MacBook battery health and charging best practices

Whenever you are near a power outlet, leave it plugged in. There is no problem using your Mac while it is plugged into power. By default, Optimized Battery Charging is turned on at Settings > Battery and tapping the info button on Battery Health. This will learn your charging behavior and charge your battery to 80% and then it will remain on hold. You can certainly leave it plugged in all the time and your battery will last longer without incurring any charge cycles.

Mac Jim ID and kaz-k are spot on.

Leave your Mac plugged in when you can. Let the algorithm do its thing. It will do a far better job managing the battery than you ever could. Avoid leaving it in places where it can get extremely hot (a car in the summer, for example). Don't get it wet. It will be fine.

Congratulations on your new purchase.

sksaunta wrote:

Optimized Battery Charging is already enabled and my battery health is still 100%.

However, even when I keep my Mac plugged in and use it continuously near a power outlet, it still charges up to 100% instead of stopping at 80%. Reminder/hold at 80% is not happening in my case.

That’s why I’m trying to understand why Optimized Charging isn’t limiting the charge as expected.

It is not a Charge Limit, Optimized charging learns your charging behavior and will only charge to 80% when your charging pattern has been established. If you are on a regular schedule and for example take your Mac off the charger at 7am every morning, then it will take about a week to learn that pattern and only charge to 80% until just before it determines you are going to take it off the charger.

If you leave your Mac plugged in all the time, then the Optimized Charging will eventually deplete the battery to 80% and hold it there instead of 100%. Again this takes time to learn that you are going to leave it plugged in.

If you randomly take the Mac off the charger so no pattern is able to be determined, then it will always charge to 100% so a full charge is always available when you need it. Your Mac is not going to overcharge your battery even if it is plugged in and showing 100%.

If battery charging is paused or on hold on your Mac - Apple Support

Just as heat will deplete the Battery Health faster, so will Charge Cycles. Each battery is rated on how many Charge Cycles are expected and manually trying to control charging/discharging of the battery is only going to increase the Charge Cycles.

There is no need to overthink it. When you are near a power outlet, plug your Mac in and leave it plugged in. The only time it needs to be unplugged is if you need mobile use. Let the Mac work for you, instead of trying to manage the Mac.

Hi,

I think it's OK to connect power charger with your Mac while you're using it, especially when using it as clamshell mode.

To safely use and maintain your MacBook Air battery, enable "Optimized Battery Charging" in System Settings to reduce wear. Keep your MacBook plugged in regularly, avoid extreme temperatures (over 35∘C/95∘F95∘F

), use "Low Power Mode" for efficiency, and store it at 50% charge if unused for long periods. 

I don’t use optimized charging. ⚡️🔋

I use my 2021 MacBook Pro on battery, then plug it in when the charge reaches 20% remaining.

I am biased because I used to manufacture Lithium Ion batteries and know that leaving it on charge doesn’t do anything special.

Once I plug it in, I don’t unplug it until I’m finished for the day. 🔌

I’ve managed to maintain 100% charge capacity in the first 4 years before it started to depreciate.

I love my Mac‼️

Smiliñ 😎 Brian

sksaunta wrote:

Optimized Battery Charging is already enabled and my battery health is still 100%.

However, even when I keep my Mac plugged in and use it continuously near a power outlet, it still charges up to 100% instead of stopping at 80%. Reminder/hold at 80% is not happening in my case.

That’s why I’m trying to understand why Optimized Charging isn’t limiting the charge as expected.

It can take a couple of weeks for the computer to learn your habits. Until then, it will charge to 100% most, if not all of the time. Again, let it do its thing.

sksaunta wrote:

Optimized Battery Charging is already enabled and my battery health is still 100%.

However, even when I keep my Mac plugged in and use it continuously near a power outlet, it still charges up to 100% instead of stopping at 80%. Reminder/hold at 80% is not happening in my case.

That’s why I’m trying to understand why Optimized Charging isn’t limiting the charge as expected.

As @Mac Jim ID alluded to in their most recent post above mine....

Quoting respected forum contributor @Gran Bennet-Alder:

NOTE that charging to 80 percent is a side-effect, NOT the GOAL.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

HWTech wrote:

Quoting respected forum contributor @Gran Bennet-Alder:

NOTE that charging to 80 percent is a side-effect, NOT the GOAL.

I really like that!

I was going to paraphrase, but realized I was going to butcher it, so I searched for one of his posts to get the exact quote. I still managed to mangle Grant's name......missing the "t". I need to save a copy so I don't mess it up next time. Sorry Grant.

HWTech wrote:

Quoting respected forum contributor @Gran Bennet-Alder:

NOTE that charging to 80 percent is a side-effect, NOT the GOAL.

I really like that!