Is it safe to leave my MacBook Pro plugged in for charging all day?

It is best to connect to power when possible. The MacBook Pro M3 has battery health management to reduce the charging as necessary to maximize battery life. At times you may see your battery staying at 80% or so, that is this algorithm at work to make it last as long as possible. You can select "charge to full now" to quickly bring it up to 100% if you need to use it off the charger for a while.

[in my opinion] The Littles are an outlier on this issue.

Apple's general recommendation is that the Power Adapter can be connected all day (and all night as well) with no damage whatsoever.

The actual Charger is inside your Mac, and only charges, under program control, when needed. A power source can not 'force itself' on your Mac. Your Mac only draws power when needed, and will NEVER overcharge. Apple-silicon Macs generally do not suffer from overheating while charging, but if the battery gets too hot, charging may be deferred until the battery cools.

Grant Bennet-Alder Said:

"Apple's general recommendation is that the Power Adapter can be connected all day (and all night as well) with no damage whatsoever. The actual Charger is inside your Mac, and only charges, under program control, when needed. A power source can not 'force itself' on your Mac. Your Mac only draws power when needed, and will NEVER overcharge. Apple-silicon Macs generally do not suffer from overheating while charging, but if the battery gets too hot, charging may be deferred until the battery cools."

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There's no need to be rude.

Have a better reply? Then, provide it without any provocations.

TheLittles wrote:

Overheating may become an issue ... Do not keep it plugged in while not in use.

I (respectfully) disagree with that. In Apple Stores, scores of laptops are left connected to chargers 24/7, when in use, when not in use, overnight, etc. Apple's battery health management maximizes battery lifespan if the laptop is connected to the charger. About battery health management in Mac notebooks - Apple Support

Apple does NOT instruct users to disconnect from power when not in use.

My employer deploys thousands of Mac laptops (many M3) at our facility and instructs our users to always leave connected to power when available.

Eeyyjayy wrote:

Is it okay to keep my MacBook Pro M3 Pro plugged in all the time especially while using it? Can it damage my battery or can it speed up its aging?

[Re-Titled By Moderator]

Leave your computer plugged in when needed or convenient to do so. Leaving it plugged in will not damage the computer of the battery. The MacOS manages the power/charging system very well. There is no need for you to micromanage the system.

Eeyyjayy Said:

"Is it okay to keep my MacBook Pro M3 Pro plugged in all the time especially while using it? Can it damage my battery or can it speed up its aging?"

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Leaving Mac Plugged in and Charging the Time:

No. Overheating may become an issue. It leave mine plugged in while using it, and then place it away for the day/night. Looking at my Maximum Capacity, it is at 100%, and I've had this Mac for the utmost of 6 years --astonishing, but so. So, no. Do not keep it plugged in while not in use. Keep it on a laptop cooler, and keep it out of direct sunlight, and don't use it in enclosed spaces, such as a closet or in the corner of the room.

TheLittles wrote:

Grant Bennet-Alder Said:

"Apple's general recommendation is that the Power Adapter can be connected all day (and all night as well) with no damage whatsoever. The actual Charger is inside your Mac, and only charges, under program control, when needed. A power source can not 'force itself' on your Mac. Your Mac only draws power when needed, and will NEVER overcharge. Apple-silicon Macs generally do not suffer from overheating while charging, but if the battery gets too hot, charging may be deferred until the battery cools."

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There's no need to be rude.

Have a better reply? Then, provide it without any provocations.

You posted your opinion, which is very different from most recommendations from other senior contributors here. I said what I said to indicate that exactly what you recommended, and nothing else posted on this discussion was NOT [in my opinion] considered best practice.

My reply was straightforward and factual. I stopped short of character assassination.

How would you like me to do that differently?

There is a lot of reader confusion about how battery operation and charging works. I answer at least one question about charging and MacBook Pro batteries on a daily basis. There is also whole lot of reader confusion about how battery health management is supposed to save you from spending all your time micro-managing battery levels for maximum longevity vs acceptable battery-only run-time. Lately, there has been a large additional load of queries essentially: "My MacBook lost all its charge when I left it unplugged all night long and closed the lid.

When you post whatever popped into your head without thinking deeply about what others have already suggested on the same discussion, and what others have been posting on similar discussion on the same issues, it is very hard to be polite and just tiptoe around what you wrote. Readers look up to you as an authority. Because you are a role model, you need to be sure what you are posting is widely defensible in a wide variety of situations before just blurting it out.

Grant Bennet-Alder Said:

"How would you like me to do that differently?"

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Leave out your first sentence, which I did not quote.

What you said there was embarrassingly bad. I find it really hard to just ignore advice that is so far off the mark. But I will try to take your feelings into account in the future.

I author my posts in a simple manor, and don’t rampart on and on with paragraph after paragraph.