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Please share the battery capacity of your Macbook Pro 2021 M1 Pro/Max 14/16!
- Thread starter Paulo Henrique Baldassi
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I have a 14" MacBook Pro that I have been using since December 23, 2021 --mostly with AlDente. A couple of days ago, I noticed that the Maximum Capacity of the battery diminished to 99% with a Cycle Count of 10. Concerned, I downloaded coconutBattery to investigate. CoconutBattery reports that out of a Design Capacity of 6,075 mAh my almost new 14" MacBook Pro has a Full Charge Capacity of only 5,672 mAh or 93.4%. I see three issues: (1) the likelihood that Apple installed a battery that did not meet the designed capacity specification; (2) an unusually rapid deterioration of battery health and, therefore, the possibility of having a subpar or defective battery; and (3) deceptiveness by Apple in reporting Maximum Capacity.
Really not happy with my capacity, it's been 6 months?? I should also mention that within the 1st 2 months the capacity had dropped to 90%, I hope I am not told rubbish in the Apple Store when next I visit one - can only go in when I go to the UK as I do not live in a country with a proper Apple store. I had the same issue with my 2018 Macbook. Spent too much money on this.
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Definitely seems like it’s a defective battery. But too soon to tell for sure. It’s possible it could sit there for the next 900 cycles and thus, within its limits. All I can suggest is continue to monitor and the second it hits 79% (as read by Apple not coconut) contact Apple. Do you have AppleCare+? If not, I hope for your sake it continues to nose dive prior to your one year warranty expiring.
Welp, coconut battery dropped to 92% versus 94% from last week, and now apple battery management says 97% versus 98% last week.
Not really sure what is causing this drain, all light usage, and nothing running in the background. AlDente was used consistently until it reached 98%.
Are these batteries really that bad? My 2018 15" never even reached 98% after a year of solid usage.
Not really sure what is causing this drain, all light usage, and nothing running in the background. AlDente was used consistently until it reached 98%.
Are these batteries really that bad? My 2018 15" never even reached 98% after a year of solid usage.
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After reading all the posts in this thread one can get a sense that there is something wrong with the batteries of the 2021 MacBook Pros --beginning with the disparity between the reported battery health and the actual battery capacity. I cannot help but feel deceived by Apple. But there is not much that a consumer can do. I contacted Apple Support and this is what I got: With a condescending attitude the Apple representative allayed my concerns, and helped me to gain a better understanding of batteries and charging cycles through information resources available from Apple. And, of course, dismissed what coconutBattery reported because it is not an app developed by Apple. But this was the best part: "as long as the battery health is above 80% it is considered to be at full capacity". Imagine that approach from Starbucks: "I know that the cup is not completely full, but as long as we give you at least 9.7 oz. it is considered to be a Tall (12 oz.)".
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Update
Today macOS reports:
Maximum Capacity: 98%
Cycle Count: 11.
Yesterday macOS reported:
Maximum Capacity: 99%
Cycle Count of 10
This is not normal.
Today macOS reports:
Maximum Capacity: 98%
Cycle Count: 11.
Yesterday macOS reported:
Maximum Capacity: 99%
Cycle Count of 10
This is not normal.
11 cycles in 5 months is the problem. Using AlDente is not going to change the fact that the battery is not being used.
I have a 14 MBP that I've had since October 2021. It reports 51 battery cycles with 100% capacity still. I use it almost every day but I only plug it in to fully charge it. I then unplug and work off battery for the day.
I don't obsess over the battery but the key seems to be to simply use the battery in whatever device you have. They degrade regardless of whether you use it or not so you might as well. A sealed, brand new MBP that you open up for the first time 20 years from now will likely have a bad battery by then.
I don't obsess over the battery but the key seems to be to simply use the battery in whatever device you have. They degrade regardless of whether you use it or not so you might as well. A sealed, brand new MBP that you open up for the first time 20 years from now will likely have a bad battery by then.
AlDente has a reputation for preserving battery health, or extending the life of the battery, precisely when a laptop is used mostly at a desk.
I understand that, but the battery still needs to be used. Keeping a battery at 70% or 80% without using it is still going to degrade the battery. That’s just how batteries work.
Replaced my defective 13" M1 MBP over the weekend with a higher-end refurb 14" MBP.
Came with 14 cycles and has 100% battery health.
Happy again.
