16" MacBook Pro, Max Battery Capacity Degradation

[JustAnotherCarGuy]

So I've been using my MacBook Pro 16" on a daily basis since I got it in February, and have racked up about 49 charge cycles. But I've noticed that the max battery capacity has dropped to the 8100s. I've used it while plugged in as well as off power intermittently (as the number of charged cycles may suggest).

Any help guys? I'm worried that somethings wrong with my battery though I've yet to notice any significant battery life loss. Everything else seems to work just fine as well...

EDIT: So a couple weeks later this happened:

 

[Dhock_Holiday]

Your charge capacity is still within a good range, I wouldn't worry about it too much, just use the laptop normally and try not to completely discharge below 20% if possible. When you are charging the battery try to let it charge in a cool environment

 

[fendushi]

Obsessing about battery data will drive you nuts. Just use enjoy using your machine if you haven't noticed anything in real world use.

It's probably Catalina's new battery management in action after the most recent update.

About battery health management in Mac laptops – Apple Support (AU)

Mac laptop computers with an Intel processor use battery health management, a feature designed to improve the lifespan of your computer's battery.

support.apple.com

"When battery health management is turned on, your battery's maximum charging capacity might be limited."

 

[JustAnotherCarGuy]

Obsessing about battery data will drive you nuts. Just use enjoy using your machine if you haven't noticed anything in real world use.

It's probably Catalina's new battery management in action after the most recent update.

About battery health management in Mac laptops – Apple Support (AU)

Mac laptop computers with an Intel processor use battery health management, a feature designed to improve the lifespan of your computer's battery.

support.apple.com

"When battery health management is turned on, your battery's maximum charging capacity might be limited."

Thank you very much. I never bothered reading that bit on Apple's support page. Guess it's all fine then.

 

[bill-p]

Mine has actually fluctuated between 90 - 99% after turning off Battery Management. Heck, it happened before Battery Management was introduced.

So I'm guessing something weird is happening with the sensor in the new machines. In actual use, battery life seems about the same anyways. I get about 6-7 hours of usage out of my computer. I'd consider that "normal".

 

[yukari]

Charge it to no more than 80%.
See https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ng.2208695/page-6?post=28566297#post-28566297

 

[Woochoo]

Charge it to no more than 80%.
See https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ng.2208695/page-6?post=28566297#post-28566297

This. Unless you keep it plugged most part of the day while working (the best thing to keep battery from degradation) don't charge it to 100%. The last 10-20% is the most difficult to achieve for the battery and charger and it's where degradation is most noticeable. Other than that don't obsess with it, to put an example my 1206 cycles MBA now recovered at 70,6% from 55% not a long time ago, and I haven't changed my charging routine so here's that.

 

[JustAnotherCarGuy]

This. Unless you keep it plugged most part of the day while working (the best thing to keep battery from degradation) don't charge it to 100%. The last 10-20% is the most difficult to achieve for the battery and charger and it's where degradation is most noticeable. Other than that don't obsess with it, to put an example my 1206 cycles MBA now recovered at 70,6% from 55% not a long time ago, and I haven't changed my charging routine so here's that.

It went up by almost 20%? Wow. Yea I try pretty hard not to obsess, but you know when boredom strikes....

 

[yukari]

It went up by almost 20%? Wow. Yea I try pretty hard not to obsess, but you know when boredom strikes....

See https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...to.2240183/page-4?post=28640714#post-28640714

 

[Hjupter Cerrud]

So I've been using my MacBook Pro 16" on a daily basis since I got it in February, and have racked up about 49 charge cycles. But I've noticed that the max battery capacity has dropped to the 8100s. I've used it while plugged in as well as off power intermittently (as the number of charged cycles may suggest).

Any help guys? I'm worried that somethings wrong with my battery though I've yet to notice any significant battery life loss. Everything else seems to work just fine as well...

View attachment 930200 View attachment 930201

I got mine a like a month and few weeks ago and my battery is pretty much at the same state as yours, I was a bit worried about it too, I kinda feel better after reading this thread.

 

[JustAnotherCarGuy]

See https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...to.2240183/page-4?post=28640714#post-28640714

Thankyou. will try it out.

 

[khalitzy]

Got my 16” last december, it was never 100% capacity out of the box.. more like 99.7%. It sat there for a couple of days then the plummeting started. 98 to 97 and so on. It was 95% a couple of weeks later and stayed there for a month or two. I had started countless threads about it here and on reddit, but it really never made me feel better about this whole situation as no one really convinced me of anything. Today it was 93% after it had been 95% for a couple of months as I said, so I thought why not calibrate the battery and reset the SMC for the idk how many times, right? After doing so, the health is now 91%. Lowest it’s been :/. I have no idea how under 71 cycles the battery seemingly degraded 9 whole percents. It makes no sense. On older 15”, around 300 cycles the battery still held 95% of its design capacity... this makes the 91% of the 16” with 71 cycles look laughable at best. But oh well. Just ranting.


Oh and I to the AASP last february and they just brushed it off after running some diagnostics on it, and told me it was normal. Oh well. So all in all, I have yet to know why this is happening and if it’s normal or not.. I’ve seen other 16” go as low as 82% with similar cycle count so it’s worrying tbh. But oh well, just letting you know OP.. Same boat here.

 

[danny_f]

I notice my 16" 2019 i9, drains faster than my 2017 13" base.... I guess that's normal since its doing a lot more. Touch bar, larger screen, larger processor.

Still for a brand new laptop I didn't see that coming.....