MacBook Pro battery health dropping rapidly

[Ammar666]

My 2018 MacBook pro is now under 90% battery health. I've had this laptop for 2 years, and it has spent most of its life time plugged in, so the cycle count is low on the laptop. If the advise is to not let it plugged in, won't that just impact battery health even more since it will increase cycle count?

 

[Knightimer]

Mine is at 91%. I have the same year and model and would like to know too.

 

[Benz63amg]

So is it better to keep the MacBook plugged in at all times if the MacBook is stationary on a desk?
I actually just got my 13 inch MacBook and was wondering about whether it should keep it plugged in at all times or not

 

[chabig]

That doesn’t look unreasonably bad for a two year old battery.

 

[Natzoo]

So is it better to keep the MacBook plugged in at all times if the MacBook is stationary on a desk?

Yes and no, you will have lower cycles but overall battery health could be lower. This is a very controversial topic on this forum but having a computer with 500 cycles and 90% battery is better than 10 cycles. I am on Mojave so I don't have the fancy Catalina features that regulate the battery.

What I recommend: Discharge the battery at least once a week, to around 25-30%.

OP: I had my 2018 15" for two years but I had my battery replaced in December of 2019, and already down to 90%. So after 10 months, I have lost 10% basically.

If you have any keyboard issues, apple replaces the whole top case assembly, including the battery.

 

[brianmowrey]

You wouldn't expect the battery to be at 100% if it spent two years sitting on a shelf unused.

Plugged in around the clock isn't going to fare any better. Even Catalina Battery Health Management can't do the work of draining to ~40% before charging starts, for optimal health. You have to unplug it.

 

[Benz63amg]

Yes and no, you will have lower cycles but overall battery health could be lower. This is a very controversial topic on this forum but having a computer with 500 cycles and 90% battery is better than 10 cycles. I am on Mojave so I don't have the fancy Catalina features that regulate the battery.

What I recommend: Discharge the battery at least once a week, to around 25-30%.

OP: I had my 2018 15" for two years but I had my battery replaced in December of 2019, and already down to 90%. So after 10 months, I have lost 10% basically.

If you have any keyboard issues, apple replaces the whole top case assembly, including the battery.

So unplugging at least once a week and let it drain down to 20% percent then keep it plugged in afterwards at all times till next week?

 

[Natzoo]

So unplugging at least once a week and let it drain down to 20% percent then keep it plugged in afterward at all times till next week?

That's what I do, I know it is not great to leave it plugged in all the time. So a forum member told me to let it discharge at least once a week. I am sure there are better ways to prolong the health of the device, but discharing it every now and then should help.

 

[raymanh]

If you're always leaving it plugged in, theres a program someone wrote on GitHub where you can set max charge level. If you set it at 80% (rather than always at 100% when plugged in) it will be much better for battery health. It's known that keeping these types of battery at 100% is not good for it's health.

 

[Broko Fankone]

I'd actually use a charge limiter... after you replace this battery since it's pretty much ready to be swapped out for a new one.

Keeping a lion battery charged to 100% for long periods of time introduces a lot of stress to the cell(s). Letting it stay drained for long is also very detrimental to battery health.

The "ideal" situation is somewhere in the golden middle, where the battery is at 50-60% at all times and gets cycled a bit every week.

That's how I've been using my MBP 13 2020 for a couple of months now and it's been very good:

In fact battery health went up after I did 3 full cycles from 0 to 100 one after another, after already using a charge limiter for a month. I limit charging to 65% and am using Catalina health management. Every other day I unplug it for 10-20% of drain and about every week I charge it fully (or almost fully) and drain it to at least 15-20% or so, to keep the battery calibrated.

You might have some luck with recalibration so maybe give that a shot? Drain the laptop until it turns off, then immediately start charging it. Let it reach 100% with closed lid and then let it sit with the charging cable plugged in for a few more hours (or even overnight). Then, do another 100-0% cycle and charge it again. Take a look at battery health stats and see if there is any improvement. Do a third cycle like this and if there is still no improvement then you might want to consider getting it replaced when it goes close to 80% or even now.

Also try to keep an eye on battery temperature sensors. If the cells reach temps like 40C often and stay there, they will die faster. It's good to stay below 35C on the batteries (although I reach 37-38C when under heavy load but this has been happening during summer heat so room temp is already bringing idle temps higher than normal).

