Since I've updated to Sonoma I've been having issues with battery management on my M1 MacBook Air. The system says the battery isn't charging because it is rarely used on battery (which is true) but it actually keeps charging the battery anyway. This kinda defeats the point of optimized charging. Is anyone else experiencing the same issue?
MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
You are over-worrying this. As others have pointed out, even in desktop mode or after being at 80% for some time, it will once in a while charge up to 100% and be there for a while then go back to 80%. Also, sometimes it stops at a different level than 80%. Like 76%. Or something else. Staying all the time at 100%, or 80%, or some other value is not ideal for this type of battery. So the OS tries to vary things some and periodically it "exercises" the battery, research has shown this can extend the life of the battery. Since we don't have access to the "algorithm," we can't tell why it is doing what it is doing and when it might change things. Also, Sonoma MIGHT have updated the algorithm (versus other OS versions), so just because something changed does not mean there is a problem with Sonoma.
What you are doing is like obsessively measuring tread wear every day or every week on automobile tires. Laptop batteries, like automobile tires, wear out over time and have to be replaced. The Mac OS is just trying to "drive the car" in a way that maximizes the life time.
Thank you for your advice, I will take it into consideration.
This is my first MacBook and when I bought it I didn't know that it will be so powerful. Immediately it turned into my main machine which worked for first year always on battery almost all day. Then I put it on my desk and threw away all my Windows and Linux machines. It was a beast (and still is) and I'm not going to blame it about worn battery because how badly I used it. it served well, and probably will on my desk until I buy a new one soon.
Well yes, this is my 1st MacBook too. I too first wanted use it as I did with the Linux and Windows laptops, always on battery. But, by coming here, I found that it can be used always plugged in, and MacOS would take care of the battery. So, I did some testing, and found that I can leave the MBP always connected and not to worry at all. The MBP is a lovely device, and I like the apps, especially Safari, Finder and Preview. I haven't run GIMP for a long time since I go to know Preview. 👌
Finally! A Breakthrough!
I managed to fix the problem.
As I mentioned before, firstly, I wiped my system trough Settings. Set up everything from scratch but it didn't worked.
Then I thought that this option is fully controlled by system, nothing should be relevant on user level.
So, there's an option in boot menu to reinstall sytem, rather than user level wipe, as I did before.
Now, after three days optimized charging kicked in!
This does not wipe your data, apps or anything. It just refreshes OS installation. And it worked.
Case closed for me.
I am facing the same issue as I ended up trying so all possible process to resolve but it doesn’t work .
had to submit my laptop to authorises apple service center .
yesterday I got a call they said there is a issue with mother board .
I deny with the fact it’s an issue with motherboard if it was so laptop was in working condition until battery drained to 0.
apple need to resolve the issue .
It happened after updating to sonoma.
I think I concern too much. I'll do as you advising, just let it behave like it wants. Anyway, it became my desktop rig so the battery is not important now as it used to be before.
One thing bothers me only. It's when it changes the name of state while charging or desktop mode. I've never noticed it did like that before (or never focused on this in particular).
Never mind. I'm removing battery indicator, and using it like before.
Merry Christmas to you all!
I'm getting the opposite issue. It's draining (now at 69%) even though it's plugged in to an apple power adapter. It also happens on other known good chargers. Normally, when it's being managed, it's not draining, it's paused. I think this is a Sonoma issue, didn't happen before.
Apple, the only way to fix this is to let me set the normal limit for my MacBook to 80% or 60% or 50%. Sure, if the OS occasionally thinks it needs to run up to 100% to recalibrate or whatever, sure, I'm game. BUT TRYING TO guess when I'm going to need it run up because I'll be away from power is just pure stupid hubris on your part. Or else, could it be that you WANT my batteries to go bad so I'll buy an overpriced battery replacement from you?
My MacBook is plugged in most of the time. I want to save my battery for when I'll need it, not wear it out keeping it sitting at 100% for months at a time.
ALTERNATIVELY -- let developers put an app in the app store to provide the function. There are such apps, but they don't seem to be in the app store. I can only guess that they conflict with some poopy head policy back at H.Q.
I love that you gave me that control on my iPhone 15 Pro. Sweet. This proves that at least some folks at Apple understand what makes for good customer relations. Bring it to the mac. ****, I can limit the charging on my Tesla to what I want it limited to, seems like you guys could figure out how to give us the means of setting limits on the charging on our laptops...
[Edited by Moderator]
And, you have to be patient until the Mac learns your charging/usage habits.
Macbook Air (M1, 2020)
Monterrey / Ventura: 12 cycles in 1.5 year, plugged most of the time.
Sonoma: 5 cycles in two months plugged ALL THE TIME.
Today (Sonoma 14.1.1):
What is happening with my battery is out of my mind right now. It was already good after fresh OS install, for some time. Now it is so weird that I can't even correctly name what my battery is doing.
Those numbers fluctuate up and down all the time.
As mentioned, I will not micro manage the battery
I don't either. The MacOS does it
----
Then you have nothing to worry about
Thank you! At least I’m not the only one, I hope they issue a patch for this soon enough. I’m starting to feel like I shouldn’t have upgraded immediately.
I mean... this is clearly a software issue and not an hardware one since this worked fine on Ventura.
That’s my first real issue since I bought Air M1 when they released it. With Ventura it worked pretty well, so its clearly an OS issue rather than chip.
Optimized charging not working in Sonoma?
