If you already own or intend to own a MacBook at any point in the future, do yourself a
favour and watch this entire video from start to finish.
I’m going to tell you exactly how to care for the battery in your MacBook, how often
you should charge it, what are some best practices, and should you unplug it when you’re not
using it.
This video is based entirely off official Apple documentation, respected sources, and
my own personal experience over 10 years of using MacBooks.
I’ll try to reference sources throughout the video where possible.
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I wanted to start off by mentioning that there is a lot of information out there on this
topic, and a lot of it is quite outdated.
Battery technology and it’s supporting software (for example macOS) has changed a lot over
the last decade.
Let’s start with discussing the battery on your MacBook and the technology behind
it.
Traditionally, MacBooks use Lithium-ion (shortened to Li-ion) batteries.
Yes, some of the newer MacBooks use a lithium-polymer, or li-poly battery, but for the purpose of
this video the difference between them is minimal.
A lithium-ion battery consists of 1) the anode and the cathode; 2) a separator between the
two electrodes; and 3) an electrolyte that fills the remaining space of the battery.
The anode and cathode are capable of storing lithium ions.
Energy is stored and released as lithium ions travel between these electrodes through the
electrolyte.
The way these batteries discharge is by lithium ions moving from the anode to the cathode
through the electrolyte, or vice versa to charge.
In an ideal world, a li-ion battery likes to stay at 50% charge.
This results in an even distribution of lithium ions between the anode and cathode.
Keeping a battery at 100% charge all the time puts stress on the cathode.
Think of it like a see saw.
You want it to stay relatively balanced, and not tip either side too much.
Now, every time these lithium ions move back and forth, the battery loses a very tiny percentage
of it’s total capacity.
There’s something called a charge cycle, which helps explain this process.
You complete one charge cycle when you’ve used (or discharged) an amount that equals
100% of your battery’s capacity.
A charge cycle can take several days to complete.
For example, you might use 50% of your battery’s capacity one day, then recharge it fully overnight.
If you do the same thing the next day, you will have discharged a total of 100%, or 1
full charge cycle.
If you have one of the new M1 MacBooks, you would know that the battery life on them is
incredible.
For me personally with about 6-8 hours of use each day, I can get over 2 days of run
time from a single charge, or 1 full charge cycle every 2 to 3 days.
It’s common knowledge that lithium ion batteries are consumable products.
That is, they will be consumed slowly with day to day use and degrade over the years.
MacBook lithium ion batteries are rated at 1000 charge cycles.
According to Apple, at some point soon after 1000 cycles the battery will only charge to
80% of capacity.
This doesn’t mean it will magically fail, or burst into flames, just that instead of
16 hours on average for the M1 MacBooks, you’ll get somewhere around 13 hours instead.
If I continued to use my M1 MacBook Air like I do now, or 1 full charge cycle every 2 days,
I’d be looking at potentially 2000 days until I reached that 1000 charge cycle rating.
2000 days is 5 and a half years of using my MacBook for 6-8 hours every day.
Now, there are other things that contribute to battery longevity such as temperature and
aging, but charge cycles are typically the main factor.
By the way, you can check how many charge cycles your MacBook has by clicking on the
Apple logo in the top left corner, clicking about this Mac, system report, and selecting
the power option.
Now that we know some of the science behind lithium ion batteries and that they are consumable
products, what are some ways you can keep your battery healthy?
One of the biggest contributors to poor battery health is heat.
You want your battery to be in a relatively cool environment wherever possible.
This means you should avoid using your MacBook in hot environments like outside in direct
sunlight for extended periods of time (please, don’t be like me).
This includes keeping your MacBook in a hot car, or letting your MacBook Pro render while
sitting on your bed and not getting proper ventilation, for example.
Remember that liquid electrolyte inside the battery?
High temperatures will cause those electrolytes to break down, causing accelerated degradation
regardless of how many charge cycles the battery is at.
If you live in a naturally hot environment like Australia or India, there’s not much
you can do, but unless inside ambient temperatures are insanely hot, like 35-40 degrees celsius,
you’ll probably be fine.
You can use a stand if you like to introduce a bit of airflow around the base of the MacBook.
I’ve linked my favourite one down in the description.
Also, don’t be afraid to do rendering or similar activities that cause the CPU or GPU
to heat up.
As I’ve demonstrated previously, most of the heat dissipates into the top centre half
of the chassis, and doesn’t heat up the battery too much.
What about leaving your MacBook plugged into the charger?
Before I get into this, let’s talk about the charger itself.
I always recommend to use the official Apple charger wherever possible.
The main reason for this recommendation is there are a lot of dodgy chargers out there
that should be avoided.
Often they are the same cheaply mass-produced charger simply re-branded by random Chinese
companies.
That being said, there’s no harm in using chargers or pass-through USB-C charging from
things like docks or monitors, provided they are from a good and trustworthy brand.
Some examples include Dell, Logitech, CalDigit, or Anker.
If you’re really cautious about this, you can look for brands and accessories on the
official Apple store as a good starting point.
I will leave the small USB-C dongle charging hubs up for negotiation.
For short periods of time and when using a dongle from a high quality brand, I think
it’s ok.
If you’ve got a permanent desk setup however I would go with a proper docking station or
monitor, or just use the official Apple charger.
