will keeping my new Macbook Pro M1 plugged in most of the time hurt battery life?

Your MacBook Pro  uses smart charging to charge in the optimum way, and only when necessary. Plugged in is Not necessarily actively charging. There is substantial hardware and software cooperating on battery and charging issues. Simply asserting a charging voltage against one of the interface(s) will NOT successfully charge your MacBook Pro.

So Sure, leave it plugged in. Nothing will be damaged in any way.

Thanks Bob, very appreciative on the response. Good to know i can take it off my concerns.

Please note that the statement i was replying to (and saw no clarifying reply below it) was conditional, not absolute. It included the following:

"Older Macs do not incorporate Battery Health Management."

since the original question was about a new Macbook Pro M1, I sought clarification applied to earlier models, my 2017 in particular.

your response did not address my question.

The following link i located does deal with intel based MBPs running 10.15.5 and i assume later:

About battery health management in Mac notebooks - Apple Support

thanks again, fred

Your son's 2017 MBP needs to be running macOS 10.15.5 or later to benefit from the feature described in About battery health management in Mac notebooks - Apple Support.

Same title, but that one applies to Intel Macs. The algorithms seek to accomplish the same goal — you don't have to concern yourself with it. "Older" Macs are those too old to run macOS 10.15.5.

No, and your Mac implements battery management algorithms that will exercise it anyway, even if you leave it plugged in all the time.

About battery health management in Mac notebooks - Apple Support explains it in somewhat superficial detail, under How battery health management helps.

Older Macs do not incorporate Battery Health Management. Leaving them plugged in all the time would be detrimental.

ncmac13 Said:

"Will keeping my new MacBook Pro M1 plugged in most of the time hurt battery life?"

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No. I've had my 2018 plugged in for a long time, and the health is still at 100%

You can plug your computer in whenever convenient to do so. Neither the battery nor the computer will be damaged. The MacOS manages the computer's power/charging system.

Hey John thanks for the reply. can you define terms here. What is meant by Older? Can you name a year or OS. I am planning to use my son's old 15 inch 2017 MBP in clamshell mode with a monitor and run it as a desktop computer at work. It will be plugged in all the time and can be shut down or not over night as is advised. I am worried the battery needs to be drained every so often, but am not sure if this is true or if true how often. My preference is to not have this concern, but i also do not want to damage the battery or prematurely cause failure.

thanks, fred

As already stated. You can leave your computer plugged in whenever convenient to do so. Neither your computer nor your battery will be damaged by doing so. Let the MacOS manage the computers power/charging system. You do not need to micromanage the system.

Thanks John, i did find that link after following the M1 version and searching further.

I appreciate the clarification and reiteration that is it all clear. Glad not to have to worry about it.

take care, fred