Thanks very much, Gary, for this informative video! Useful reminders of Activity Monitor and the Battery icon - it told me Macmost was using was using significant energy 🤣
Great job with this video(again). None of these tips were new to me but I still tend to watch just to make sure I am applying this suggestions as much as possible.
Oh I always thought it's best not to have my mac plugged in when using it! All those years OMG! Right now - and normally, I have 38 tabs open!!! I guess I am one of those fearful ones!!! All your tutorials are awesome, you are great Gary, thanks!
I didn’t know it was fine to leave your MacBook plugged in. I thought because your iPhone has an option to only charge to 80% that it meant you shouldn’t have your laptop fully charged too? Thanks for clearing that up. Legend! 👍
hello Gary, i have a question about how to use my battery. 75% of the time i use my Macbook Pro M3 at my desk. is it ok to leave it plugged in the whole time and leave the battery at 100%? or should i just keep the battery level between 20% and 80% ... i find mixed messages so i'm quite confused. thank you for the clarification!
Yes. Leave it plugged in. Let macOS manage the battery. Lots of people use their MacBooks like this. Don't try to micromanage your battery or use it not plugged in when power is available. That will just run down the battery faster and create a lot more work for you.
I'd like to mention external USB-C accessories may drain battery significantly. For instance USB-C to Digital AV Multiport Adapter (item A2119), may drain 20% of M1 MBA overnight for just being plugged into MacBook. And nothing will be mentioned in the activity monitor, it would look like just battery drop with no reason.
Always a great video from Gary! I've gotten myself into a very bad habit the last few years, leaving tabs open because I think there will be an impending purchase or some action I need to take somewhere. The result is I have dozens of tabs open. The only time this gets cleared is if I accidentally forget to "reopen all windows from last session" after a restart. I know I should just close them. I just need to do better planning. Maybe there's a tool for that.
My M1 macbook air had a great battery life. 96% after one year and six months of use. EXCEPT that it suddenly decided to stop charging. Apple repair told me the logic board needs to be replaced. The price quote is absurd that it would be better to just buy a brand new laptop. Unbelievable!
Using Macbook on my desktop plugged in most of the time. However I have been taught to unplug Macbook from the power supply sometimes, even though I have turned on the settings to automatically stop charging after 80%. Is it still okay to leave my Macbook plugged in all the times even when I am not using it/sleep?
Macs have really good battery's in them. All this unplug after 80% or unplug sometimes so you cook your battery, it makes no sense to me. You're not gonna overcharge your battery. I leave my MacBook plugged in all the time.
I used my previous Macbook pro connected to power all the time and let battery drain once a week. Very soon my batter died. So using macbook pro connected to power is not a good idea. Now I use it on power and on battery when battery is full. This way battery cycle increases but stays alive for years
Not true. It is fine to use it connected to power all the time if that is how you work. Lots of people do. Draining it once a week is not needed and just a waste of a battery cycle. One example doesn't change that. You may have gotten a bad battery, or perhaps temperature variation or some other factor caused your battery to not last.
@@bensahin Not sure what to tell you. I've had many more than 2 MacBooks if you want to compare anecdotal evidence. Maybe you have an issue with temperature variance where you work?
I have just bought a mac air M3 two days and I have been using it mainly to customize and learn about how to use it as I was a windows user. After only 2 hours my battery dropped from 100% to 60 % and I was just listening to music. Drops 1% after just 2 minutes. What’s the issue ? Is my battery damaged ?
Your Mac handles battery health on its own. Don't try to micromanage it on your own. Just use it plugged into power when power is available, and use it on battery when it is not available.
I keep my make book always plugged in when possible, why is my battery shows from 100% going down to 80%,, is it the app who takes care of optimized battery charging?
You didn’t mention Bluetooth. Isn’t it true that if you leave Bluetooth on when you’re not using it, then that too uses battery power? I think a lot of people never realise that their Bluetooth is running in the background, when they actually only need to use it occasionally. What I want to know also is, how come the battery on my iPad seems to never lose capacity, whereas the battery on my MacBook Pro now only retains a fraction of its original usage time?
You don't need to turn off Bluetooth. It won't use power unless it is doing something like playing music over speakers, which obviously uses power. Likely your iPad and MacBook are doing very different things. This video shows you how to see why your MacBook battery is draining. What did it tell you?
@@macmost Excellent, thx Gary. I watch all of your vids that I can because I've learned so much, even though I've been using Macs since the 80's. I needn't worry about Bluetooth being on any more, something else I didn't know. Incidentally, what's your opinion of Alsoft DiskWarrior, and do you think they'll ever bring out another version, or are they finished?