 

[BigMcGuire]

My 2018 MacBook pro is now under 90% battery health. I've had this laptop for 2 years, and it has spent most of its life time plugged in, so the cycle count is low on the laptop. If the advise is to not let it plugged in, won't that just impact battery health even more since it will increase cycle count?

View attachment 958671

I had a 2017 MBP used daily, plugged in most of its life. 29 months and 89 charge cycles. 93% battery health. My wife has easily 2x the cycles I do and she's in the high to mid 80%.

I would be happy with that. The battery health feature Apple utilizes will charge your battery down to 80% and back up to 100% especially if you leave it plugged in a long time.

I have been utilizing Charge Limiter to keep my MBP around 60-75% and keeping my laptop plugged in. This does utilize more charge cycles but supposedly keeps the battery healthy.

I kept my 2015 MBA 3 months (95%+), and I kept my 2017 MBP for 29 months (93%+). I plan on keeping this 2020 MBP for 3 years. Both my MBA and MBP I kept plugged in for most of their lives. Sold both back to Apple.

 

[Kovadis]

My 2018 MacBook pro is now under 90% battery health. I've had this laptop for 2 years, and it has spent most of its life time plugged in, so the cycle count is low on the laptop. If the advise is to not let it plugged in, won't that just impact battery health even more since it will increase cycle count?

View attachment 958671

I have the same issue.. My matchbook Pro 16 2019 is less then 6 months old now and my battery health is at 85%. last week it was 90%. is that how long the battery lasts usually?

 

[Broko Fankone]

I have the same issue.. My matchbook Pro 16 2019 is less then 6 months old now and my battery health is at 85%. last week it was 90%. is that how long the battery lasts usually?

Try draining and charging from 0-100% a couple of times to recalibrate the battery and see more accurate health.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I have the same issue.. My matchbook Pro 16 2019 is less then 6 months old now and my battery health is at 85%. last week it was 90%. is that how long the battery lasts usually?

Yeah several users show that health goes up when turning off Optimize Charging in the Battery settings. I’m not completely certain but it seems this could be the case. My wife’s laptop capacity also does this.

 

[Kovadis]

Yes thank you. very helpful.
This is also the info I found about the issue.

About battery health management in Mac laptops - Apple Support

Mac laptop computers with an Intel processor use battery health management, a feature designed to improve the lifespan of your computer's battery.

support.apple.com

 

[Jmgilliam18]

I had a 2017 MBP used daily, plugged in most of its life. 29 months and 89 charge cycles. 93% battery health. My wife has easily 2x the cycles I do and she's in the high to mid 80%.

I would be happy with that. The battery health feature Apple utilizes will charge your battery down to 80% and back up to 100% especially if you leave it plugged in a long time.

I have been utilizing Charge Limiter to keep my MBP around 60-75% and keeping my laptop plugged in. This does utilize more charge cycles but supposedly keeps the battery healthy.

I kept my 2015 MBA 3 months (95%+), and I kept my 2017 MBP for 29 months (93%+). I plan on keeping this 2020 MBP for 3 years. Both my MBA and MBP I kept plugged in for most of their lives. Sold both back to Apple.

My battery health feature doesn't let it go down to 80% and back up if plugged in all the time. I'm using charge limiter. I haven't turned off apple's batter health monitor though. May try.

 

[whiteonline]

Try draining and charging from 0-100% a couple of times to recalibrate the battery and see more accurate health.

Is this sarcasm?
Lithium batteries should never intentionally be completely discharged.

To OP: battery lifespan will benefit mostly from shallow charge cycles.
However, the battery is a consumable. Just use the machine. When (not IF) the battery wear degrades significantly, have Apple or an authorized party replace it.
My philosophy has always been: if AC power is accessible and not inconvenient, I use it.

 

[Broko Fankone]

Is this sarcasm?
Lithium batteries should never intentionally be completely discharged.

To OP: battery lifespan will benefit mostly from shallow charge cycles.
However, the battery is a consumable. Just use the machine. When (not IF) the battery wear degrades significantly, have Apple or an authorized party replace it.
My philosophy has always been: if AC power is accessible and not inconvenient, I use it.

Please don't suggest anything about things you know nothing about.

