Battery discharging while power adapter connected to MacBook Pro M1

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Eduard1995 Author

Level 1

8 points

Battery discharging while power adapter connected to MacBook Pro M1

Hi there,

I have bought an Apple MacBook Pro M1 in December 2020, and in last day I have saw some strange behaviours:

Two weeks ago, I have fully charged the MacBook and next 2 days, I have saw a drop to 99% and charging, while all this time the power adapter was connected!

Yesterday I have fully charged my MacBook and leave it with the power adapter connected(100% battery)

-today I have checked my battery with coconutBattery and that app sayd that my battery was around 90%, but my battery in mb status bar was 100%. So, I have did a restart. After restart, the battery in mb status bar was to 91% and started charging ...

How is possible to discarge from 100% to 91% in a day(24 hours, from yesterday to today) while in all this time the power adapter was connected to my MacBook? And why I have saw this drop ONLY AFTER RESTART?

It is normal ? Can someone tell me if I need to go to service or is a normal behaviour ?

This is battery health management? Maybe apple doesn't show the discharging rate (only in case of restart, like mine) to not panic users and is normal ?

Posted on Jun 2, 2021 4:30 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

stedman1

Community+ 2024

Level 10

260,782 points

Jun 2, 2021 4:58 AM in response to Eduard1995

I do see the percentage going down, but it is a very slow process. If I was merely using the Mac to read and respond to post where on the forum, it would probably be 6 or more hours before the percentage dropped to ~89% and the battery again started charging.

The Apple articles below may help.

About battery health management in Mac notebooks - Apple Support

If battery charging is paused or on hold on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Jun 2, 2021 4:34 AM in response to Eduard1995

It is indeed normal. It is Apple’s method to better maintain long term batter health, by providing small discharge cycles. My MacBook Air will slowly discharge to ~89% before the charge process starts again.

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Answer 3

Jun 2, 2021 4:44 AM in response to Eduard1995

The rate at which it would discharge from 100% to 89% would depend on what I was doing at the time. If merely surfing the internet, it could be many hours before the percentage made a drop to the point where charging started again.

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Answer 4

Eduard1995 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 2, 2021 4:49 AM in response to stedman1

My question is ... you can see the percentages going down, like 99%-98%-97%-96% and so on ? because in my case, only with restart and coconut battery I saw that. And sorry for "stupid" question, I just want to manage my notebook to be in good condition:D

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Answer 5

Jun 2, 2021 7:15 AM in response to Eduard1995

You’re welcome. I don’t spend a lot of time on the MacBook Air, but when I do use it for any extended periods, I do note that the charging cycle will slowly drop until it reaches the threshold, and again starts charging. While I was trying to troubleshoot the behaviour when I first witnessed it, I now know it is expected behaviour.

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Answer 6

Eduard1995 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 2, 2021 4:38 AM in response to stedman1

Good to know, but why I have saw that drop (from 100% to 91%) only after restart?

What do you mean by slowly? In 1-2-3 days ? in my case was only 1 day ...

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Answer 7

Eduard1995 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 2, 2021 4:58 AM in response to stedman1

Thank you for help! Another thing and the last, I hope: this process while battery discharges automatically while plugged in, it happens every day ?

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