MacBook Air M2 apps show significant energy usage in battery status

The “Significant Energy” warning in macOS does not necessarily indicate a problem with your MacBook Air M2, Safari, Preview or battery. 

However, if almost every app displays this warning after a few minutes of light use, it is worth investigating.

The first thing to check is Activity Monitor, rather than changing settings or uninstalling uBlock Origin Lite.

Open Applications >> Utilities >> Activity Monitor and select the Energy tab. Sort by Energy Impact and observe Safari while browsing a simple webpage without video, then leave it idle. Repeat with Preview and a small PDF.

Apple explains how to interpret these measurements here:

Apple: View energy consumption in Activity Monitor 

The Energy Impact column indicates relative current energy consumption. The 12 hr Power column is a longer-term measure, not battery percentage, watts or milliamp-hours. Consequently, a value of 300 does not mean Safari has consumed 300% of your battery.

Safari can temporarily use more energy when playing YouTube videos, processing webpages, running scripts or handling advertisements. Preview can also use more energy while rendering or processing PDFs. What matters is whether energy consumption remains elevated when the applications are idle.

You can test whether your Safari extensions contribute by temporarily disabling them under Safari >> Settings >>> Extensions. 

Repeat the same browsing test, then re-enable extensions individually. This will help determine whether uBlock Origin Lite or another extension is contributing.

YouTube video resolution and background webpage activity can also affect Safari's energy use, so compare the same video and settings when testing.

Your screenshot shows Battery Health as Normal, which is reassuring, but the Battery settings graphs show overall energy usage and screen-on time. 

They do not identify individual applications' energy consumption.

Apple's explanation of the battery usage information is available here:

Apple: Check the battery usage on your Mac laptop 

My recommendation: Before changing other settings, check Safari's Energy Impact and 12 hr Power in Activity Monitor, both while actively browsing and while idle. Also check Preview under the same conditions. 

Those measurements will help determine whether the behaviour is temporary and expected or whether a particular application or background process warrants further investigation.

The “Significant Energy” message in the Battery menu does not, by itself, establish that an app is consuming an excessive amount of battery. 

Apple provides more detailed information in Activity Monitor >> Energy, where Energy Impact measures an app’s current energy consumption and 12 hr Power shows its average energy impact over the previous 12 hours or since the Mac started. (Apple Support)

Apple: View energy consumption in Activity Monitor on Mac

For your M2 MacBook Air, first use Safari and Preview normally and observe their Energy Impact values. Also look at the overall energy-use graph in Activity Monitor.

Then go to System Settings >> Battery → Last 24 Hours and Last 10 Days. Apple provides these views to show your Mac’s battery level, Energy Usage, and Screen On Usage. This is particularly useful because it shows whether your Mac is actually using an unusual amount of energy over time rather than simply identifying an app as using significant energy at a particular moment. (Apple Support)

Apple: View Battery Usage History on a Mac laptop

There is no reason to assume that uBlock Origin Lite is responsible based solely on the “Significant Energy” message. If you want to test it, temporarily turn the extension off under Safari → Settings → Extensions and compare Safari's Energy Impact with the extension enabled and disabled.

You can also check System Settings → Battery → Battery Health to confirm that the battery condition is reported as normal. Apple provides battery-health information there, including maximum capacity where applicable. (Apple Support)

Apple: Change Battery settings on a Mac laptop

At this point, I would not change Safari, remove uBlock Origin Lite, or alter other settings simply because an app appears under “Significant Energy.” The most useful information would be your Activity Monitor Energy Impact and 12 hr Power, together with what Battery → Last 24 Hours/Last 10 Days shows for Energy Usage. Those measurements will establish whether there is an actual battery-use issue.