Magic Keyboard battery drains quickly with macOS Tahoe 26.5

dubwisedude wrote:

Magic Keyboard battery drain with macOS Tahoe 26

After it happened a few times, I find it worthwhile to post about the following persistent problem:

I use an Apple M3 with macOS Tahoe 26.5 installed. I noticed that the magic keyboard that came with the computer and functioned flawlessly until about two months ago, runs out of battery power unusually fast. The latest drain was this: on May 14, 2026, I charged the keyboard via USB-C cable to 100%, today, on May 22, the charge is down to 4%, and that is with habitual normal (= very light) usage (very brief sporadic typing throughout the day). When the machine was "new" (bought refurbished from Apple), a keyboard charge was easily good for one month, now it's down to a little over a week with said usage. Does anyone have an idea what's the problem here and what to do about it?

—reset the keyboard by turning it off and on.

You can try forgetting and repairing the keyboard...to reset the keyboard's Bluetooth connection.

If the battery is degraded, Apple offers a $29 out-of-warranty battery replacement service

However, if you are experiencing a hardware defect, you can book a Genius Bar Reservation to have a technician inspect it and determine if you are eligible for a replacement.

ref: Recharge the built-in battery in your Apple keyboard, mouse, or trackpad - Apple Support

ref: If you can't connect your Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, or Magic Trackpad to your Mac - Apple Support

Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)

or on line https://getsupport.apple.com/

or call AppleCare Support at 1-800-APLCARE (800-275-2273)

Outside the USA—Contact Apple for support and service by phone

See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world.

Contact Apple Support - Apple Support

dubwisedude wrote:

Hi leroydouglas,

I need to wait till a month later to know for sure, and I just wanted to let you know: your suggestion to "forget" and "re-pair" the keyboard worked for me - the keyboard's battery usage is back to normal.

Thank you very much for your assistance! To help me understand this phenomenon, do you have an explanation for it other than a "maybe a glitch"?

Regards

Frank

Good computing dubwisedude ! Appreciate your feedback here—this will help others searching for some resolve concerning the issue.

glitch, bug or otherwise, it just seems the way of things when it comes to computers/electronic devices, literally 100,000's i/o bits get flipped, nothing new here. Other than that I have no special insight accept for empirical evidence gained here...