@@macmost because battery is great and it's clean, don't really know what people like about widgets,windows side by side or AI, I even don't use siri on a iphone
@@KEEVVY That's only a few of the hundreds of things that have been added since Big Sur. Not to mention apps that would require a newer version of macOS, and general optimizations and improvements.
@@macmost That's the only main problem that appstore doesn't give old compatible version of the apps for old macos, same for ios, but also people reported battery drain over night, already installed apps that stoped working and this on the new chips like M1 & M2,like right now my laptop will last 2-3 days of full usage and I'm a heavy user I watch hours of movies not even on safari, I use finalcut, even crosover some time, and in standby mode my laptop will last over a week or 2, I better find a work around to install old xcode than having baterry drain, also people reported ram usage like right now I'm in chrome my used memory will show 5.7Gb & with all apps of will be only 4.5
@@KEEVVY People will always have problems and always complain. There will be problems if you stay behind too. But the vast majority have no issue when they update. You pay for these updates when you bought your Mac, but a shame not to take advantage of them.
@ youtube was by far the most energy eater…never happened before…as of this morning had on apples powerful charger all nite…I cant get it to come on at all this morning…HELP
Wow, there's a lot of comments on this. I ALWAYS leave MacBook plugged in all the time when I'm home. There's power so why not use it. The battery will take care of its self.
I usually keep my Mac plugged and when I stop using I close it after making sure that the battery is 100% charged, but sometimes I come back after few hours to find that the battery has died while Mac was on sleep mode. What could be the reason and did it happen to anyone?
Thank you for your reply, battery health shows everything is normal. I monitor the usage and it doesn’t show that something is consuming energy during the sleep. Usually when happens I have to unplug and plug the charging cable to start charging again from dead battery.
@@paullemay3218 Remember to compare the battery use to your actual use. If an app uses 90% of the battery but you are using it 90% of the time, then that's normal. But if an app uses 90% of the battery but you are only using the app 10% of the time, then it is an energy hog.
You can use the techniques here to figure that out. But also, why is it unplugged at night if you aren't using it? That's a good time to have it plugged in and charging up for the next day.
@@macmost I used to be able to flip the screen down and the computer would shut down . The battery remained charged for weeks. It was great for me, and infrequent user. Updating to Sonoma, seemed to negate this and the battery now loses power over night and at a fast rate. I also do not leave anything plugged in overnight because I have been under the impression that overcharging is a bad thing, and it lessens the battery life. It just feels wrong to me to do this. Anyway to avoid battery loss, I have to actually shut the computer off which I really do not like to do.
@@macmost I used to be able to flip the screen down and the computer would shut down . The battery remained charged for weeks. It was great for me, since I have no need to keep the computer on all day. Updating to Sonoma, seemed to negate this and the battery now loses power over night and at a fast rate. I also do not leave anything plugged in overnight because I have been under the impression that overcharging is a bad thing, and it lessens the battery life. It just feels wrong to me to do this. Anyway to avoid battery loss, I have to actually shut the computer off which I really do not like to do.
@@myeyeglassclub Your MacBook will not "overcharge." That is a myth. The hardware and software know how to handle power and the battery. As for the battery draining, did you use the techniques I show in this video to see which app is causing the problem?
Very useful tutorial. Many thanks!
Thank you so much for this.
Thanks very much, Gary, for this informative video! Useful reminders of Activity Monitor and the Battery icon - it told me Macmost was using was using significant energy 🤣
Great job with this video(again). None of these tips were new to me but I still tend to watch just to make sure I am applying this suggestions as much as possible.
Excellent! So helpful. Thanks
Oh I always thought it's best not to have my mac plugged in when using it! All those years OMG! Right now - and normally, I have 38 tabs open!!! I guess I am one of those fearful ones!!! All your tutorials are awesome, you are great Gary, thanks!
This helps. I didn’t think about using task monitor to see battery usage
I didn’t know it was fine to leave your MacBook plugged in. I thought because your iPhone has an option to only charge to 80% that it meant you shouldn’t have your laptop fully charged too? Thanks for clearing that up. Legend! 👍
Succinct, relevant, informative, enlightening. Thank you.
hello Gary, i have a question about how to use my battery.
75% of the time i use my Macbook Pro M3 at my desk. is it ok to leave it plugged in the whole time and leave the battery at 100%? or should i just keep the battery level between 20% and 80% ... i find mixed messages so i'm quite confused.
thank you for the clarification!
Yes. Leave it plugged in. Let macOS manage the battery. Lots of people use their MacBooks like this. Don't try to micromanage your battery or use it not plugged in when power is available. That will just run down the battery faster and create a lot more work for you.
@@macmost thank you so much!🤩
I'd like to mention external USB-C accessories may drain battery significantly. For instance USB-C to Digital AV Multiport Adapter (item A2119), may drain 20% of M1 MBA overnight for just being plugged into MacBook. And nothing will be mentioned in the activity monitor, it would look like just battery drop with no reason.
