Does the battery last longer in cold weather?

[negativzero]

Recently I had the opportunity to take my 2017 MacBook with me on business to Japan in winter. I live in a tropical country but I noticed in the colder weather, I could use the MacBook for much longer and the battery did not seem to drop as much. Back home, it feels like the battery drained faster, even though the same tasks were done. Anyone else observe this or is it just me??

 

[yukari]

At minimum, in cold weather you don't have to cool your internal with the fan as much as in the warmer weather. That is one source of increased battery time in cold weather.

 

[MrGunnyPT]

You don't need too cool the internals as much basically.

Like when I work on the beach I see how much the heat impacts my cooling... There most of the fans are at full speed usually

 

[robvas]

Were you using outside in the cold?
Extreme hot, and cold both are bad for the battery.

 

[willmtaylor]

Slightly cooler temps will reduce strain on your cooling systems.

However, COLD temps significantly reduce lithium ion battery efficiency.

 

[TC_GoldRush]

Cold temperatures (especially below freezing) will drain your battery significantly quicker, if its below 0 (in Fahrenheit) it could just die near instantly.

 

[negativzero]

Were you using outside in the cold?
Extreme hot, and cold both are bad for the battery.

In both environments, I would say it’s room temperature. So at home it would be 25-30C and while I was in Japan it was 14-18.

The difference in battery life was really obvious.
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Slightly cooler temps will reduce strain on your cooling systems.

However, COLD temps significantly reduce lithium ion battery efficiency.

I understand, but my fans never cranked up either when I’m at home, it stays at the lowest possible speed unless I’m doing some VM or photoshop stuff. That’s why I’m trying to find other reasons it could last longer.

 

[Schranke]

From what I can gather from this article http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
Temperature impacts battery life

To say something more precise it would be useful to know what temperature the battery was running at in both cases, since this is more meaningful then ambient temperature.
Batteries have a tendency to work worse in extremes, so being to cold or to hot negatively impact lifetime.
And to give an answer, in Denmark we experience shorter and more unreliable battery life on phones (and other electronic devices) when using outside during winter. We have between -10(at worst) and 5 degrees. So cold weather do not prolong life. In the summer we have (if lucky) 30 degrees with an average of 20-25 degrees. I have not experienced to much of a change in battery life when traveling to warmer countries compared to what I experience during a Danish summer.