Does downgrading macOS improve battery life?

[Red29359]

My MacBook Air M2 which I got new back in August 2022 has a maximum capacity of 91% left, and running macOS Tahoe on it causes it to drain from 100% to like 91-90% in one 1 hour when I browse the web, and overall the battery does not seem to last as long as before. I want to know, does downgrading to a less complex OS like Sequoia or Sonoma make your battery life better without getting a new battery, or does replacing the battery alone give you like battery performance like back in 2022? Is software complexity a big factor for battery life or is the mAh, display, or battery health a bigger factor? My laptop has a 52.6 Wh (watt-hour) lithium-polymer battery, which equates to approximately 4,561 mAh at a nominal voltage of roughly 11.54V. Would replacing my 91% battery to a 100% from Apple make the battery perform similar to when it was on Monterey-Sequoia?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

So your Mac is using 9% to 10% of its battery in an hour (10+ hour runtime)…

Replacing the battery would stretch that to 10%-11%, perhaps one more hour total.

Certainly not worth the effort or expense in my opinion but you do you!

 

[benwiggy]

a less complex OS like Sequoia or Sonoma

The difference in complexity is tiny. There might be a bit more work for the graphics to render the increased transparency, but that's about it.

What's the cycle count and capacity %..?

4 years is certainly old enough that the battery might be approaching the 80%/1000 cycle criteria for replacement. Also, the decline over time isn't a straight line. You can expect sudden reductions in capacity and possibly even maximum current as it gets older.

 

[Red29359]

The difference in complexity is tiny. There might be a bit more work for the graphics to render the increased transparency, but that's about it.

What's the cycle count and capacity %..?

4 years is certainly old enough that the battery might be approaching the 80%/1000 cycle criteria for replacement. Also, the decline over time isn't a straight line. You can expect sudden reductions in capacity and possibly even maximum current as it gets older.

My battery cycle count is 387, and its maximum capacity is 91%.

 

[MacCheetah3]

The fundamental question: Is an estimated 10 hours of runtime (excluding connected to AC, of course) insufficient?

… as otherwise stated by @FreakinEurekan

P.S.

[...] causes it to drain from 100% to like 91-90% in one 1 hour when I browse the web [...]

This has become my go-to reference when modern/recent battery drain is a concern.

 

[Red29359]

I wonder if reduce transparency helps battery life?

 

[Mac_Professor]

Yes that helped by M1 as the Liquid Glass requires GPU to do its stuff so it consumes little more battery power

 

[Red29359]

Yes that helped by M1 as the Liquid Glass requires GPU to do its stuff so it consumes little more battery power

I tried comparing Reduce Transparency on vs off and overall having it on makes the energy impact meter go from 50% of the draw to 40% of draw scrolling through the app drawer.

 

[Refractor]

I tried comparing Reduce Transparency on vs off and overall having it on makes the energy impact meter go from 50% of the draw to 40% of draw scrolling through the app drawer.

You are on a M2.

I am on a M4 Macbook Air 15".

But I haven't noticed anything in terms of faster drainage on Tahoe versus 15.7.4.

I set the upper battery charge limit it to 80% though.

On 15.7.4 and all the lower versions that crap never worked. No matter what it always charged the battery to 100% and the system were flat out lying to you: 'I will learn from your charging habits.'

The usual: have you fired up Activity Monitor. There may be processes draining your battery. For example, I had the problem with Pages and the junk spyware Siri caused all kind of problems. I switched off Siri and all the other notification spam as much as I can throughout the system and for the apps (use google how to do it). I also had in the past Spotlight search indexing using permanent 100% cpu power and draining the battery like crazy.