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Battery best practice...is there such a thing?

Q

Quackington

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 12, 2010
594
355
England, UK
Hello.

I upgraded to a 13" MBP back in early September. All been great so far, just been getting used to upgrading from an 11" MBA. I checked my cycle count today. It's currently 17, and I've had the notebook for four months - I'm assuming that's okay. I've been using it untethered quite a bit lately because I've been working from home for about 10 months now and I'm tired of my desk! However, at some point again it'll be a mixture of being tethered to desk and using portably around the house.

I've never really been bothered about optimum charging, or any best practices when it comes to the battery, but I've seen various messages around the web (and with regard to other products like phones), so much so that I'm wondering if this is something I should follow? There seems to be conflicting advice as to what's right and what's wrong. Things like:

- if I regularly let the battery level get to below 10-20% before charging, is this okay?
- any issues with regularly charging it to 100%?
- is it worth using a battery management app/tool?
- is keeping it in sleep mode all the time okay, e.g. hardly every shutting down?

I'd ideally like to continue not being bothered about any of this stuff, but seeing as it's early int he life of this product, would like to avoid doing any unneccessary harm.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
I charge mine to about 80% then use it on battery until it reaches about 50%. I also keep it plugged in when on video calls. Sometimes I charge it to 100% and use it plugged in for a few days only unplugging it when I put it away.
 
tosbsas said:
check out Aldente - stops charging at 80% or whatever you choose
Click to expand...
Forgot to mention don't use Aldente. It prevented my MBP from charging. I set it to 80%, and it did work until I unplugged the notebook and let it discharge to 75% after which it would not charge to 80% it was stuck on 75%. Even after removing Aldente and rebooting. I had to do an SMC reset which took a couple of attempts as I did not do it right the first time.
 
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tonyr6 said:
Forgot to mention don't use Aldente. It prevented my MBP from charging. I set it to 80%, and it did work until I unplugged the notebook and let it discharge to 75% after which it would not charge to 80% it was stuck on 75%. Even after removing Aldente and rebooting. I had to do an SMC reset which took a couple of attempts as I did not do it right the first time.
Click to expand...
thats a user error - you just have to set aldente to 100 if you want to charge full - that's even in the description. Please don't discredit a program if you don't read the instructions properly.
 
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Quackington said:
Hello.

I upgraded to a 13" MBP back in early September. All been great so far, just been getting used to upgrading from an 11" MBA. I checked my cycle count today. It's currently 17, and I've had the notebook for four months - I'm assuming that's okay. I've been using it untethered quite a bit lately because I've been working from home for about 10 months now and I'm tired of my desk! However, at some point again it'll be a mixture of being tethered to desk and using portably around the house.
Click to expand...
I can only report my experience with a 2012 MBP bought new. I use it regularly on battery and let it run down to the 5% warning that pops up and then plug it in. It regularly receives this battery exercise. At times it would be plugged in for extended periods, like a week or two. It is still going strong with more than 1800 charging cycles and according to coconut battery app has 82% State of Health.
 
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My recommendations:

DO NOT leave it plugged into the charger all the time.

DO take it "off the charger" every other day. Let the battery drop down to around 35-45%, then plug it back in.

AT NIGHT (whether you power it off or just let it sleep):
Unplug the charger from the wall.
In the morning plug it back in.
I recommend unplugging from the wall so as not to put to much wear and tear on the USBc plug.

Leaving it plugged into the wall ALL the time seems to lead to the battery over-charging and then swelling up -- dangerous.

My opinion only.
Others will disagree.
Some will disagree vehemently.
 
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tonyr6 said:
I charge mine to about 80% then use it on battery until it reaches about 50%. I also keep it plugged in when on video calls. Sometimes I charge it to 100% and use it plugged in for a few days only unplugging it when I put it away.
Click to expand...

tosbsas said:
check out Aldente - stops charging at 80% or whatever you choose and please read instructions

github.com

Releases · AppHouseKitchen/AlDente-Battery_Care_and_Monitoring

Menubar Tool to set Charge Limits and Prolong Battery Lifespan - AppHouseKitchen/AlDente-Battery_Care_and_Monitoring
github.com github.com
Click to expand...

