80% Charging running hotter? Still bypassing battery?

[NovemberWhiskey]

I have an M4 MacBook Air, and leave it on the power adapter most of the day. I read that this bypassed using the battery, and the air seemed to run relatively cool while doing this.

As soon as 26.4 rolled out, I limited the battery to 80%, and still leave it plugged in most of the day. However, now, the charger indicator light glows orange all the time like it is charging, and the air seems to run hotter.

If we use the 80% limit, do we still bypass the battery when plugged in, or is it now just constantly cycling around 79-80%, thus wearing out the battery?

 

[Apathist]

As soon as 26.4 rolled out, I limited the battery to 80%, and still leave it plugged in most of the day. However, now, the charger indicator light glows orange all the time like it is charging, and the air seems to run hotter.

If we use the 80% limit, do we still bypass the battery when plugged in, or is it now just constantly cycling around 79-80%, thus wearing out the battery?

Apple's description of the feature suggests that after reaching the charging limit, your MB Air will run off of the power supply, not the battery (if you display the battery status icon in the menu bar, you can verify the power source (Power Adapter/Battery) at a glance).

When the battery eventually loses ~5%, as will naturally occur over time, it will be charged back up to the limit. The MagSafe light should glow amber the whole time, whether charging or on hold.

 

[Steph.fr]

Good question… I've been using the "al dente" app for several years, and it already did what version 26.4 does now. Based on the electrical flow diagram it displays, I'd say the battery is indeed short-circuited. But you've sown some doubt 😉 I don't observe any temperature variation related to this, only to the CPU/GPU load. I imagine the light remains orange simply because the battery isn't fully charged. It's possible that Apple's implementation of this function is different… just my two cents.

 

[Apathist]

As soon as 26.4 rolled out, I limited the battery to 80%, and still leave it plugged in most of the day. However, now, the charger indicator light glows orange all the time like it is charging …

This post in response to today’s MR story about the release of 26.5 indicates that this behavior has now changed.