Probably dumb question about charging, go easy.

[Jldaviscmd]

Hey guys, just got a MacBook Pro 14 inch. 10 core cpu and 16 core gpu. My first mac computer. Wish I would have switched sooner. Photo and video editing on it is amazing.

Anyway, I am a nut about battery maintenance. I like to charge things slowly. I know cramming in a bunch of power very quickly is hard on lithium batteries. The slower you can charge them, the better, for the long term. Whether or not it makes an appreciable difference over the lifespan of a MBP is debatable of course.

But let’s say I want to slow charge it just to satisfy my neuroticism. The computer came with a 96w charger and it charges FAST.

However I do have a 45w charger that I bought thinking I could charge it more slowly when time allowed.

Please just knowledge check me here, charging at a lower voltage and wattage isn’t going to harm anything, right?

Stock charger is 96w, 20.5v at 3a.

The one I want to use is 45w, 14.85v at 3.05a.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MBAir2010]

my MacBook air from 2010 uses 45watts to run the laptop,
I'm very sure you MacBook pro needs more "umph" due to the power these pros need.

Apple for all their carelessness of programs and updates incompetence
will never include the wrong or harmful power adaptor on their MacBook line,
therefor i would only use what was included with the macbook.

you need someone here with the same macbook pro stating how they maintained theirs
were the battery is excellent after several months or perhaps almost a year.
until then i would not use another wattage for performance issues and

I dont know if i answered your question or helped
but i have seen many weird things people do that was not necessary.

 

[barkomatic]

The benefit from carefully managing your charging habits is minuscule. Just use the included charger when you need to and don’t worry about it. The only thing I would do is not leave it plugged in constantly.

 

[vikky2426]

The benefit from carefully managing your charging habits is minuscule. Just use the included charger when you need to and don’t worry about it. The only thing I would do is not leave it plugged in constantly.

I leave mine plugged in all the time thinking optimised battery charging will help not charge my laptop past 80% and I'll just be able to use my laptop on power adaptor but it keeps charging my laptop to 100% every day.

the only think I've noticed is it charges slowly past 80% but that's not what I want. I just want my battery to not go over 80% and and my laptop only runs on power adaptor. Not sure if there is a way to do this.

 

[Boneheadxan]

I leave mine plugged in all the time thinking optimised battery charging will help not charge my laptop past 80% and I'll just be able to use my laptop on power adaptor but it keeps charging my laptop to 100% every day.

the only think I've noticed is it charges slowly past 80% but that's not what I want. I just want my battery to not go over 80% and and my laptop only runs on power adaptor. Not sure if there is a way to do this.

You can use AlDente to limit the charging. I keep mine at 70%. I’m not sure of the long term benefits, but battery health on my 2019 16” MBP was terrible, even though I only used it plugged in.

 

[elbert]

Hey guys, just got a MacBook Pro 14 inch. 10 core cpu and 16 core gpu. My first mac computer. Wish I would have switched sooner. Photo and video editing on it is amazing.

Anyway, I am a nut about battery maintenance. I like to charge things slowly. I know cramming in a bunch of power very quickly is hard on lithium batteries. The slower you can charge them, the better, for the long term. Whether or not it makes an appreciable difference over the lifespan of a MBP is debatable of course.

But let’s say I want to slow charge it just to satisfy my neuroticism. The computer came with a 96w charger and it charges FAST.

However I do have a 45w charger that I bought thinking I could charge it more slowly when time allowed.

Please just knowledge check me here, charging at a lower voltage and wattage isn’t going to harm anything, right?

Stock charger is 96w, 20.5v at 3a.

The one I want to use is 45w, 14.85v at 3.05a.

Thanks in advance.

Your Mac will determine what USB PD input power it will accept.

 

[wilberforce]

I frequently use a 20W iPad charger to charge my 14" MBP. (For convenience, not because I am worried about fast charging.) Takes about 5 hours to fully charge.
Note that these chargers are not just dumb chargers. There is a data connection between the charger and the device (MacBook, in this case), and they mutually negotiate the appropriate matching power profile (voltage, current and wattage) that suit both.
If there is no data connection, it defaults to the lowest power profile (5V and 7.5W).

 

[Inutopia]

Use an app like Al Dente to limit the charge the laptop can receive. I have mine set to 70% which will hugely reduce wear to the battery in the long run. Batteries ideally like to sit at 50% full.