Apple_Robert said:
Try not to let it drain past 20%, don't leave it plugged in 24/7/ 365, don't expose to extreme temperatures, and charge when needed. If you need a new battery after a few years, have Apple replace it for about $130.
Click to expand...

Fishrrman said:
My recommendations:

DO NOT leave it plugged into the charger all the time.

DO take it "off the charger" every other day. Let the battery drop down to around 35-45%, then plug it back in.

AT NIGHT (whether you power it off or just let it sleep):
Unplug the charger from the wall.
In the morning plug it back in.
I recommend unplugging from the wall so as not to put to much wear and tear on the USBc plug.

Leaving it plugged into the wall ALL the time seems to lead to the battery over-charging and then swelling up -- dangerous.

My opinion only.
Others will disagree.
Some will disagree vehemently.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the responses, everyone.

For those of you that explained what you do, do you do it because it’s been recommended to you? If so, where has the recommendation come from? If not, if it just out of habit?

On Al Dente - any good write-ups on this? Is it generally accepted as the go-to for battery health?
 
I'd ideally like to continue not being bothered about any of this stuff
Click to expand...
I'm pretty much in this camp. 3-year AppleCare+, the battery management stuff baked into macOS now, and my expected upgrade cycle means that I just can't get concerned enough about battery health to unplug at night, etc. I did try for a bit, but that requires unplugging from the eGPU and it a bit of an inconvenience.

The battery on my MBP (2020 13" i7/32GB/1TB) gets occasional use (once a week?), but the MBP's usual place most days is on a stand connected to an eGPU and a caldigit TS3+ (both of which charge via thunderbolt). I expect to upgrade within a year or so. I fully understand why others adopt more battery-friendly practices, especially if they plan to hold onto their machines for a longer period of time.
 
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Theoretically the closer you can keep it to 50% the better. In practice, it's unlikely to make a significant difference over the life of the computer. If you can broadly keep it between 20-80% charge (without stressing over it) then that's good, but don't go out of your way or stress over it, the lifespan gains are going to be marginal even with a regimented charging regime.
 
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Yes as a matter of fact there is. Back in the day (2000-2010), there was a NOTE, that said, if you use your PowerBook, or MacBook plugged in you should at least ONCE a month drain the battery to around 10% and then charge the battery back up.

BUT Then around 2013, there was a notice that you DIDN'T have to do this anymore because the batteries were smart enough and such-n-such (BS).

This is a false statement, I had over 3 iOS devices and 1 Mac that had the Battery BLOAT/BALLOON, because I didn't Quote-un-Quote "Exercise the Muscle" of the Battery.

I turned an iPhone 5s into Apple a year ago, then an iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 4 just ballooned and cracked the screens and I just threw the last two away. Then in Dec 2020, I went to put a 1TB SSD in my MacBook Pro 15/2015, and when I took the bottom off POOF, the Batteries all Expanded and I had to end up gettin a new top casing put in with a new battery.

Definitely don't just leave your devices plugged in for 6 months straight, "exercise the muscle memory" as a recent "genius" told me.

Just pissed at the 3-4 guys I asked DO we still NEED to still drain the batteries once a month THAT SAID NO!!
 
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Quackington said:
Thanks for the responses, everyone.

For those of you that explained what you do, do you do it because it’s been recommended to you? If so, where has the recommendation come from? If not, if it just out of habit?

On Al Dente - any good write-ups on this? Is it generally accepted as the go-to for battery health?
Click to expand...

There is Good Thread here on the Board about al dente. Sounds complex but only thing it does is change the value of when to stop charging in the SMC
 
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Fishrrman said:
My recommendations:

DO NOT leave it plugged into the charger all the time.