And this is right now:

Here are my stats in case anyone wonders if I can backup my words. Only keep the mac plugged in all the time if you are using a charge limiter set to 50-60% (like I am doing). And if you go down that road you definitely need to cycle at least 20-100% ~once a week. I've gone lower than 20% many times and health is still sitting above 99%.

Deep cycles are necessary if you want accurate percentage information. I've kept the laptop on shallow cycles for 3 weeks and it resulted in the laptop shutting down at ~20% because the displayed information was incorrect and it was actually depleted. Took 3 deep cycles to restore the calibration.

Doing a 100-0% cycle should not be done often but it can be done a couple of times to recalibrate properly and it will not kill the battery. Especially if you charge it right after and not leave it depleted for long. Keeping it fully charged at 100% all of the time will do A LOT more harm, much more quickly.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I'm pretty happy with my 2020 MBP. I am treating it very differently than I treated my 2017 MBP (keeping it plugged in all the time at 100%).

My 2020 MBP I have AlDente keeping it at 70-80% mostly. Unfortunately, due to my work situation, this laptop spends all its time as a desktop.

I've had my 2020 MBP 13' since 10/20/20. It runs mostly off of AC power (4 cycles) - at 70%-80%.

 

[BigMcGuire]

My wife's 2017 MBP is fairing far worse... She's at 76% capacity right now and has gotten the "replace battery" warning several times. She often uses her battery (away from wall power) so she doesn't run AlDente or anything like that.

My 2017 MBP went from 104% to 94% in 29 months.

 

[whiteonline]

Please don't suggest anything about things you know nothing about.

View attachment 1713969
And this is right now:

View attachment 1713971

Here are my stats in case anyone wonders if I can backup my words. Only keep the mac plugged in all the time if you are using a charge limiter set to 50-60% (like I am doing). And if you go down that road you definitely need to cycle at least 20-100% ~once a week. I've gone lower than 20% many times and health is still sitting above 99%.

Deep cycles are necessary if you want accurate percentage information. I've kept the laptop on shallow cycles for 3 weeks and it resulted in the laptop shutting down at ~20% because the displayed information was incorrect and it was actually depleted. Took 3 deep cycles to restore the calibration.

Doing a 100-0% cycle should not be done often but it can be done a couple of times to recalibrate properly and it will not kill the battery. Especially if you charge it right after and not leave it depleted for long. Keeping it fully charged at 100% all of the time will do A LOT more harm, much more quickly.

You know nothing about me or my experience. Perhaps you should work on your manners.
I’ve worked with battery technology of varying types for mover 30 years. There’s no such thing as calibrating a battery. NiCd batteries require periodic deep cycles to remove the memory effect. This is not the case with lithium based batteries. In your example, you are simply “calibrating” a low accuracy sensor.

I stand by my post; use the machine and quit worrying. But hey, if you get enjoyment monitoring battery use, more power to you.

 

[Broko Fankone]

Where have I specified that the battery itself is being calibrated?! Let me quote myself: "Deep cycles are necessary if you want accurate percentage information."

If you are fine with your laptop shutting down when it shows 20% remaining then by all means do not do this. Anyone else who might have an interest in capacity limiters should know what they are doing and what to expect, and how to handle this issue. Your 'information' is detrimental to them.

Glad there is also another example of what charge limiting can achieve by another user up there, again backed up with actual data.

 

[avz]

Where have I specified that the battery itself is being calibrated?! Let me quote myself: "Deep cycles are necessary if you want accurate percentage information."

If you are fine with your laptop shutting down when it shows 20% remaining then by all means do not do this. Anyone else who might have an interest in capacity limiters should know what they are doing and what to expect, and how to handle this issue. Your 'information' is detrimental to them.

Glad there is also another example of what charge limiting can achieve by another user up there, again backed up with actual data.

From my practical experience, I agree with you. You can compare the battery to the muscles and an occasional exercise(0-100%) is very important. I have seen an 8-year old MacBook batteries with 2000 cycles that still had a decent health and never caused a random shutdown.

 

[startergo]

That doesn’t look unreasonably bad for a two year old battery.

Really? I have got 2 2014 and 2015 MBP's and the cycle count is 600 and 1020 with 89-90% battery health.

 

[ISKOTB]

This is much better than my 2018 : )

Really? I have got 2 2014 and 2015 MBP's and the cycle count is 600 and 1020 with 89-90% battery health.