Is there a way to manually stop MacBook charging at 80%?

As usual, as soon as I wrote this, I then found an open source app that basically does this. It allows you to set hard charging limits, among other things. It has a paid option, but the free version is good enough, allowing you to set this limit and even discharge while still on battery if needed

The app: https://apphousekitchen.com/

The repo: https://github.com/AppHouseKitchen/AlDente-Charge-Limiter

It takes a while for Optimized Battery Charging to learn your routines.

You can always unplug it when it gets to 80%. But, I think that may interfere with the learning process.

It went up to 100% because you unplugged it, “telling” it that you wanted to use it without being plugged in, so it prepared for that usage model. If you leave it plugged in for a few days it will work out that you use it that way, and it will adjust the SOC to around 80% (mine is currently at 81%). It is not a disaster if it goes to 100% occasionally.

tirelibirefe wrote:

I have the problem.

I've a big monitor, the monitor is being used by 2 different devices which one of them is a Macbook. The monitor charges Macbook even it's in sleep mode. So I remove its type-c cable from Macbook.

If the MacBook is connected to power most of the time it will manage charge whether in use or in sleep mode. It will hold the MacBook near 80%, but will occasionally charge to 100% to keep the electrons moving (layperson’s explanation). If you disconnect the power source regularly that will confuse the battery management algorithm, and when reconnected it will always charge to 100% because it “thinks” you regularly use it on battery power only. You will be much happier letting MacOS manage the battery rather than you trying to micromanage it.

If you charge at a regular schedule or leave it plugged in, the Mac will limit charging to 80% after it learns your charging behavior. This could take a week or more if the charging schedule is not regular. I leave my Mac plugged in and it only charges to 80%. The iPhone added a 80% limit option along with the Optimized Charging, but there has been no official word if this will be added to MacOS.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

And all Apple silicon MacBooks have sophisticated built in battery optimization. It monitors your usage, and if you leave it plugged in it will hold the battery level between 75% and 80%. It will occasionally charge to 100%, then drain it back to 80% because it also isn’t good for batteries to remain at one charge level for long periods.

I love that you have the ability to override that and charge it up if you know you're going to be unplugging it. It's very elegantly implemented.

It is possible to turn off the laptop charging yourself when the charge level reaches 80%; for this I use the BatWiser program: https://batwiser.com/

Looking back on my experience with my last MacBook Air M2, when I simply let the battery health management software decide, I got disappointing results: the software had a pretty poor learning curve and didn't keep the charge at 80% nearly as often as it needed to.

As a result, this computer, in just under 2 years of operation, has already experienced battery wear of more than 10%, which is quite a lot. I control the charging of my current macBook manually and have more than impressive results: after 7 months of use, the battery health level is 100%.

I gained experience in controlling battery charge ranging from 30% to 80% on my iPhones, which I successfully sold in trade-in programs after 2-3 years of operation with battery health of more than 93-94% and always received the maximum possible amount of compensation .

In order to remove my laptop from charging in time, in a couple of days I wrote the BatWiser program for my needs, which I kindly posted in the public domain. Good luck!

I would never use any 3rd party software that claims to “improve” MacOS. All of them are just scams to take your money to slow down your Mac and provide no positive benefit.

And all Apple silicon MacBooks have sophisticated built in battery optimization. It monitors your usage, and if you leave it plugged in it will hold the battery level between 75% and 80%. It will occasionally charge to 100%, then drain it back to 80% because it also isn’t good for batteries to remain at one charge level for long periods.

steve626 wrote:

phil2mac wrote:

Fully agree! And talking feature request:

Ideally, macOS would allow you to put a hard stop at 60 % rather than 80 % on iOS.

Why?

Because this is the load stage in which you typically process (long term) storage of batteries. Then you could work with your plugged PowerBook without having to think about health issues.

You might want to rethink that.

"A laptop battery could be prolonged by lowering the charge voltage when connected to the AC grid. To make this feature user-friendly, a device should feature a “Long Life” mode that keeps the battery at 4.05V/cell and offers a SoC of about 80 percent. One hour before traveling, the user requests the “Full Capacity” mode to bring the charge to 4.20V/cell."

https://batteryuniversity.com/article/**-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries

Apple's health battery management does exactly that. People often post here who are impatient but if you always have the power supply connected, eventually that battery health management will settle on about 80%. I see it on scores of Mac laptops at work, on laptops in people's offices always connected to power..