DO take it "off the charger" every other day. Let the battery drop down to around 35-45%, then plug it back in.

AT NIGHT (whether you power it off or just let it sleep):
Unplug the charger from the wall.
In the morning plug it back in.
I recommend unplugging from the wall so as not to put to much wear and tear on the USBc plug.

Leaving it plugged into the wall ALL the time seems to lead to the battery over-charging and then swelling up -- dangerous.

My opinion only.
Others will disagree.
Some will disagree vehemently.
Click to expand...
My 2017 13", bought in 2018 and used almost daily, is plugged in most of the time it is on or being used. The battery is still at +90%. The machine gets shut down every night. I recharge between 30% and 40%, to 100% again and leave the machine connected. If for some reason you leave the machine in sleep mode overnight, sure, unplug. Why waste the electricity? Otherwise, it is perfectly fine to leave a notebook connected to a power source when in use. I see little to no degradation resulting from the practice.
 
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tonyr6 said:
Forgot to mention don't use Aldente. It prevented my MBP from charging. I set it to 80%, and it did work until I unplugged the notebook and let it discharge to 75% after which it would not charge to 80% it was stuck on 75%. Even after removing Aldente and rebooting. I had to do an SMC reset which took a couple of attempts as I did not do it right the first time.
Click to expand...

Falhófnir said:
Theoretically the closer you can keep it to 50% the better. In practice, it's unlikely to make a significant difference over the life of the computer. If you can broadly keep it between 20-80% charge (without stressing over it) then that's good, but don't go out of your way or stress over it, the lifespan gains are going to be marginal even with a regimented charging regime.
Click to expand...

||\|| said:
My 2017 13", bought in 2018 and used almost daily, is plugged in most of the time it is on or being used. The battery is still at +90%. The machine gets shut down every night. I recharge between 30% and 40%, to 100% again and leave the machine connected. If for some reason you leave the machine in sleep mode overnight, sure, unplug. Why waste the electricity? Otherwise, it is perfectly fine to leave a notebook connected to a power source when in use. I see little to no degradation resulting from the practice.
Click to expand...
These are the most honest, realistic answers. I regularly use my 2013 MBP for photography and video editing workflows and have never used any "battery health" apps. I plug it in when it needs charging, unplug it when it doesn't. Seven years later, no problem with battery capacity.

The notion of prolonging battery life by avoiding a full 100% charge or complete drain is sound, but in practice, you'll see that everything on this thread is anecdotal (including my own comment!). As an engineer I find myself annoyed with the disconnect between design theory and the end user. Too many people getting hung up on things that make no difference in day-to-day use.

There is no statistically significant evidence that using a tool or adhering to a particular charging habit religiously will notably affect battery longevity. And as you'll see with posts about the tool, there will always be problems - because you're introducing something that Apple simply isn't targeting in their development cycles.

Enjoy your MacBook.
 
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I was using AlDente happily for a few months, setting a 55% charge. Then my mac one day decided that battery service was was required. It took a couple of full discharge/charge cycle and a couple of SMC resets for the warning to go away. (I knew the battery was fine, because it was only like 3-4 months old.)

I decided to remove it and see how the battery management feature in Big Sur worked. To my pleasant surprize, it seems to work much better than it did in Catalina. After a few days of unplugging the mac at the end of the workday, and running on battery for a few hours in the morning, it has now settled on charging up to about 80% after I plug in, and only charging to full by around 5:30. And it says so clearly in the menu, and gives me an option right there to charge to full right away. I'm going to change my routine and let it stay plugged in at night, and unplug mid morning, and see how long it takes it to adapt.

I first tried AlDente because I ended up with a swollen battery after only about 1 1/2 years, during which time it was plugged in probably more than 95% of the time, and only having <40 cycles. Everything I've read affirms that keeping a lithium ion battery at full charge all the time causes it a lot of stress. Even Teslas only charge to 80%.