But wouldn't you normally have your MacBook connected to power overnight when you aren't using it?
Not always. This is the reason I’ve discovered this drain) I was surprised that in sleep mode A2119 still eats battery (
Always a great video from Gary! I've gotten myself into a very bad habit the last few years, leaving tabs open because I think there will be an impending purchase or some action I need to take somewhere. The result is I have dozens of tabs open. The only time this gets cleared is if I accidentally forget to "reopen all windows from last session" after a restart. I know I should just close them. I just need to do better planning. Maybe there's a tool for that.
There is a setting in Safari, Tabs for automatically closing them.
A very interesting and useful and informative video tutorial today! Thank you, Gary! 👏🏻❤️
My M1 macbook air had a great battery life. 96% after one year and six months of use. EXCEPT that it suddenly decided to stop charging. Apple repair told me the logic board needs to be replaced. The price quote is absurd that it would be better to just buy a brand new laptop. Unbelievable!
I like apple products, but
This is what I'm afraid of, The repair is so expensive.
Using Macbook on my desktop plugged in most of the time. However I have been taught to unplug Macbook from the power supply sometimes, even though I have turned on the settings to automatically stop charging after 80%. Is it still okay to leave my Macbook plugged in all the times even when I am not using it/sleep?
Yes, leave it plugged in. Unplugging when power is right there does nothing except use your battery more (more cycles) and it won't last as long.
Macs have really good battery's in them. All this unplug after 80% or unplug sometimes so you cook your battery, it makes no sense to me. You're not gonna overcharge your battery. I leave my MacBook plugged in all the time.
pretty good
I'm on Sonoma 14.5 but my Activity Monitor Energy tab does not have the "12 hr..." column, it's not even listed in View -> Columns.
Not sure why it wouldn't be there.
I used my previous Macbook pro connected to power all the time and let battery drain once a week. Very soon my batter died.
So using macbook pro connected to power is not a good idea. Now I use it on power and on battery when battery is full. This way battery cycle increases but stays alive for years
Not true. It is fine to use it connected to power all the time if that is how you work. Lots of people do. Draining it once a week is not needed and just a waste of a battery cycle. One example doesn't change that. You may have gotten a bad battery, or perhaps temperature variation or some other factor caused your battery to not last.
@@macmost My second experience with my second macbook refutes your argument. I tried both. You bet on it?
@@bensahin Not sure what to tell you. I've had many more than 2 MacBooks if you want to compare anecdotal evidence. Maybe you have an issue with temperature variance where you work?
@@macmost Both macbooks were used in same room, same temperature.
I have just bought a mac air M3 two days and I have been using it mainly to customize and learn about how to use it as I was a windows user. After only 2 hours my battery dropped from 100% to 60 % and I was just listening to music. Drops 1% after just 2 minutes. What’s the issue ? Is my battery damaged ?
Watch the video and use the techniques I show to see what is going on.
Should you charge your Mac only to 80%? Will doing so prolong the battery life?
Your Mac handles battery health on its own. Don't try to micromanage it on your own. Just use it plugged into power when power is available, and use it on battery when it is not available.
I keep my make book always plugged in when possible, why is my battery shows from 100% going down to 80%,, is it the app who takes care of optimized battery charging?
I'm not sure what you are describing there.
You didn’t mention Bluetooth. Isn’t it true that if you leave Bluetooth on when you’re not using it, then that too uses battery power? I think a lot of people never realise that their Bluetooth is running in the background, when they actually only need to use it occasionally. What I want to know also is, how come the battery on my iPad seems to never lose capacity, whereas the battery on my MacBook Pro now only retains a fraction of its original usage time?
You don't need to turn off Bluetooth. It won't use power unless it is doing something like playing music over speakers, which obviously uses power. Likely your iPad and MacBook are doing very different things. This video shows you how to see why your MacBook battery is draining. What did it tell you?
@@macmost Excellent, thx Gary. I watch all of your vids that I can because I've learned so much, even though I've been using Macs since the 80's. I needn't worry about Bluetooth being on any more, something else I didn't know. Incidentally, what's your opinion of Alsoft DiskWarrior, and do you think they'll ever bring out another version, or are they finished?
@@HonoraryGreek Sorry, I don't know anything about DiskWarrior.
@@macmost OK, no sweat. Thx for the response, and keep doing what you do.
I was planing to upgrade my m1 bigsur just to be able to use xcode, now I'm not sure anymore, may be I build for android instead
Why would you have an M1 and still be back on Big Sur?
@@macmost because battery is great and it's clean, don't really know what people like about widgets,windows side by side or AI, I even don't use siri on a iphone
@@KEEVVY That's only a few of the hundreds of things that have been added since Big Sur. Not to mention apps that would require a newer version of macOS, and general optimizations and improvements.