AFAIK coconutBattery is this following command ioreg -w 0 -f -r -c AppleSmartBattery with a fancy UI and the ability to keep the histogram. With the output you can extract "AppleRawMaxCapacity" which is shown at "Full Charge Capacity" at coconut and "DesignCapacity" being a fix value depending on the model you acquire, from there, calculating the % is quick. Current charge is shown under "AppleRawCurrentCapacity"
On the other hand, if you have "Optimized Battery Charging" checked under System Settings, MacOS will learn from your usage and will alter that number trying to preserve the max amount of battery, hence, if it's used mostly plugged-in, it will decrease the real AppleRawMaxCapacity to avoid over-charge or charge-to-the-limit. Not to mention, this requires some cycles to kick-in and some learning, had a 14" M1 Pro that lasted 10 cycles to start managing the battery in a consistent basis and also trying to hold the 80% charge till full. With this 14" M1 Max, I'm not using it that much on battery and still didn't learnt my habits completely after nearly 2 months. Using it mostly in clamshell mode and just 7 battery cycles.
Despite that, I've ran that command several times on this new one and I've seen quite a bunch of different numbers, even in the same power cycle. From 6100 max (so nearly 100.5%) to 6018 min (which is closely 99.06%) - these last days I've seen values from 6078 (circa 100.04%) to 6065 ... and right now is 6067 (99.86%) - "MaxCapacity" I think it shows what you can get from the Battery Health menu, cause that number always stated 100 for me as also explained here
Summarizing, the coconutBattery health can be altered by the Optimized Battery Charging and/or as well due to the chemical properties of the battery, and I'm sure many other circumstances I'd wish/like to know. One last thing as it's mentioned on "AlDente" website for those who use it it's this: IMPORTANT: Keeping your battery at a lower percentage, such as under 80%, over weeks without doing full cycles (100%-0%) can result in a disturbed battery calibration. [...] so I think, even this behaviour could result in miss-readings on coconutBattery due to that.
TL;DR - I won't worry too much unless Apple's own menu tells my battery is under 80% of its original capacity and needs revision.
edit: Added link
On the other hand, if you have "Optimized Battery Charging" checked under System Settings, MacOS will learn from your usage and will alter that number trying to preserve the max amount of battery, hence, if it's used mostly plugged-in, it will decrease the real AppleRawMaxCapacity to avoid over-charge or charge-to-the-limit. Not to mention, this requires some cycles to kick-in and some learning, had a 14" M1 Pro that lasted 10 cycles to start managing the battery in a consistent basis and also trying to hold the 80% charge till full. With this 14" M1 Max, I'm not using it that much on battery and still didn't learnt my habits completely after nearly 2 months. Using it mostly in clamshell mode and just 7 battery cycles.
Despite that, I've ran that command several times on this new one and I've seen quite a bunch of different numbers, even in the same power cycle. From 6100 max (so nearly 100.5%) to 6018 min (which is closely 99.06%) - these last days I've seen values from 6078 (circa 100.04%) to 6065 ... and right now is 6067 (99.86%) - "MaxCapacity" I think it shows what you can get from the Battery Health menu, cause that number always stated 100 for me as also explained here
Summarizing, the coconutBattery health can be altered by the Optimized Battery Charging and/or as well due to the chemical properties of the battery, and I'm sure many other circumstances I'd wish/like to know. One last thing as it's mentioned on "AlDente" website for those who use it it's this: IMPORTANT: Keeping your battery at a lower percentage, such as under 80%, over weeks without doing full cycles (100%-0%) can result in a disturbed battery calibration. [...] so I think, even this behaviour could result in miss-readings on coconutBattery due to that.
TL;DR - I won't worry too much unless Apple's own menu tells my battery is under 80% of its original capacity and needs revision.
edit: Added link
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Another data point for my 14" M1 Max 24GPU // 32GB // 1TB, today after nearly two months, the optimized battery charging kicked in, it's starting to discharge it slowly till 80%, raw data from the ioreg command right now:
This gives a 100.8% max capacity, not the 101% the OP was looking for but very near it, I hope it stays that way and a long-lasting healthy battery 🚀
Code:
...
"CurrentCapacity" = 96
"AppleRawCurrentCapacity" = 5539
"MaxCapacity" = 100
"CycleCount" = 8
"DesignCapacity" = 6075
"AppleRawMaxCapacity" = 6124
...This gives a 100.8% max capacity, not the 101% the OP was looking for but very near it, I hope it stays that way and a long-lasting healthy battery 🚀
My (few weeks old) 14" M1 Pro has about 101% (6113 mAh vs 6075 design capacity). But my previous 2018 MBP came with slightly less than design, so it's not unheard of.
But then my phone came with ~97% capacity out of the box, stabilised at 99% after a few charge cycles, and 5 months later is still at 99%. And that's what matters, how the capacity holds over time rather than the odd % or two on the starting point. As long as it doesn't degrade faster than normal why worry? And I can't see any reason why it should: these models generate a lot less heat than the Intel ones, and with longer battery life there are fewer cycles per year, so you'd expect battery longevity to be improved if anything.
My 16" MBP (October 2021) is at 93% with 177 cycles. I charge it every day as I use it mostly unplugged, usually I plug it when battery reaches around 30%.