To everyone who scoffs at going to the trouble of plugging/unplugging and worrying about maintaining battery health, think about this: It is a lot less painful than having to 1) educate the apple "geniuses" that it is indeed covered by their $199 battery replacement price, and not $6-700 as I and others have encountered, and then 2) to wipe your mac, restore to a temp machine (assuming you have one lying around), send it in, and then have to restore it again when you get it back... that's literally a couple of full days wasted, esp with how slow time machine is.

So... I'm pretty happy with how the battery management in BS works, and will rely on it. It'll be time for a M1 mac this year anyway.
 
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macagain said:
To everyone who scoffs at going to the trouble of plugging/unplugging and worrying about maintaining battery health, think about this: It is a lot less painful than having to 1) educate the apple "geniuses" that it is indeed covered by their $199 battery replacement price, and not $6-700 as I and others have encountered, and then 2) to wipe your mac, restore to a temp machine (assuming you have one lying around), send it in, and then have to restore it again when you get it back... that's literally a couple of full days wasted, esp with how slow time machine is.
Click to expand...
Again, anecdotal. If there was any evidence that this experience is statically common, well, I'll let you imagine how things would be a bit different for Apple.
 
@macagain
I was hoping for that to Happen as I had to
Change the battery After 1 year because I use my mbp Plugged in all the time

Do you remember when That 80% thing started to happen?
 
GSPice said:
Again, anecdotal. If there was any evidence that this experience is statically common, well, I'll let you imagine how things would be a bit different for Apple.
Click to expand...
Yep completely anecdotal! In fact doubly anecdotal. My 2013 was used pretty much plugged in all the time, and got a swollen battery after about 2 years and <80 cycles. Got battery replaced, machine became my downstairs/sofa computer, running off battery all the time, charged only when down to <10%. Been going strong since, close to 300 cycles, all good. 2018 ran plugged in all time, battery swollen after 1 1/2 years. Battery replaced. Now that I've read up on battery info, you think I'm going to leave it plugged in all the time? Hmm... Will it swell again? Who knows.

But I gotta say I'll do whatever if I can even have a chance to avoid another replacement ordeal.

More anecdotes: 2 other people I know who had swollen batteries also coincidentally ran their machines plugged in almost all the time. A slightly different anecdote... I had an several year old air that sat on the shelf for about 9 months in a totally discharged state (also high stress)... guess what? swollen.

Couple of other co-workers who never had problems... guess what? Coincidentally, they were big travelers, and their machines mostly ran on battery and only plugged in/charged when needed.

And it was obviously "a bit different" for Apple, otherwise why on earth did they decide to implement a battery management feature? A feature which has existed for years on thinkpads.
 
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tosbsas said:
@macagain
I was hoping for that to Happen as I had to
Change the battery After 1 year because I use my mbp Plugged in all the time

Do you remember when That 80% thing started to happen?
Click to expand...
I upgraded to Big Sur about 10 days ago, and I just started noticing it maybe a couple days ago. The first week or so it was left plugged in most of the time and I noticed once or twice it went down to about 95% and started charging again. The last couple of days I unplugged and the end of the day, and took the opportunity to run on battery for a few hours in the morning.
 
I'm tempted to try Al-Dente but it's also not a lot of work to unplug it at 75-80% and plug it in at 30%, plus my keyboard has gone out every year so I basically get a new battery every year. But it is important to note that having low/high battery cycles aren't bad, just practice good health as many posters have stated.
 
Maybe it's not relevant, but this maybe one extreme use case as reference (bad example) for you.
I'm using a Dell laptop at work.
I plug it in 24/7, leave the laptop on the desk, rarely take it home unless I have something to do at home during my days-off.
At work, I only un-plug the laptop to bring it to meeting room. (several time a month).
The laptop is still be able to have 2 hour on-screen, after 2 full year being used this way.
I will have the IT department change the battery when it on-screen time drop to 1 hour, maybe in the middle of this year.
The cost will be about the same as an Apple battery, and it takes only several minutes for the IT to change it. No significant work disruption.
 
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