Insane battery drain on Macbook Pro 16 2019 (Intel) on Sonoma

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Level 1

14 points

Insane battery drain on Macbook Pro 16 2019 (Intel) on Sonoma

As soon as I close the cover, the drain begins. From 00 to about 06 (5-6 hour) will empty the battery totally! You can feel that something has been going on since it's warm when trying to wake it up.

This has never been an issue before Sonoma and after some googling it looks like this is a pretty common issue but with no solid solutions? I did try to disable widgets and the Sonoma backgrounds but as you can see it still drains way too fast for it to be normal. Turning off WiFi before closing it also been mentioned but I haven't tried that one just yet.

Prior to updating I could leave the computer for several days and it would still have power left. Of course, the battery is pretty old now but it has worked just fine but after update it's unusable without having it plugged in 24/7.

Seriously thinking about going through the hassle of downgrading to Ventura but surely there must be some setting to prevent this? What kind of stuff have they added that's eating power once closed/sleeping?

I have a newer MBP M1 Pro at work and there is zero issues so it must be an Intel-issue with newer OS.

What solid solutions do I have to fix this other than trying to downgrade to previous version (Ventura)? Thanks!

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 14.6

Posted on Aug 30, 2024 3:28 AM

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Answer 1

Emil880 Author

Level 1

14 points

Sep 3, 2024 1:17 AM in response to Emil880

I think that maybe the "sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 25" solved my problems. If I click "sleep" it will now drain only about 1-3% during a night which was pretty much what I normally would see prior to updating to Sonoma.

I'm also turning WiFi off before sleeping so I'm not 100% sure which one of the two that's actually solving the issue, will do some more testing but it looks promising!

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Answer 2

varjak paw

Level 10

182,986 points

Aug 30, 2024 10:57 AM in response to Emil880

Clearly something's running amok when the system is supposed to be asleep. A long shot, but some users have reported that turning off Screen Time, if it's on, fixes the problem. That may not apply to you but it's worth checking.

If that doesn't help, do you have any external monitors or other devices connected? If so, try disconnecting them and see if that lets the Mac go to sleep properly when the screen is closed.

Hope this helps.

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Answer 3

Emil880 Author

Level 1

14 points

Aug 30, 2024 11:55 AM in response to varjak paw

Thanks! Nothing external connected and it should be able to last several days sleeping but since update it's been ridiculous. Also tried to turn off all the "Sonoma-stuff" when it comes to widgets, screensavers, background and so on. Screen time is off in my case so that is not the problem unfortunately.

I stumbled across this thread where there is some tips regarding the hibernate mode which I'm going to try out next. MacBook Battery drains quickly post Sonom… - Apple Community

I will try the "sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 25" command, hopefully that will do the trick and that it will go into sleep properly but I guess I won't know until tomorrow.

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Answer 4

Aug 30, 2024 9:37 AM in response to Emil880

That computer is a battery-CAPABLE device. It is not optimized as a battery-operated device. (It is NOT an iPhone.)

Your computer performs best when connected to AC power, such as the power adapter. It can use the full output of the Power Adapter AND when doing especially challenging work will also freely "borrow" power from the battery. In some cases, even with the power adapter connected, the charged state may decline during very stressful work.

When used only on battery, your computer has no extra cushion of power, and may perform more slowly. However, for ordinary non-stressful tasks this may not be objectionable (possibly not even noticeable.)

In general, you should ALWAYS connect a power source when it is possible to do so, and only run on batteries (which could be somewhat slower) when no power sources are at hand. Your Mac will NEVER over-charge.

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Answer 5

Aug 31, 2024 8:09 AM in response to Emil880

Apple SUGGESTS (but does not Warrant) that your battery MAY last as long as 1000 charge cycles, provided all other factors are well-controlled.

if you continue to allow the battery to become discharged, 1000 cycles could be consumed in as little as three years.

Battery replacement service currently costs US$250 in the US.

Plug it in until as often as possible until you figure out why this is happening, or face early battery failure.

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Insane battery drain on Macbook Pro 16 2019 (Intel) on Sonoma

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