I bought a MacBook Air 2020 M1 chip back in November 2022. I keep my use at a minimal level. I do not have any significant applications running except for iMessages and Google Chrome.
I noticed recently that my battery capacity has dropped down from 100% to 99% even though the cycle count is only 20.
Do you think this is normal or would you recommend me taking the MacBook to Apple for check up on battery?
Thank you!
I am trying to preserve my battery and charge it efficiently so that it can last longer.
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Fadi Rainier
That's perfectly normal. At this rate you'd be at 80% capacity in 10 years or so, which would be amazing, actually.
Don't stress about it so much. Just use your MacBook as you want to use it.
I'm not sure what you mean by "charge it efficiently so that it can last longer" but there is a lot of bad advice out there on what you should do.
Just keep it plugged in when it is convenient and use it on battery when it is not convenient to have it plugged in. Other than that, like your MacBook manage things. It has all sorts of ways of managing the battery, but doing odd things like letting it run down when you have power available, or unplugging it when it is at 100%, will only get in the way.
See https://macmost.com/frequently-asked-questions-about-macbook-batteries.html
Can you give the same great advice for iPhones?
Jan-G: Same basic advice. Let iOS handle it. It will manage battery health. The only difference is that it is rarely "convenient" to use your iPhone while plugged in. So just plug it in to charge up and night, and then use it as normal all day long. A handy idea if you sit at a desk all day is to get a nice MagSafe charger that will hold your iPhone for easy access on your desk while keeping it charged too.
What about the advice about not letting the lithium battery rise above 80%? Especially in iPhones.
Gene: That's bad advice based on batteries and devices from decades ago. Let your iPhone manage your battery. Just charge it up and let its battery health functions take care of it.