Does overheating kill the battery?

[Zest28]

Sometimes, my M2 MacBook Air gets so hot, it starts to throttle with things slowing down and even the audio starting to glitch. And since the machine is very hot even when touching the outside, it must be super hot on the inside.

So now I am wondering how the battery is dealing with all that heat. It is probably bad for the battery I guess?

 

[Howard2k]

Batteries degrade over time whether you use them not, but excessive heat will degrade them faster.

 

[h.gilbert]

It degrades the battery faster, yes. Here's a good resource:

BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries

BU meta description needed...

batteryuniversity.com

 

[joeblow7777]

Yes, prolonged temperature extremes is one of the few user controllable factors that can have a notable affect on battery health.

However, if that's just a consequence of how you use your laptop, that's life. Batteries can be replaced (at a price, of course).