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

Caramello5839 wrote:

Usually, it would automatically start consuming battery power instead of power from your charging plug until the battery drains to 80%.

That's actually what both my work MacBook Pro and personal Mac laptops do. Sometimes it settles at 76%, but it always hones in on a value like that. If I need to use it off power, if I say "charge to full now" it gets to 95% within a few minutes and is ready to go. Our IT people at work are very pleased with Apple's battery management utility, they say it has basically eliminated costly battery replacements in our thousands of laptops in use here.

Caleb_M1 wrote:

I also express this opinion. There is still a demand for limiting it.

Tell Apple:

Product Feedback - Apple

YanH wrote:

Thank you. My usage has no constant pattern but never below 60%. It is about a month now but still keep changing to 100%. I will keep plugging in for another month to see what will happen.

If you have no consistent pattern, it's going to be difficult, if not impossible, for the system to learn.

I also express this opinion. There is still a demand for limiting it. Not everyone has a routine use of their Apple device. I don't. My laptop goes days without being touched sometimes. Unplugging it works, but when I'm using my device on a dock, which requires a power-supply to be plugged in to use, it would be great if the laptop could pull power from it, but not charge off of it. I don't want my Macbook sitting on a charger at 100% for a few hours straight while I work on it.

Lenovo and Dell laptops have a feature for it, Samsung phones have it. After having it on my other devices, it would be awesome to see make its way to MacOS.

I think what YanH is asking for is to put a hard stop at 80% charging, not unplug or wait for it to "learn" it. I would gladly do the same; I seldomly use the mac unplugged, and 95% of the time I do, I never go to less that 20% (not even less than 50%), so it's a fair trade-off to optimize for battery life this way. I guess it's not possible, but would be a nice feature

steve626 wrote:

I would not worry about this. The differences between Apple's algorithm for battery management and what you are trying to do might make a difference of a few percent in the lifetime of the battery, maybe one way it lasts for 10 years and the other way it lasts for 10 years and 1 month ... but it is unclear which one is actually best. I would simply let the health management software decide.

Excellent advice!

DataDarta wrote:

And after many many years of saying it wasn't needed for iPhones.... its magically now an option on iPhone 15. All we need is a little bios setting like on a Dell.

It still isn’t needed for iPhones. Apple added it for people who want to micromanage their battery rather than actually use their phone, but it makes absolutely no difference in battery longevity. Optimized Charging is still the best way to manage an iPhone battery.

My apologies, if this sounded male - I thought "dude" includes males and females. Blame my poor English being German. To your question: The discussion is around constantly plugging in your MacBook to power while using it .

Unplugging batteries is not harmful as such. But the more you use a battery, the sooner it will die. Just think of the motor in your car: If you are constantly driving, it will die soon. If you constantly leave it in your garage, it will live for ever.

Same with batteries. Only - but important - difference to the motor:

A battery is used being discharged and being charged. In general, batteries dislike (are physically stressed) either being fully discharged (0 %) or being fully charged (100 %). Therefore, older MacBooks gave you the possibility to remove battery while working. As long as you were plugged to power, there was no need to use/harm your battery.

Unfortunately, Apple decided to ship iPhones and PowerBooks with a battery sealed inside. And since this time, Apple needs to manage the aging of the battery due to over-usage.

So, your suggestion to unplug your iPhone or PowerBook to save your battery is contradictory to what you want to achieve (save lifetime of battery).

To Your car: Storing your car in garage with a full, half or empty load of fuel doesn't affect the motor. Your tank is not subject to consumption other than the motor. Mobile computing includes tow important mechanical consumption parts:The CPU (motor) and the battery (tank).

And, batteries are expensive and ways more sensible than the CPU.

Hope this helps!

p.s. Attaching a pic of my old PowerBook replacement battery. The original machine is a PowerBook 180c from June 1993. The replacement battery is from 2000. Looks cool, doesn't it? ;-)

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.

60 % would not be practicable with an iPhone which is constantly mobile (in your pocket). But for a PowerBook which is used 90 % of its time sitting on your desktop for probably 70 % of the user: 60 % would be perfect !

Recharging from 60 % to 100% doesn't take long nowadays.

And, people typically know a head if they really need 100 % charge due to traveling or other reasons.