Next, Apple has become very good at keeping MacBook batteries healthy via the use of software.
macOS has had several huge updates recently, a major one being the way it interacts with
the battery.
This is why I always recommend keeping your MacBook updated.
The feature is called battery health management.
In a nutshell, macOS tries to charge the battery to 80% quickly, and the remaining 20% charges
much slower, also known as a trickle charge.
Once the battery reaches 100%, the charging stops and your MacBook will run mainly from
the power adapter, bypassing the battery.
Furthermore, macOS will let the battery drain slightly even when plugged in to the charger.
This is to ensure the Mac is not at 100% capacity constantly, which is not good for battery
longevity.
Every now and then it will top up the battery, and if you tend to use your Macbook at certain
times and lengths during the day, macOS will recognise this and keep the battery charged
accordingly.
For example, if you tend to work at your desk from 9am to 5pm with your charger plugged
in, and then switch to your battery for a few hours at night, macOS will keep your charge
at around 80% during the day while plugged into the charger, and will top up the battery
a short while before you leave your desk.
It will anticipate based on your usage pattern when you are most likely to use the battery.
You can actually see this particular setting in the system preferences menu under battery.
Just make sure that checkbox is ticked (it is by default).
So what about the common advice of “calibrating” your battery by letting it drain to 0%, and
then charging it fully?
Well, that’s no longer accurate for modern MacBooks.
In fact, letting the battery drain to 0% is not something you should ever do.
Just like keeping the battery charged at 100% at all times.
Even then, although macOS might display the battery as being 100% charged, the reality
is that it’s likely only 90% or 95% charged.
There is a buffer built in to prevent overcharging.
Also, if you’re going to be storing your MacBook for several weeks or months without
using it, charge the battery to 50%.
Let’s move on to the question you’re probably here for, and that is should you leave your
MacBook plugged into it’s charger?
My personal opinion is… it depends.
If you use your MacBook for long, continuous periods of time, such as for work or school,
it’s totally fine to keep it plugged into your charger the entire time you’re using
it.
Like I said previously, macOS does a really good job now of intelligently charging so
as to minimize stress on the battery, even while plugged in.
Battery University also agrees with this viewpoint.
Also, leaving it plugged in while you work for long periods of time will also result
in fewer battery cycles, potentially prolonging the life of the battery.
That being said, I’d still recommend against leaving your MacBook plugged into it’s charger
24/7 and never actually draining the battery.
At the end of the day, it’s a laptop.
Use it like a laptop.
Let the battery drain down to 15% or 10% every now and then, even if you only use the MacBook
at a desk.
If you’re putting your MacBook to sleep or shutting it down at the end of the day,
simply unplug the charging cable each night.
Don’t be afraid to drain the battery and feel like you need to be attached to the powerpoint
the entire time.
Yes, it’s generally accepted that the best way of prolonging battery health is to keep
the charge between 20% and 80% and only charging in bursts, but in practice this is very difficult
to do if your existing routine doesn’t allow for it.
If you’re travelling to school and need a full charge, or you’re working at a desk
all day, just don’t worry about it.
It won’t make a huge difference.
Like I said before, if you’re using your MacBook all day at a desk, just keep it plugged
in.
macOS will do the optimising for you.
If you use your MacBook all day at school on battery power and can’t charge it in
bursts, that’s fine too.
If you mainly use your laptop on battery power for a few hours here and there, charge it
for 15-20 minutes every now and then if you have easy access to a charger.
For example when you cook dinner or have a shower.
If you know you’ll be away from a charger the next day, charge it to 100% the night
before.
This is how a lot of people including myself use their laptops, and naturally the charge
will stay mostly between 20% and 80% with no extra effort on the user’s part.
That being said, you’d be surprised at how little the difference in battery health is
between users who simply keep their MacBooks plugged in the entire time, versus those who
perfectly time every charge and percentage drain.
Is all that extra work over a few years worth a few more percentage points of battery health?
I don’t think so.
I know there are apps out there such as Al Dente that claim to limit the charge to 80%
and what not, but I personally would prefer to let macOS have control over my battery
and not some random third party app.
All it takes is 1 wrong setting or a botched update from the developer, and you might be
worse off.
I am open to having my opinion on this changed however.
At the end of the day, a laptop is a tool.
Use it as a tool.
You don’t want to spend all day stressing over when you should unplug the charger, or
panicking if you see the battery at 100% for too long.
The vast majority of people upgrade their laptops every 3-5 years, and I can confidently
say that in 99% of cases, your battery will last that entire time without issue.
If you plan on keeping your MacBook longer than that, sure, you can be slightly more
cautious, but worst case scenario Apple offers battery replacements for about $150 bucks.
But, like I demonstrated in this video, your battery will more than likely last 5-10 years
before it degrades enough that a replacement is necessary and by that point, it’s probably
time for a new MacBook.
Technology and software is at a point now where we can mostly sit back and not worry
about the things we used to worry about 5 or 10 years ago, and your MacBook’s battery
is one of them.
If you’re interested in a video on how to maximise battery life to squeeze a few more
hours out of each charge, let me know in the comment section below.
Apart from that, thanks for watching and I’ll catch you in the next one.