MBP 2018 Battery Drains Fast When Shut Down, Not on Charger

Your laptop is almost 8 years old (purchased Dec. 2018). Most Apple Lithium batteries need to be replaced between 3-5 years although some may last longer depending on how long a user needs to run on just the battery.

Your third screenshot of the Battery System Settings does not appear to show any problems, but it also doesn't seem to show a powered off laptop since data is available from 6am to about 4am the next day. I think the laptop was still powered on. You can run the following Terminal command to show the status of the laptop over two days (it will show when it is going to sleep, waking up, and when it is powered on as well as the battery charge level at those times):

pmset -g log | grep -iE 'Sleep  |Wake  |Start  ' | grep -iE '^2025-10-23|^2025-10-24'

There must be exactly two spaces after the "Sleep ", "Wake ", and "Start " filters. The command shown, will only show results for the two dates listed so you can get the data for the night & early next morning hours....you may change the values for the dates you want to review.

Also, why don't you leave the laptop connected to the power adapter overnight? It is best just to leave the laptop connected to the power adapter whenever you are able especially if you left the default Optimized Battery Charging option enabled.

Edit: Removed incorrect information about copying & pasting the command....appears the issue only occurs while composing.

Tom Hanser wrote:

I have a 2018 MacBook Pro in great condition, hardly used. However, I've noticed that the battery drains quickly when the device is powered down entirely, even when it's not on the charger. I tend to put the device away when not in use.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/851117e3-4268-454e-bb86-324c34c94a60

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/e2634702-94d2-4338-918c-e6205bfdf574

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/9a81dd58-6f70-4d6b-9853-6953e0b11263

Is this normal? Can the battery be replaced, and is it worth it? The battery health seems to be normal.

Thanks.

On an Intel Mac you can try resetting the System Management Controller:

Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support

Tom Hanser wrote:

Thanks, HWTech.

It probably makes sense to keep it on the charger, of course, but I don't leave this MBP out; I put it away in a protective foam case and messenger bag. I hardly use this device, either.

You should read Apple's instructions for properly storing a laptop in order to maintain the battery health:

Properly Storing Apple Laptop & Batteries

I might look into a battery replacement next.

Unfortunately there is not enough battery details to confirm if this is necessary since macOS doesn't report enough critical details to the user, nor does the Apple Diagnostics test the battery enough to detect latent issues.

Based on the information you posted, you DO NOT NEED a battery replacement.

Your battery is in remarkably good condition, and replacing the battery with a different one will NOT improve that.