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Opinion with a recent buy - MBA

R

RaphaZ

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 2, 2021
258
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Hello!

I’ve just bought a second handed M1 MBA, and I’m loving it. It replaced my old 2013 MBA, and the difference is astonishing.
Nonetheless, the Mac came with 92% battery health (58 cycles). Should I worry with this? It seemed a great deal (for less than 800 euros), but I would like your opinion. I will sell my old Mac for 150 euros, and with that money I’m thinking on investing in a battery replacement if needed. Your experience and insights had always been great, so let me know what you would do in this scenario.

Thanks!
 
No, you shouldn't worry about it. Just keep on using and enjoying your M1 MBA and if in the future you notice you're not getting the actual battery performance you expect (not just a % number reported by macOS), then you can get the battery replaced.
 
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usagora said:
No, you shouldn't worry about it. Just keep on using and enjoying your M1 MBA and if in the future you notice you're not getting the actual battery performance you expect (not just a % number reported by macOS), then you can get the battery replaced.
Click to expand...
What would be the percentage to be worried with? 80%? 70%? Thanks.
 
RaphaZ said:
What would be the percentage to be worried with? 80%? 70%? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Apple won't consider taking warranty/AppleCare action until the Apple number (not third party app numbers which fluctuate up and down and are different) drops to 80%. At some point you will see "service required" but I don't know what percent triggers that.

The exceptional battery life of M1 macs means it is a whole new ball game. Many people will find they still have acceptable daily use with health percentage values which would be unacceptable on Intel Macs.

Like @usagora said, just use it until it is not meeting your needs.
 
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Mike Boreham said:
Apple won't consider taking warranty/AppleCare action until the Apple number (not third party app numbers which fluctuate up and down and are different) drops to 80%. At some point you will see "service required" but I don't know what percent triggers that.

The exceptional battery life of M1 macs means it is a whole new ball game. Many people will find they still have acceptable daily use with health percentage values which would be unacceptable on Intel Macs.

Like @usagora said, just use it until it is not meeting your needs.
Click to expand...
Ok. I saw the percentage on the Apple monitor, I’m not using third party apps.
It is reasonable to get this Mac with 92% usage, right? I want to think I’ve done the right choice by not buying a brand new Mac (and paying plus 500 euros more…).
 
I've seen the % drop pretty quickly to 95% within 6 months and then slowly get worse over time. Mine is at 88% with 277 cycles, and I can barely tell a difference from when it was new.
 
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Pugly said:
I've seen the % drop pretty quickly to 95% within 6 months and then slowly get worse over time. Mine is at 88% with 277 cycles, and I can barely tell a difference from when it was new.
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Should that happen with M1’s? Are batteries being developed with other kind of materials?
 
RaphaZ said:
Should that happen with M1’s? Are batteries being developed with other kind of materials?
Click to expand...
I think that's pretty normal for batteries. That last 10% of capacity is hard to charge and easy to lose. Batteries are complicated, so it's better to not worry about it.
 
RaphaZ said:
Hello!

I’ve just bought a second handed M1 MBA, and I’m loving it. It replaced my old 2013 MBA, and the difference is astonishing.
Nonetheless, the Mac came with 92% battery health (58 cycles). Should I worry with this? It seemed a great deal (for less than 800 euros), but I would like your opinion. I will sell my old Mac for 150 euros, and with that money I’m thinking on investing in a battery replacement if needed. Your experience and insights had always been great, so let me know what you would do in this scenario.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Just enjoy your new M1. The battery life you can get out of one cycle is enormous compared to a regular Intel MBA.
 
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92% after 56 cycles seems a bit low. My MBP is still at 100% health after 96 cycles. I don't think it is major problem, if you got a good deal. If you had paid full price new, I would not be very pleased.
 
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RaphaZ said:
What would be the percentage to be worried with? 80%? 70%? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'm not worried about the %. I'm worried about the real-life performance. I know a lot of people on this forum obsess about that %, but frankly I think that's silly unless they're actually experiencing noticeably low run-times. Just use the computer and don't give it a second thought unless it actually affects your workflow.
 
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jav6454 said:
Agreed, although sometimes, having Rosetta running is kind of required as many apps are still missing.
Click to expand...

Yes once the Mac Pro to be released there willl be a reckoning for Mac Developers! If by the end of year if your application in nit at least Universal by now or you look like abandon the application and are fly by night operation!
 
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satcomer said:
Yes once the Mac Pro to be released there willl be a reckoning for Mac Developers! If by the end of year if your application in nit at least Universal by now or you look like abandon the application and are fly by night operation!
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I don’t think that will be the reckoning point. It will be more like a wake up call. The transition is complete.
 