People will post here and impatiently ask why theirs haven't settled yet on 80%. It will, they are just impatient. The 80% always guideline is for laptops that are always connected to a charger. It doesn't have to be exactly 80%. If the laptop is used even a little off the charger, that will change things. As for 60% being better than 80%, show me peer reviewed publications documenting that and I might be convinced.

The beauty of Apple's algorithm is that it settles on industry best practices, but the user doesn't need to "do something." Others will post here wanting to actually "manage" a battery themselves. They may buy utilities, software, etc., some of which fail to work after a future MacOS update ... but they are doing something that I call "churn." This is just a BATTERY. They ALL wear out, and Apple's algorithm appears to be close to optimal. There may be better things to channel one's energies on. But to each his/her own ...

Apple's algorithm isn't close to being optimal. In fact, it fails to learn usage patterns that change weekly. For instance, using my laptop only on Mondays and Tuesdays, it keeps charging the battery to 100% on any other day when the laptop remains plugged in. This has been happening for three months now, with the same weekly pattern every day. I know the algorithm works - but only if you do the same thing with your laptop every day. And if you accidentally unplug your laptop for five minutes and plug it back in, even then it immediately charges your laptop to 100%. The algorithm is definitely not optimised and does not work in most scenarios. Plus, most people probably don't need their battery to be charged up to 100% because they mostly use their laptop at home.

The "AI" is way too limited and seems to learn only on real user data from your laptop, which might explain why it's so slow. It clearly doesn't know the days of the week either, so it's useless in my case, where I don't have an even usage pattern. Sometimes it doesn't even slow down charging overnight.

phil2mac wrote:

IIF you have an iPad (iPadOS), I DO NOT give you charging optimization. Strange - but thanks, Apple!

IF you have a MacBook (MacOS), I DO NOT give you charging optimization. Even stranger - why this Apple?

Both iPads and MacBooks have built in charging optimization. On the MacBook, the options are different but it exists. It makes perfect sense for a device that is used very differently than an iPhone to have a different feature set. The iPad doesn't have any user controls but, it still exists. Again, different device, different expected use.

But some of your users are experts with batteries - and Yes, they have their own intelligence.

And lots of them just think they're experts.

Please, let us use it!

Apple doesn't read here in this user-to-user forum for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

On my Microsoft Surface laptop, if the battery protection is enabled, plugged in, and if the battery is 100%, the laptop will discharge to 50%. Once it reaches 50% level, it will continue to use the AC power supply, keeping the charge level at 50% itself. Thus keeping the battery below 100% charge. 

Further, if the AC adapter is unplugged, (using battery), it will discharge down further. If plugging back the AC adapter, it will charge back to 50% only. 

If I need to use the full capacity, (to charge back to 100%) I need to manually disable battery protection. 

The battery is under stress if the battery is 100% charged or extremely discharged to 0% and near. The 100% charged situation is effectively avoided in Surface laptops by enabling battery protection. It has a battery saver that can be enabled at 20% to save battery from discharging below 20%. 

My Samsung S23 Ultra mobile phone also has a similar battery protection option. I have attached a screenshot.

But MBP always charges back to 100%!

I prefer to have similar battery saving settings in MBP to save battery life.

Answer to your question (If you never let it drop below 80%, how is it going to stop charging at 80%? ): MBP should disharge till 80% even if plugged in. It should never charge to 100% untill the battery protection is disabled.

I have the problem.

I've a big monitor, the monitor is being used by 2 different devices which one of them is a Macbook. The monitor charges Macbook even it's in sleep mode. So I remove its type-c cable from Macbook.

Caramello5839 wrote:

In fact, it fails to learn usage patterns that change weekly.

If the patterns change weekly it might take many weeks or months to "learn" what the long term pattern actually is.

Plus, most people probably don't need their battery to be charged up to 100% because they mostly use their laptop at home.

That's a fallacy you and many make thinking "everyone is like me." In fact, laptops are portable and are utilized as portable devices, hence the need to prolong the battery lifetime. Mine is running off the battery every day and at work I see scores of colleagues walking around with laptops from place to place, not plugged in.

You should send your feedback to Apple rather than post here, since you clearly don't have a real question and seem to be more interested in finding fault with Apple's battery management. Our IT people at work told me that since Apple's battery management was implemented, they see close to zero battery problems anymore, whereas they used to see lots of battery replacement needs, battery swelling, etc.

You can always choose to simply keep your Mac at ~ 60% by not charging it. But for those of us who actually use these laptops are portables, a 60% charge is not acceptable, it does not last as long in the field.