@@macmost That's the only main problem that appstore doesn't give old compatible version of the apps for old macos, same for ios, but also people reported battery drain over night, already installed apps that stoped working and this on the new chips like M1 & M2,like right now my laptop will last 2-3 days of full usage and I'm a heavy user I watch hours of movies not even on safari, I use finalcut, even crosover some time, and in standby mode my laptop will last over a week or 2, I better find a work around to install old xcode than having baterry drain, also people reported ram usage like right now I'm in chrome my used memory will show 5.7Gb & with all apps of will be only 4.5
@@KEEVVY People will always have problems and always complain. There will be problems if you stay behind too. But the vast majority have no issue when they update. You pay for these updates when you bought your Mac, but a shame not to take advantage of them.
I tried disabling wifi and Bluetooth and then off, tested that 2 days, battery stayed stable on same persentage battery.
My macbook pro drained when switched of lets say i charged to 100% if off for a week it would drain 5% is that normal?
Yes, I wouldn't be surprised at a 5% loss sitting idle for a week.
2020 19 in MacBook pro…drains from 100% to zero …less then 30 min…WTH
What are you doing during that time? What does Activity Monitor say is using the energy?
@ youtube was by far the most energy eater…never happened before…as of this morning had on apples powerful charger all nite…I cant get it to come on at all this morning…HELP
@@Sluggo01 Contact Apple Support.
my mac is brand new not even 1 month yet. and it went from 100 to 69 in just 3-4 hrs . is that normal or not?
You lost 31% in 3-4 hours? So that would indicate a 10+ hour battery life. Yes, that's very good. Why would you think that is bad?
Ys
Wow, there's a lot of comments on this. I ALWAYS leave MacBook plugged in all the time when I'm home. There's power so why not use it. The battery will take care of its self.
I usually keep my Mac plugged and when I stop using I close it after making sure that the battery is 100% charged, but sometimes I come back after few hours to find that the battery has died while Mac was on sleep mode. What could be the reason and did it happen to anyone?
The battery drained while it was plugged in and sleeping? Something is wrong then. What does it show as the battery condition?
Thank you for your reply, battery health shows everything is normal. I monitor the usage and it doesn’t show that something is consuming energy during the sleep. Usually when happens I have to unplug and plug the charging cable to start charging again from dead battery.
Maybe a bad cable or charger? Whatever it is, something is not right.
Cable and charger are original from Apple. Is it possible that it leaks energy because I keep the cable I use to charge my iPhone connected?
@@haithamkhater9730 Doesn't mean they are working properly. Perhaps there is a defect or the cable is worn.
My MacBook battery is great. My M1 iPad. Well that is another story. Really bad battery life 🤦🏼♂️
Are you checking in Settings Battery to see which app is using the battery?
@@macmost I have not but now that you have shared this video, I will definitely have a look.
@@macmost just had a look. Looks like Facebook and RUclips are the culprits with both on screen and background usage.
@@paullemay3218 Remember to compare the battery use to your actual use. If an app uses 90% of the battery but you are using it 90% of the time, then that's normal. But if an app uses 90% of the battery but you are only using the app 10% of the time, then it is an energy hog.
@@macmost ok thank you. So how do I address correcting this. Makes it look like I sit on Facebook and RUclips all day, which is not the case.
Why is my MacBook laptop battery draining overnight even when it is completely shut down
You can use the techniques here to figure that out. But also, why is it unplugged at night if you aren't using it? That's a good time to have it plugged in and charging up for the next day.
@@macmost I used to be able to flip the screen down and the computer would shut down . The battery remained charged for weeks. It was great for me, and infrequent user. Updating to Sonoma, seemed to negate this and the battery now loses power over night and at a fast rate. I also do not leave anything plugged in overnight because I have been under the impression that overcharging is a bad thing, and it lessens the battery life. It just feels wrong to me to do this. Anyway to avoid battery loss, I have to actually shut the computer off which I really do not like to do.
@@macmost I used to be able to flip the screen down and the computer would shut down . The battery remained charged for weeks. It was great for me, since I have no need to keep the computer on all day. Updating to Sonoma, seemed to negate this and the battery now loses power over night and at a fast rate. I also do not leave anything plugged in overnight because I have been under the impression that overcharging is a bad thing, and it lessens the battery life. It just feels wrong to me to do this. Anyway to avoid battery loss, I have to actually shut the computer off which I really do not like to do.
@@myeyeglassclub Your MacBook will not "overcharge." That is a myth. The hardware and software know how to handle power and the battery.
As for the battery draining, did you use the techniques I show in this video to see which app is causing the problem?
@@macmost I will look into it this week. Gets a little confusing seeing dozens of processes occurring