Sonoma 14.7.3. I want to use optimized battery charging, which will not charge the battery over 80%. I set that in System Settings/Battery/"info" on Battery Health. It doesn't work. My battery keeps charging to 100%. I actually drained the battery below 80% and plugged it back in, and it ended up 100%. What's going on?
I think it used to work right month ago.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
MacBook Air, macOS 14.7
Dannymac22 wrote:
Secondly, my usage habits ought to have nothing to do with it. The OS says it will charge to 80%. Why is that dependent on how much I use it?
Don't take my word for it. Read Apple's own documentation regarding the Optimized Charging feature (I added the bold underline markings):
If battery charging is paused or on hold on your Mac - Apple Support
When the feature is enabled, your Mac will delay charging past 80% in certain situations. Your Mac learns your charging routine and aims to ensure that your Mac is fully charged when unplugged.
If you feel there is still a problem, then contact Apple directly for assistance.
Stop trying to manage the charging yourself. Once you enable Optimized Charging, just let macOS do its thing. It may take a while for macOS to learn your habits before you will see the battery being drained automatically or seeing Charging is on hold. It took about a week for me to see it happen.
Or maybe, your usage habits are not really conducive for Optimized Charging to do anything.
Thank you. But that doesn't make a lot of sense. First of all, I've had it set that way for several weeks, and the charge hasn't budged off 100%. Secondly, my usage habits ought to have nothing to do with it. The OS says it will charge to 80%. Why is that dependent on how much I use it? Oh, this is a "when I get around to it" deal? As I said, it used to work properly. Now, I'll probably just upgrade to Sequoia, and replace what just might be a defective OS.
Just seems a bit dumb that it ought to depend on anyone’s routines.I could set up a system that only did charging if the charge level went below 80%. Apple can explain it profusely, but explaining stupidity can be challenging.
I don't know. I turned off Optimized Charging because I don't adhere to any schedule so if I need to suddenly use the laptop on battery power, then I want it to have 100% charge since I don't know how long I may need to use it on battery. Besides, I don't mind manually disconnecting the power adapter from time to time to exercise the battery.
It doesn't help that Apple isn't into explaining the finer points.....I guess they feel their target users don't care about the details. It can definitely be frustrating.
MacBook Air on optimised battery charging won't charge beyond 80%
