So, if you're wondering how much performance your m1 mac loses when it's low on battery.

[KShopper]

PSA: thermal throttling and battery throttling are two different things. The first one is designed to safeguard the hardware from burning up. The second one is designed to safeguard your work from getting lost due to the battery suddenly losing power and shut down the system (which usually happens when it's below 80% healthy).

Yeah, I guess I assumed people knew that. Good clarification and the point was that even throttled (thermal, battery), the M1 kills and most people won't even notice the difference vs. non-throttled.

Unfortunately, most of us have PTSD from running late-model Intel Macs that throttle instantly and very noticeably, so it may take years of M1 usage before throttling slips from our minds as something to think about.

 

[rezwits]

You have no idea what you’re talking about do you.

It's just who cares, what performance you get with 4%? at >5% its FULL power/juice. What he's got some project where it's gonna use the full battery every day to the last drop. I thoght the WHOLE POINT of the M1 is your gonna have PLENTY of BATTERY POWER?

My only real response was to hearing that this machine "throttles" to lower power usage when the battery gets low. SICK OF HEARING ABOUT THIS.

Why? I keep my devices charged. But now with the M1 heck I thought wee don't need to worry about this anymore? no?

Or what you guys are still gonna do 3D rendering on these in the back of your car on a road trip for 3 days? and you just can't find a power outlet?!?

The reason I am saying WHO CARES, is, let's exagerate? just a simple 2X exaggeration:
What if the battery life for a MacBook Air was 40 hours? So when this gets down to the last 2 hours of usage, the performance goes down! Well you just used it for 20-38 hours? That's not enough?

But forget exaggerating it says what 20 hours? so when this gets to 1 hour left performace goes down? So you used at HIGH power for 10-19 hours? That's not enough? Find a power outlet gees...

Oh the battery is gonna get to 4% oh no...

What am I missing here that I need to be enlightened... I am just sick of hearing about anything that:

Uses less power when it's battery gets low, WHO CARES. CHARGE YOUR DEVICES, USE SOLAR... Serious? I use GoalZero when backpacking!!

Oh and you're gonna run some mission critical project on <4% battery power? Wreckless...

 

[rezwits]

Chill out, you're comparing apples with oranges; temporarily throttling CPU in low battery status or permanently throttling CPU in phone (without ever telling a customer), two very different things.

OP, Nice experiment.

WHAT? BS, dude, they only throttled the phones when they got to lower power, they were NEVER PERMANENTLY throttled, if the phones got charged back to 100% those phones went back to full usage. And then in the end Apple offered them a switch, in an update, in settings, to allow them to use ALL the Juice and DIE quick, but this was their phones who the hell wants their phone to die?

Oh and I never heard ANYTHING from Apple telling ANYONE that the M1 throttles at below <5%, maybe that's what I missed in some fine print at the bottom of the spec pages at Apple (without ever telling a customer).

It's like I have read in some other threads (this is 30 minutes I am never going to get back) LOL

 

[Populus]

WHAT? BS, dude, they only throttled the phones when they got to lower power, they were NEVER PERMANENTLY throttled, if the phones got charged back to 100% those phones went back to full usage. And then in the end Apple offered them a switch, in an update, in settings, to allow them to use ALL the Juice and DIE quick, but this was their phones who the hell wants their phone to die?

Oh and I never heard ANYTHING from Apple telling ANYONE that the M1 throttles at below <5%, maybe that's what I missed in some fine print at the bottom of the spec pages at Apple (without ever telling a customer).

It's like I have read in some other threads (this is 30 minutes I am never going to get back) LOL

Maybe you’ll like to know that this also happened on the intel MacBook pro, at least the 2017 model I tested, the one without a TouchBar. At circa 3 or 4% of remaining battery it reduced the performance. I think it’s pretty normal.

Oh, and you’re wrong about the throttling of the iPhone 6S and SE 1st gen. It recovered the full performance after Apple replaced the battery for a healthy one, not after a charge. Thus, the subsidized battery replacement on that model after that.

 

[Velli]

It's just who cares, what performance you get with 4%? at >5% its FULL power/juice. What he's got some project where it's gonna use the full battery every day to the last drop. I thoght the WHOLE POINT of the M1 is your gonna have PLENTY of BATTERY POWER?

My only real response was to hearing that this machine "throttles" to lower power usage when the battery gets low. SICK OF HEARING ABOUT THIS.

Why? I keep my devices charged. But now with the M1 heck I thought wee don't need to worry about this anymore? no?

Or what you guys are still gonna do 3D rendering on these in the back of your car on a road trip for 3 days? and you just can't find a power outlet?!?

The reason I am saying WHO CARES, is, let's exagerate? just a simple 2X exaggeration:
What if the battery life for a MacBook Air was 40 hours? So when this gets down to the last 2 hours of usage, the performance goes down! Well you just used it for 20-38 hours? That's not enough?

But forget exaggerating it says what 20 hours? so when this gets to 1 hour left performace goes down? So you used at HIGH power for 10-19 hours? That's not enough? Find a power outlet gees...

Oh the battery is gonna get to 4% oh no...

What am I missing here that I need to be enlightened... I am just sick of hearing about anything that:

Uses less power when it's battery gets low, WHO CARES. CHARGE YOUR DEVICES, USE SOLAR... Serious? I use GoalZero when backpacking!!

Oh and you're gonna run some mission critical project on <4% battery power? Wreckless...

Relax dude, noone is complaining! Quite the contrary actually. Jeez...

 

[SFjohn]

No one may be complaining yet, however if Apple throttles the M1 at 4% someone somewhere is going to sue. Especially because there is no switch to turn that off. Some will claim Apple lied to them about its performance numbers just like they did with iPhones.

 

[Gudi]

Now I want an Energy Savings Mode for macOS. Let me clock it down in preferences like an iPhone.

 

[adib]

Yeah, I guess I assumed people knew that. Good clarification and the point was that even throttled (thermal, battery), the M1 kills and most people won't even notice the difference vs. non-throttled.

Unfortunately, most of us have PTSD from running late-model Intel Macs that throttle instantly and very noticeably, so it may take years of M1 usage before throttling slips from our minds as something to think about.

I've done the VRM thermal-pad modification to my 2018 MacBook Pro, and happy to announce it doesn't thermal-throttle any longer even in triple-display mode in 31ºC room temperature.

 

[k2k koos]

Very encouraging indeed, but as my circumstances have changed, I don't do a lot of travel anymore, so I'm going to hang on until iMac's with apple silicon are available. when traveling I will us my iPadmini.

 

[the8thark]

Why don't you try to restate this in a none accusatory fashion and with better manners....

There was nothing wrong with what was said above.
The person did not have bad manners. Calling someone out as to stop false information being spread around is a good thing. That "call out" can also be discussed. This back and forth usually produces good debate.

Don't accuse people of having bad manners when they are just helping out the community by stoping the spread of false information and starting good debate on the subject.

 

[FHoff]

Why don't you try to restate this in a none accusatory fashion and with better manners....

Nothing ill mannered about it. Just because someone says something you don’t want to hear, doesn’t make it rude.

 

[phenste]

How does this have any angry reacts! Awesome find, thank you for doing the testing and sharing. M1 continues to impress. M2 (or M1X, or whatever comes next) is gonna blow minds even moreso.

Dunno about anyone else, but I feel an excitement for the Mac that I hadn’t felt since Steve passed. (And I’m really not one for lamenting post-Steve Apple.)

 

[Velli]

How does this have any angry reacts!

Turns out, people are d**ks. Who knew.