Bad battery health on MacBook concern

Zeromskas wrote:

Thanks for your answer.

also, do you happen to know what could i do extend my battery lifetime? Should i just use it pluged in and try to keep it between 20% and 80%? Doing it manualy is pretty hard though... i have heard there are some apps that work like battery charge limiters.

Beginning with macOS 10.15 Catalina macOS now has a battery management system in place similar to what is employed with the iPhone and iPad. macOS will now drain the battery slightly if it is always plugged into a charger in order to exercise the battery.

In the past I recommended users to use the laptop on the battery at least once a month so that it became a habit (or once a week is another option so it becomes a regular habit) although this should no longer be needed. The most important part is not to have the battery stay at 0% charge because it can cause multiple problems like not being able to charge again, the laptop may not power on, and it can permanently damage the battery.

Here is an Apple article with details about the new battery health management and tips for keeping a healthy battery:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211094

There is a lot more to battery life than the "Cycle Count" because the "Cycle Count" only matters once it gets near 1,000 cycles which indicates the battery is most likely worn out (or nearly worn out). Any other value has absolutely no bearing on battery health or life since you will have a lower cycle count if the laptop is usually on the charger.

Make sure that macOS is completely up to date since macOS may have a patch or even a firmware update for the battery. Apple just released a battery firmware update for the MBPro 2016-2017 models to address an issue that must have been introduced with the macOS 10.15.5 update since the notes about the battery firmware update I've seen mention it should be applied if a 2016-2017 MBPro is running 10.15.5 or later (I forget where I saw this information). Perhaps other models or batteries have their own issues that have not yet been addressed by Apple. Apple has had a terrible track record for software & firmware updates recently.

I've been starting to notice more battery issues within our organization and seen reports from other users on these forums with some of the more recent macOS updates over the past year so it is possible macOS or some firmware update (system or battery firmware) is to blame. This is something that is very difficult to tell since batteries are not all consistent in their behaviors and we were not really monitoring any systems beforehand to have a baseline of what "normal" really is.

If the battery goes below 80% during the first year, then you should be able to get the battery replaced for free under warranty. I'm not sure how Apple handles worn out batteries (less than 80% of original capacity) after one year if you have the extended AppleCare+ warranty coverage (you would have to ask if this happens or applies to you).

Might be helpful might not be? I've a mid-2012 13 inch MacBook Pro and after 9 years of constant use my cycle count is 1137. I'm not talking light usage either. I've always used it connected to its charger which is why I think the count is low for such an old machine. I've done this over nearly 20 years with all the laptops I've ever owned.