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I can’t remember the precise setting, but you can go into Settings and select to use smart charging (or whatever Apple calls it) and it will only charge the battery level to around 80%. If you let the Mac get down to 20% then charge it all the way to 100% on a regular basis, it will wear out the battery more quickly than if you only let it get down to 40-50% then charge it up only to about 80%. The previous owner might have been abusive to the battery even if they didn’t mean to be.
 
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w5jck said:
I can’t remember the precise setting, but you can go into Settings and select to use smart charging (or whatever Apple calls it) and it will only charge the battery level to around 80%. If you let the Mac get down to 20% then charge it all the way to 100% on a regular basis, it will wear out the battery more quickly than if you only let it get down to 40-50% then charge it up only to about 80%. The previous owner might have been abusive to the battery even if they didn’t mean to be.
Click to expand...
That's right. That's what I think it happened. I hope to take good care, and in the future I might replace this battery for a newer one.
 
w5jck said:
I can’t remember the precise setting, but you can go into Settings and select to use smart charging (or whatever Apple calls it) and it will only charge the battery level to around 80%. If you let the Mac get down to 20% then charge it all the way to 100% on a regular basis, it will wear out the battery more quickly than if you only let it get down to 40-50% then charge it up only to about 80%. The previous owner might have been abusive to the battery even if they didn’t mean to be.
Click to expand...

That's great if Apple's Optimised Battery Charging works (OBC) for you.

When I got my first M1 MBA in Nov 2020 I turned on OBC, but never saw my battery being held to 80%. It is plugged in nearly all the time so no daily routine to learn, but OBC is supposed to recognise mostly plugged in and apply the 80%.

In threads at that time some people said it took a few weeks for the 80% on a mostly plugged in Mac to start working. I gave it three months and then installed AlDente and not looked back. When I got my second MBA in April 2021 it went straight on to AlDente.

It may well be that OBC has changed since Nov 2020, and it would now work for me, but AlDente has so much more control, I would chose it anyway now.

My advice is either go straight to AlDente, or give OBC a try for a month or so and check if it is working for you. If it is great, if not switch to AlDente.

My November 2020 Mac is at 100% (Apple value not third party) 82 cycles
My April 2021 Mac is at 99% and 35 cycles
 
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Mike Boreham said:
That's great if Apple's Optimised Battery Charging works (OBC) for you.

When I got my first M1 MBA in Nov 2020 I turned on OBC, but never saw my battery being held to 80%. It is plugged in nearly all the time so no daily routine to learn, but OBC is supposed to recognise mostly plugged in and apply the 80%.

In threads at that time some people said it took a few weeks for the 80% on a mostly plugged in Mac to start working. I gave it three months and then installed AlDente and not looked back. When I got my second MBA in April 2021 it went straight on to AlDente.

It may well be that OBC has changed since Nov 2020, and it would now work for me, but AlDente has so much more control, I would chose it anyway now.

My advice is either go straight to AlDente, or give OBC a try for a month or so and check if it is working for you. If it is great, if not switch to AlDente.

My November 2020 Mac is at 100% (Apple value not third party) 82 cycles
My April 2021 Mac is at 99% and 35 cycles
Click to expand...
Thanks! I have the OBC option turned on. I'll see further if there is need to install the AlDente app.
Would you consider to be working plugged in (at 100%) a bad choice? That was what I've done until now, and (I guess) with success. I think the previous owner of this Mac discharged and charged it over and over.
 
RaphaZ said:
Thanks! I have the OBC option turned on. I'll see further if there is need to install the AlDente app.
Would you consider to be working plugged in (at 100%) a bad choice? That was what I've done until now, and (I guess) with success. I think the previous owner of this Mac discharged and charged it over and over.
Click to expand...
Yes running continuously at 100% is a bad choice. The whole point of OBC on macs, phones and iPads is to reduce the time the device spends sitting at 100%.

It needs keeping in perspective as for years no one bothered and the sky didn't fall in!
 
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Mike Boreham said:
Yes running continuously at 100% is a bad choice. The whole point of OBC on macs, phones and iPads is reduce the time the device spends sitting at 100%.
Click to expand...
For instance, if I work all the day at home, sitting with the Macbook, I'd run it plugged in. For a few moments I could took out the cable.

How is that bad?
 
RaphaZ said:
For instance, if I work all the day at home, sitting with the Macbook, I'd run it plugged in. For a few moments I could took out the cable.

How is that bad?
Click to expand...
What is 'bad' is leaving machines plugged in and sitting at 100% charge for long periods. That is what OBC tries to avoid.
 
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Toutou said:
What exactly do you mean by that, Rosetta has memory leaks?
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1
Old programs that haven't been update in multiple years with no update, plus taking up massive amount of memory along the way! Always on difference, old Intel programs that never updated, zombie software always in Rosetta!
 
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