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Apple Explains Why You Might See 'Not Charging' When a Mac is Plugged In

B4U said:
It is getting too confusing.
Plugged in, but does not mean it is charging.
Same with the iPhone control center's WiFi settings. Turning it off does not mean it is actually turned off. 😓
Why, Apple...Why??
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Plugged in but not charging has been a thing for over a decade now, like when your power supply is on its way out. This is just a new situation. Plus, this calibration is probably fairly quick and almost certainly only occurs while the system is fairly idle.
 
longofest said:
It's weird. Apple has done without this kind of "battery management" crap for literally decades with its laptops. Now it appears, just as Apple is about to switch to it's on silicon.
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What are you talking about, this was a feature introduced in macOS 10.15.5?

You may be thinking of before it would charge to 100%, then run off of AC power, and the battery naturally drains to 95% then charges it back to 100% again, but that is not what this is referring to.
 
B4U said:
...Same with the iPhone control center's WiFi settings. Turning it off does not mean it is actually turned off. 😓
Why, Apple...Why??
Click to expand...

Maybe someday they will implement a long press to choose "just for today" and the option to turn it off until turned back on by the user. In my case, I like the feature as when I'm outside, my phone "tries" to use my wi-fi when the signal is too weak, so I use CC to turn it off and I always forget to turn it back on. I'm not on an unlimited cellular plan, so it keeps me from wasting data.
 
I posted here about it because I was so uncertain if I had a logic board problem or not, and even Apple didn’t know about the feature when I visited the Genius Bar, spoke to a manager, and talked to AppleCare on the phone multiple times. In the end, the lack of upfront staff training, support articles, and UI indicators on this feature cost Apple money (I exchanged my MacBook Pro for a replacement, thinking it was faulty after all the aforementioned Apple employees agreed with me) and time.
 
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zorinlynx said:
Some people tend to use their Macbooks at their desk all day, every day, only occasionally taking it out and about and using the battery. Is this feature smart enough to leave those Macbooks at 80-85% all the time?
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Sadly, no, or I haven’t noticed it. Though, maybe it does without users knowing it. I would love a feature like that.
 
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It's all cool, but why does it happen when I only have 16% of battery and need to charge it asap before leaving my house? :D
 
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zorinlynx said:
Some people tend to use their Macbooks at their desk all day, every day, only occasionally taking it out and about and using the battery. Is this feature smart enough to leave those Macbooks at 80-85% all the time?
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Do those people care about reduced battery life caused by staying on 100% though? :D
 
I think Apple should replace all of these scary, cryptic messages with focused, clear icons that are less frightening to the user.

(Sorry that this isn’t a GIF, but iOS 14 broke my GIF Maker Shortcut.)
 
Hopefully they get all the power bugs sorted, because twice now I have picked up my ‘18 MBA from being plugged in for a prolonged time, but on stand-by. I expect it to be 100%. Only to find it at 5% or 10% when I open it up at my destination. I’m not easily ticked off ... but this insane battery drain issue ... or not charging up for whatever reason ... has been bloody ridiculous.
 
icerabbit said:
Hopefully they get all the power bugs sorted, because twice now I have picked up my ‘18 MBA from being plugged in for a prolonged time, but on stand-by. I expect it to be 100%. Only to find it at 5% or 10% when I open it up at my destination. I’m not easily ticked off ... but this insane battery drain issue ... or not charging up for whatever reason ... has been bloody ridiculous.
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That doesn't seem to be related to this particular article though.
 
MacRumors said:


If you have a Mac and have seen a "Not Charging" warning when plugging it in to power, Apple last week released a support document that explains why.

macbookpro16inchdisplay.jpg

Macs running macOS 10.15.5 or later have a Battery Health Management feature to preserve the life of the battery, and occasionally, the Battery Health Management option will cause the Mac to pause its charging for calibration purposes.Apple says that when Battery Health Management is activated, "Not Charging" could be displayed and the charge level might be lowered temporarily, which is a normal function of the feature. Charging to full will resume based on usage habits.Battery Health Management features are available on Mac notebooks that have Thunderbolt 3 ports and that run macOS Catalina 10.15.5 or later. The option improves the lifespan of a Mac's battery by reducing the amount of time that the battery spends at a maximum charge, which can cut down on chemical aging.

Battery Health Management works based on the battery's temperature history and charging patterns, so if you often leave your Mac charging overnight after using it during the day, the Mac might charge up to around 85 percent and sit there for a bit before charging to full ahead of when it's needed in the morning.

If you use your Mac while Battery Health Management is active, you might see the "Not Charging" warning that Apple mentions. Battery Health Management is enabled by default, but it can be turned off by checking the Battery Health Management option in the Energy Saver section of the System Preferences app once ‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.5 or later has been installed.

There are some other reasons that Mac users might see the "Not Charging" warning, such as when the Mac isn't getting enough power to charge the battery. In these situations, Apple recommends people follow the steps in its support document covering charging with a USB-C power adapter.

Article Link: Apple Explains Why You Might See 'Not Charging' When a Mac is Plugged In
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That requirement for Thunderbolt 3 could mean as old as Late 2016.
 
"Not Charging" "May Not Be Supported" etc. always means the same thing: you're using a third party cable, and haven't given enough money to the Grand Orchard yet. Or you're running Waze.
 
LOL WOW, we did the warranty thing for the wife 2017 MacBook Pro about a month ago because she would consistently see that the battery would say "Not Charging" even when plugged in. We literally had no idea this was a feature and thought that the MacBook was defective. I wished I would've seen this sooner. But Apple support were the ones who suggested sending it in for repairs...
 
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TantalizedMind said:
Why would you want to charge it to 80% and not 100%?
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If I recall, to extend the battery life, battery life should be kept between 20 to 80%.

The iPhone kinda does this too and will charge up to 80% and slowly fully charge overnight, or something like that.
 
I think they should’ve changed the label to “smart discharging” or something less jarring

even being aware 10.15.5 has smart charge features , it’s confused the hell out of me and caused me to reset SMC two times thinking it’s not calibrated right

seems to do it at random times so much so I forget. I obviously won’t moving forward but

—

This must be a support headache for frontline support employees
 
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This actually works on my 2015 Macbook Pro.. no issues.. Like how Apple lies and says it doesn't when it does.
 
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