If Apple only would take their own green initiatives seriously, they would deliver this feature right away! ;-)

phil2mac wrote:

My apologies, if this sounded male - I thought "dude" includes males and females. Blame my poor English being German. To your question: The discussion is around constantly plugging in your MacBook to power while using it .

Unplugging batteries is not harmful as such. But the more you use a battery, the sooner it will die. Just think of the motor in your car: If you are constantly driving, it will die soon. If you constantly leave it in your garage, it will live for ever.

Same with batteries. Only - but important - difference to the motor:

A battery is used being discharged and being charged. In general, batteries dislike (are physically stressed) either being fully discharged (0 %) or being fully charged (100 %). Therefore, older MacBooks gave you the possibility to remove battery while working. As long as you were plugged to power, there was no need to use/harm your battery.

Newer MacBooks will (and have for as long as I can remember) stop charging when full. You are not harming your battery by leaving your MacBook plugged in.

So, your suggestion to unplug your iPhone or PowerBook to save your battery is contradictory to what you want to achieve (save lifetime of battery).

No, my suggestion was a slightly flip response to the people who are overthinking this whole thing and who think that leaving the MacBook plugged in above 80% will harm it.

Hope this helps!

Helps what? Modern portable Macs have very sophisticated power management features. If you try to fiddle with them, thinking you know more about how it should work than Apple, you're not helping the battery and are just wasting your time. It is, however, your time to waste. Of course, it will probably cause you battery to age more quickly, too.

And to avoid you presuming again that you are somehow more experienced with Macs than I, my first portable Mac was a PowerBook 100. Not, I grant you, the first "portable" Mac, but pretty close.

Interesting, but there is absolutely no benefit to 60% rather than the 80% that Apple has implemented. 80% is pretty much standard for all Lithium Ion battery uses, whether in MacBooks, iPhones, Android phones, or electric vehicles.

Me too have enabled 'Optimized battery Charging' option under settings -> Battery -> battery health. It's now been more than 1 week since I've been using this Mac. I haven't let the Mac's battery drop below 80%. But if I plug in the Mac, it always charges back to 100%.

I was a Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 user before this Mac. It had a battery limit option. If that was enabled, the battery would only charge up to 50%. I always used that, as I have plugs accessible. But if I had to travel, which is a once in 4-month occasion, I would toggle off the battery protection mode. The laptop would then charge back to 100%. I wish I had that option for this Mac as well.

You said that you never let the computer drop below 80% charge. Using it like that, it's never going to learn anything.

And, all your micromanaging of the battery is unlikely to extend your battery life more than Apple's algorithm. But, I guess everyone needs a hobby.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

And, all your micromanaging of the battery is unlikely to extend your battery life more than Apple's algorithm. But, I guess everyone needs a hobby.

In my college years I worked in a high end audio shop. Some customers would compare speakers by looking at their frequency response specs, or by actually measuring the frequency response with audio oscillators and calibrated microphones. The shop owner, Sid Zimet, would ask are you listening to speakers, or to music? Which ones sound best with the music you like to listen to?

Idris, you didn't get what I was saying - apologies if I wasn't clear enough.

1. YES, it harms a battery if you leave your laptop plugged in!
   1. Before power management was introduced. Batteries deteriorated rapidly being constantly at a charge of 100 %.
   2. After power management was introduced it has become better, yes. But do you know exactly how your battery is treated? No, because Apple doesn't tell you. It's an intransparent company secret (algorithm).
2. Regardless of what you or Apple engineers are telling us: The ONLY way to ensure long time usability of a battery is
   1. to take it off electricity - fully
   2. at a charge of around 60 %
   3. store it in a dry place with constant temperature (around 15 Celsius)
   4. and give it a gentle full charging cycle once or twice a year
3. My Powerbook 180c nickel cadmium battery still is operational. After more than 25 years!
4. My iPhone 4 lithium ion battery still is operational. It didn't have power management but a careful user. And Steve Jobs who shipped excellent devices.
5. My iPhone 7 lithium battery is not operational anymore - because Apple introduced power management and iOS 15.8.1 started using battery even while being shut off. Wow - thanks for nothing, Apple!

Isn't it strange? My old devices work better than my latest one.

How is your PowerBook 100 battery doing? I guess it's dead ...