Battery life on M1 MacBook Air

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IR2002 Author

Level 1

4 points

Battery life on M1 MacBook Air

Hi! I've had the M1 MacBook Air since late November 2020. I've been really happy with it but it's fallen short on expectations in one crucial area: battery life. Apple advertises about 15 hours of wireless web browsing with half brightness. Most reviewers I've read have noted getting around 11-13 hours with basic web browsing, note-taking etc. I have not had this experience.

Don't get me wrong, it is better than my previous 2015 MacBook Pro 13" but that's not saying much. I'd say at roughly 50-60% brightness and running basic apps (Safari, Word, Spotify, Mail), I get around 9-10 hours of battery life. Throw in some more intensive apps like Zoom/WhatsApp and it sinks to a 7-9 hour battery life. On average, with all of those tasks combined, I'm getting about 8 hours of use out of it and I barely do any of the intensive tasks.

My battery health is at 95% (the same as when I bought the laptop), diagnostic tests came back with no problems and I've done an SMC reset a few times. The problem has persisted. I'm open to any suggestions or input. Is this a problem or normal battery life for this laptop? Thanks!

[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on Jul 1, 2021 9:25 AM

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Answer 1

dominic23

Level 10

84,140 points

Jul 1, 2021 9:59 AM in response to IR2002

Hopefully battery health management will help eventually

As a user this what I know.

1. Battery Management.

How battery health management helps

The battery health management feature in macOS 10.15.5 is designed to improve your battery's lifespan

by reducing the rate at which it chemically ages.

The feature does this by monitoring your battery's temperature history and its charging patterns.

Based on the measurements that it collects, battery health management

may reduce your battery's maximum charge when in this mode.

This happens as needed to ensure that your battery charges to a level that's optimized for your usage

—reducing wear on the battery, and slowing its chemical aging.

Battery health management also uses the measurements to calculate when your battery needs service.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211094?cid=mc-ols-energy_saver-article_ht211094-macos_ui-04022020

2. Section: Tips for MacBooks

https://www.apple.com/uk/batteries/maximizing-performance/

3. If your Mac battery runs out of charge quickly

4. Please submit a feedback to Apple. https://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html

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