If you did the same thing the next day, it would count as one charge cycle, not two. A charging cycle is one full charge, so, as Apple explains it, “you could use half of your notebook’s charge in one day, and then recharge it fully. It’s all about charging cycles either way. There are a couple of ways you can ascertain and assess, depending on what version of MacOS the device is running. Definitely not consumer friendly, so knowing the health of a used device battery is critical. Worse, on some units, the battery replacement might involve quite a bit more work too, sometimes involving the replacement of a keyboard or display unit because of how they’re assembled. However, it comes at the cost of reduced everyday runtime.Modern computer batteries are a lot better than the older units, but unlike PCs, Apple designs its modern MacBook line with batteries embedded deep in the circuitry, definitely not user replaceable. Social Media: If you have a Mac laptop with Thunderbolt 3 ports, the new battery health management option in macOS 10.15.5 Catalina could extend the lifespan of your battery. (Featured image by Thomas Kelley on Unsplash) If you see that message and you aren’t getting enough runtime for your needs, get the battery evaluated at an Apple-authorized service provider or Apple Store. Regardless of the term, anything but Normal indicates that your battery is holding less of a charge than when it was new. (In previous versions of macOS, it could have said Replace Soon, Replace Now, or Service Battery.) At the top of the menu, next to Condition, you’ll see either Normal or Service Recommended. To check your battery’s health, hold the Option key down and click the Battery Status icon on the menu bar. The reduced maximum capacity with battery health management enabled may have an undesirable side effect-a recommendation from the Battery Status menu’s health indicator that you need to replace your battery. You’ll be prompted to make sure you know what you’re doing click Turn Off to finish the job. Open System Preferences > Energy Saver, click the Battery Health button at the bottom, and in the dialog that appears, uncheck Battery Health Management and click OK. Switching is easy, but Apple buries it deeply enough that it’s clear that the company doesn’t think most users should be disabling it regularly. In such situations, switch battery health management off for the flight and back on when you return to normal usage patterns. Switch as needed: Many people need the longest possible runtime only occasionally, such as on long flights with no under-seat power.You might have to replace the battery sooner, but you’ll get more runtime in everyday usage. Favor runtime: For those who need to eke every last bit of power from their batteries, disable battery health management.That will preserve the battery’s overall lifespan to the extent possible. Favor lifespan: If you seldom run your laptop’s battery down to the electronic fumes because it’s easy for you to plug in whenever you need to charge, leave battery health management enabled.So, if you have a supported laptop and you’re running macOS 10.15.5, what should you do? We see three scenarios: (The Thunderbolt 3 port requirement is merely a shorthand way for Apple to indicate “recent Mac laptops.”) In essence, then, it’s available only on MacBook Pro models introduced in 2016 or later, and MacBook Air models introduced in 2018 and later. It’s worth noting that this battery health management feature appears only for those running macOS 10.15.5 or later, and only then if the Mac in question is a laptop with Thunderbolt 3 ports. It’s too soon to know the full extent of this tradeoff, and we suspect that it may be impossible to determine, given that everyone uses their Macs differently. While battery health management can extend your battery’s overall lifespan, it will likely also reduce your everyday runtime before you need to charge. It does this by monitoring the battery’s temperature and charging patterns and, in all likelihood, reducing the maximum level to which it will charge the battery. In the just-released macOS 10.15.5 Catalina, Apple has introduced a new battery health management feature that promises to increase the effective lifespan of the batteries in recent Mac laptops. And, because physics is a harsh mistress, current lithium-ion batteries are always going to age chemically, so they hold less of a charge over time. Battery and power management technologies continually improve, but those improvements are matched by more powerful processors and smaller designs with less room for battery cells. Sadly, we’re always going to be disappointed. We all want Mac laptops that can run for days on a single charge and never need their batteries serviced.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |