How to prevent battery charging when powered off (M3 MBA)

[bigboy29]

For about 3 years, I used my MacBook Pro 2020 (Intel) with my ultra-wide Samsung monitor and AlDente ("stop battery charging when powered off"). I'd shut down my Mac every night. The next day, I'd power up the Mac and the battery would be the same level as it was last night.

That MacBook, after I used it for 3 years, is at about 40 battery cycles and 100% battery level still, so there is that.

My use is 99% plugged into my Samsung monitor via Thunderbolt cable. The monitor powers my Mac.

Why am I powering off the MacBook? Because the monitor has an annoying bug that if I put the Mac to sleep, the monitor will wake itself up every X minutes and scan all the inputs. Because of where my desk is, this does not work for me during the night.

I just switched to the M3 MBA and "stop charging when powered off" does not exist anymore in AlDente.

What can I do? A few things I can think of:

• Unplug the Thunderbolt cable every day and re-plug it in; meh. I dislike this as I fear it'll wear out the port?
• Turn off the monitor; that could work... but I have a USB headset plugged into the monitor and sometimes it does not power on properly and I then need to reach behind the monitor and unplug / replug USB into the monitor. Kind of annoying.
• Get some sort of Thunderbolt hub (something I am considering anyway) and power that off at the end of the day and then power it on the next day? It seems like power buttons on Thunderbolt hubs are all kinds of complicated, though?
• Does Apple built-in battery management / limit work when MacBook is powered off, or would it continue charging unless I powered the monitor off? I like AlDente but I could stop using it... Apple's battery limit never worked for me on Intel MBP but it might work on M3 MBA?
• Anything else?

I know, 1st world problems but I'd appreciate any ideas?

 

[Mike Boreham]

In AlDente > Settings if you click the little "?" next to "Stop Charging when app closed" it opens a web page Feature Explanation: Stop charging when powered off/app closed, implying "powered off" is same behaviour as "app closed". Don't know if works as you want as I don't power mine off.

 

[bigboy29]

In AlDente > Settings if you click the little "?" next to "Stop Charging when app closed" it opens a web page Feature Explanation: Stop charging when powered off/app closed, implying "powered off" is same behaviour as "app closed". Don't know if works as you want as I don't power mine off.

Yeah on that exact page, under Apple silicon section:

The only way to avoid letting your MacBook go to 100% is to not shut it down and let your MacBook go to sleep instead or to unplug it before you turn it off.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Yeah on that exact page, under Apple silicon section:

So not a solution then 😂😂.

 

[Flav]

I've plugged in and out my monitor daily for many years, never had a "worn out" port. I wouldn't worry about that. I've always used quality cables if that matters. Apple or LG UltraFine monitor ones.

Edit: now I looked around, it looks like it's 10,000 cycles

How sturdy is the USB-C port of the new M… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[JPack]

I had a similar problem starting with M1/Big Sur with a particular Dell monitor (2021 model). The Dell didn’t officially support Mac (no Mac firmware updates) and would wake up regularly. I didn’t want to unplug either because it messes up Optimized Battery Charging. The problem was specific to Apple Silicon because a similar Intel machine running the same macOS wouldn’t have the problem.

The solution was to buy a new Dell ultrawide (2024 model) that officially supports Mac. Before all this, I thought all monitors were the same regardless of stated compatibility. But firmware really matters these days.

 

[bigboy29]

What seems to work is just "leaving the machine on". It is only if I explicitly put the machine to sleep > Sleep that the monitor does the weird power up thing. If I lock the machine or just walk away and the screens turn off, there are no problem, and AlDente still does what it should do (the charge level does not go over 70% as defined). So ultimately - the solution for my issue is to... not do anything, and stop micromanaging sleep.