these days my Intel MBP 16” is running on battery whenever I look at it.

It must charge up at times because it’s been like this for weeks now.

 

[Apple_Robert]

You haven't posted anything that shows the built-in Optimize Charging feature is killing your battery.

Your OP also shows that you didn't make use of the feature to begin with.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I could never get Optimized Charging to work. I use AlDente to do the job instead. https://apphousekitchen.com

Battery health dropping 3% a month is not normal and you'll hit 80% ... as you said, very quickly. Battery wear is never consistent from one month to the next, but if it does drop below 80%, your replace battery notice should turn on and Apple will change out your battery.

I left my 2017 MBP 13' plugged in almost all its life (29 months) and it was at 94.2% after starting out 102% from factory. My wife's 2017 MBP 13' tanked a lot faster with similar usage and actually went below 80% before the 3 year warranty was up and Apple replaced her battery for free earlier this year.

 

[Slartibart]

Since using a usb-c cable with power delivery to connect my M1 MBA to my monitor my battery health is dropping about 10x faster.

I was using a display port (non-charging) cable for monitor before and I only plug in a charging cable when the battery drops to 20% and I would charge it to 80% and then unplug the charging cable. Using CoconutBattery I see the battery health drops around 0.3% per month. Very good.

About a month ago I started using another monitor during the weekend and that monitor can use one usb-c cable to also charge my M1. Nice and clean. But I noticed my battery is charged to 100% and stayed at 100% pretty much all the time. Occasionally it would stop charging at 80% for a short while and then shoot to 100% and stay there for the whole weekend. Using CoconutBattery I see the battery health drops around 3% per month. At this rate I may need to replace the battery every 6 months!

Q: For those who relies on “Optimized battery charging” (instead of using 3rd party battery control app) how much does your battery health drop per month on average? (You can calculate using CoconutBattery's history.)

Q: For those whose usage pattern varies daily, or has a weekday pattern and a different weekend pattern, is “Optimized battery charging” smart enough to hold off charing at 80% in your experience?

what monitor model is this?

 

[derekww]

what monitor model is this?

weekend monitor: HP Z27 using usb-c with power delivery
weekday monitor: Dell u2311 using displayport (no charging unless I plug in another usb-c charging cable)

 

[Slartibart]

weekend monitor: HP Z27 using usb-c with power delivery

I had several battery charging “problems” with PD-capable devices connected to iPad Pros or M1 MacBooks so far… the solution was always - latest official non-beta iPadOS and MacOS Big Sur - to put in a USB-C hub, e.g. this or/and provide power via a power supply from Apple, Anker or IKEA. Yes, IKEA 😎

 

[vs40]

I'm using my new MBA M1 mostly with LG monitor via USB-C for last 10 days and my battery constantly stays at 100%.
If optimized battery charging not working via monitor with USB-C, it ruins whole purpose of buying monitor with USB-C port for simple one cable setup

After just 10 days of usage capacity is already starts to reducing

 

[vs40]

Small update.
After 2 weeks of almost constant stationary usage my MBA now stays at 90% battery, so "Optimized battery charging" definitely works with my LG monitor.
And design capacity indicator increased as well.

 

[CMMChris]

Just disable optimized battery charging and take over manual control using AlDente. It's a way better solution if your MacBook is used on external power most of the time. You can limit your charge to about 60 to 75% which is much better for battery health compared to Apple's 80 to 90%.