Still can't wrap my head around the battery charging on Macbook Pro 16"

[ksgant]

I use my Macbook Pro mainly plugged in all the time, but I do unplug to use during the day in other areas. But it doesn't charge to 100% sometimes...or when I'm using it while plugged in, I'll look at the battery and it's down to like 85%, even though it's plugged in and it says "not charging" for some reason.

Then, when I leave it plugged in overnight, just like now, I come here and it's at 95% yet it says it's "fully charged". This machine is only like 4 months old, and in the battery health, it says it's at 97% still. Is this all do to having "Manage battery longevity" and "Optimized battery charging" checked?

 

[ascender]

Yes, this is down to the new battery management features in macOS. But, its confusing at best - I wish there was a different status for the battery in the menu bar whenever it was doing something like this so you knew.

Its even more frustrating when you think there might be an issue with the laptop or a second charger - I picked one up last week and its been really difficult to work out if its faulty, my laptop is faulty, the laptop is just drawing too much power, or its just macOS trying to be clever.

 

[jerryk]

They are tring to optimize battery life by charging short of full and letting it drain down even when plugged in. You saw how to turn it off. Frankly, it bothered me for a bit, but now it is just part of how the computer works.

 

[Buck987]

Notice this on my air the other night...was plugged in but battery % was going down. Went from 95 to 88 then started charging and reached 100...i was hoping it was some battery management system and not a defect.

 

[jerryk]

Notice this on my air the other night...was plugged in but battery % was going down. Went from 95 to 88 then started charging and reached 100...i was hoping it was some battery management system and not a defect.

It is a feature you can enable or disable.