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User profile for user: soundman07
soundman07 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

M1 MacBook Air Battery Drain while asleep

I have an issue where my M1 MacBook Air will use excess battery while asleep. In 3-4 days, without any use whatsoever, my Mac will have used nearly all the battery charge while asleep. I have tried many things to fix the issue, including stopping any programs running in the background, running battery / system diagnostics (91% battery health, 165 charge cycles), going to the Genius bar for assistance, and preforming a complete reinstall of the operating system. Even with a clean install of Mac OS, which is fully up-to-date, running only the software included with the OS, the issue persists.


Anyone know of any way to fix this? Any open issues with Mac OS which are causing excess battery drain while asleep with some Macs?


Below is a screenshot that shows the battery drain while my laptop is asleep.


MacBook Air 13″, macOS 13.4

Posted on Jun 17, 2023 8:17 PM

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User profile for user: wimbledon-commoner
wimbledon-commoner
User level: Level 1
15 points

Posted on Mar 27, 2024 4:04 AM

I had this exact issue with brand new M1 Macbook Air. After experimenting I found that turning off wifi when the computer was sleeping solved the problem of battery drain. I never was able to work out exactly what it was doing, but it needed connectivity to do it - so cut the connectivity, solve the problem.


I then tried to figure out how to automate things so that wifi would be turned off when the machine is asleep and turn on automatically when it wakes up.


This is harder than expected. In the end I found a (modest cost) paid-for app called Keyboard Maestro (about $35, has option of a free trial).


These are the steps I followed:

  1. Move the app to the Applications folder.
  2. Create a new macro in the Global Macro Group, called "toggle wifi"
  3. Trigger the macro on the event "Power status changes"
  4. Select the event "Execute AppleScript" and run this code:
set status to do shell script "networksetup -getairportpower en0"
if status ends with "On" then
	do shell script "networksetup -setairportpower en0 off"
else
	do shell script "networksetup -setairportpower en0 on"
end if


That's all. Now, when you've been at your desk working on your (plugged in) Macbook Air, and want to sign off without leaving your machine plugged in all night/weekend, you just yank out the power cable, and automatically the wifi turns off. When you return the next day/week, your battery will still be on 100%. Plug in as normal and your wifi reconnects automatically :)


You can play around with other triggers to suit your own situation - removing the power cable worked for me. I couldn't find a solution that turned wifi off when the display went to sleep, but this approach above handles the problem for me in 99% of cases. Good luck!


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User profile for user: wimbledon-commoner
wimbledon-commoner
User level: Level 1
15 points

Mar 27, 2024 4:04 AM in response to soundman07

I had this exact issue with brand new M1 Macbook Air. After experimenting I found that turning off wifi when the computer was sleeping solved the problem of battery drain. I never was able to work out exactly what it was doing, but it needed connectivity to do it - so cut the connectivity, solve the problem.


I then tried to figure out how to automate things so that wifi would be turned off when the machine is asleep and turn on automatically when it wakes up.


This is harder than expected. In the end I found a (modest cost) paid-for app called Keyboard Maestro (about $35, has option of a free trial).


These are the steps I followed:

  1. Move the app to the Applications folder.
  2. Create a new macro in the Global Macro Group, called "toggle wifi"
  3. Trigger the macro on the event "Power status changes"
  4. Select the event "Execute AppleScript" and run this code:
set status to do shell script "networksetup -getairportpower en0"
if status ends with "On" then
	do shell script "networksetup -setairportpower en0 off"
else
	do shell script "networksetup -setairportpower en0 on"
end if


That's all. Now, when you've been at your desk working on your (plugged in) Macbook Air, and want to sign off without leaving your machine plugged in all night/weekend, you just yank out the power cable, and automatically the wifi turns off. When you return the next day/week, your battery will still be on 100%. Plug in as normal and your wifi reconnects automatically :)


You can play around with other triggers to suit your own situation - removing the power cable worked for me. I couldn't find a solution that turned wifi off when the display went to sleep, but this approach above handles the problem for me in 99% of cases. Good luck!


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User profile for user: soundman07
soundman07 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

May 25, 2024 4:05 PM in response to soundman07

To everyone posting, really appreciate the help. In short, the issues has been fixed over nearly a year later. I suspect a software update solved the issue.


I have nothing specific I did to fix or change the issue. I did all of the above, escalated with Apple support all the way up to their engineers, provided full system diagnostics, but then never heart back.


I hope all can find a fix to this issue, because it is very frustrating.

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User profile for user: soundman07
soundman07 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jun 18, 2023 7:45 PM in response to TzviaLS

Thanks for the reply. Have looked into something that might be running in the background, but no such luck finding any process. Went through Activity Monitor and looked for processes that might be preventing sleep, but nothing there. Also made sure the 'wake for network access' box is unchecked. Not sure is there is a another command line utility that can identify what's going on.


Short of some issue with Mac OS itself, it does seem like by battery has developed some issue that isn't showing up in the diagnostics. May have to eventually try and replace it, but don't want to spend money on that unless I am pretty sure that's the weak link.

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User profile for user: soundman07
soundman07 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Sep 17, 2023 6:59 PM in response to NDchemE

Unfortunately no, was never able to find a solution. Even got it escalated to Apple engineers, but then never got a reply from them despite following-up. Overall very disappointing. Seriously considering not getting another MacBook next time because my laptop barely lasts a couple days while sleeping.


Best of luck and let me know if you find a solution!

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User profile for user: TheLittles
TheLittles
User level: Level 10
195,617 points

Sep 17, 2023 7:03 PM in response to soundman07

soundman07 Said:

"M1 MacBook Air Battery Drain while asleep"

-------


Thank you or the screenshot.


For reference...

Troubleshooting a Draining Mac Battery:


Try a New Charger:

If it is charing from an external device, then use a new charger:


A Few Links to Refer to Power:





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User profile for user: TzviaLS
TzviaLS
User level: Level 1
38 points

Jun 18, 2023 7:12 AM in response to soundman07

I'm no expert- here learning 'tips and tricks' with my first MAC after decades on Windows... but it looks like something is running and not sleeping... does not appear as easy to see the details of what is using cpu/disk/network in MAC...


Did you click the battery icon at the upper right/Battery Settings, to get to your screenshot- it should show the offender(s) if something is running and running, before you click the Battery Settings choice, but from AppleMenu/System Settings/Battery you won't see that quick bit of info. Also, you may want to click the OPTIONS at the bottom of your screenshot, and make sure that 'wake for network access' is set to 'Power adapter only', in case whatever isn't sleeping is using the network- that will eat power real quick... just a thought here...

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M1 MacBook Air Battery Drain while asleep

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