Macbook Pro Disable USB Charging

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Level 1

14 points

Macbook Pro Disable USB Charging

I would like to disable USB charging on my new MacBook Pro. How can this be done?

I realise that there are already a few other threads on this, but I don't feel that any of them get to the bottom of the answer.

The issue is like this for me - no matter what the device, be it laptop, mobile phone, electric razor or anything else with rechargeable batteries inside, if you leave it plugged in all the time to the mains power then the battery's life is destroyed quite quickly where it will not stay charged very long. Every time the charge drops just a small fraction, it is recharged and ends up at always 100% charged.

Now, wait a few years and then try to run it without the charger plugged in to the mains power and it just goes flat in a few minutes and will not hold any charge = very frustrated user.

But, if you charge the battery and let it go flat, and charge it and let it go flat and so on, the battery will continue to work properly for a much longer time. It's commonly known as battery memory and it affects all types of rechargeable batteries.

So, I want to try and protect the condition of the battery in my brand new MacBook Pro, which I am using most of the time as a desktop machine plugged into an external display with wireless keyboard and mouse.

I have a USB-C mains powered hub which connects to all my peripheral devices and gives me an ethernet connection and much more besides, but the laptop is constantly being charged by the hub via the USB-C cable.

I want to disable this charging via USB-C but I need to keep the hub plugged in for general use.

I want to be able to just plug in the genuine Apple charger when the battery is flat and disconnect when it is fully charged so that the battery conditions itself to full cycling and therefore will work better for a much longer time, but that requires disabling the USB-C charging.

No clever software will ever be better than the battery itself. Just relying on the OS to keep the battery healthy is foolish, in my opinion and I know it will never work for continued and prolonged use.

Why is this not possible in the battery management controls in the settings?

Is there some black magic that can be done in the Terminal to turn it off?

Posted on Aug 24, 2022 02:05 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Sewer Sleuth Author

Level 1

14 points

Aug 28, 2022 08:37 AM in response to ku4hx

Sorry, but that is not the answer and you have failed to grasp the point.

The machine is largely being used as a desktop, closed with external screen, keyboard and mouse and occasionally being used portable.

When in desktop mode it is connected to a USB-C hub to get all of the other desktop peripherals and ethernet etc. The hub is charging the laptop even with no dedicated mains charger connected, so it is permanently charging.

With ALL rechargeable batteries in ALL devices, the batteries acquire 'memory' which affects how they perform when disconnected from the mains. Keeping any device permanently plugged in destroys the battery memory so that there is none. No fancy circuitry or software can get around this. It is just a fact of life with rechargeable batteries.

The battery remains 100% charged all the time, because every time it drops just a small fraction, it immediately recharges, so the full power of the battery almost never gets utilised, until you want it of course, and there is nothing left in the tank. Overcharging batteries kills them in short.

If the system was truly that clever, it would detect that the power is connected and actually allow the battery drop to 20% charge before recharging it back up to 100% and so on, but it doesn't. Hence, it kills your battery.

Apple know this which is probably why there is no option to turn off USB charging - they want your battery to die as soon as possible, just like they do in their phones so that you invest in a new machine. Having said that, Windows is no better.

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Answer 2

Aug 28, 2022 08:56 AM in response to Sewer Sleuth

You are speaking with only other users on a user to user only forum. We don't work for Apple. We didn't design your MacBook Pro, nor its charging system.

I am pretty sure Apple Engineer's however, have a better grasp on charging on their designed devices, than we mere mortals. I personally keep my MBP plugged in to charge, pretty much 24 hours a day. In 5 months, it has been through 10 full cycle battery charges. 5 Months. There is no way I could personally manage that. The computer itself manages it.

Suffice to say, we cannot answer "why" questions here, nor give you some magic way to disable USB Charging, feel free to share your thoughts with Apple via this link --> Feedback - MacBook Pro - Apple

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Answer 3

ku4hx

Level 7

23,640 points

Aug 28, 2022 07:16 AM in response to Sewer Sleuth

Why? Full time charging of your Mac does not harm the battery.

Micromanaging your battery is a waste of time. The Mac's circuitry is far batter at it than a user will ever be. Charge it when it needs it, use battery when you need to be portable and let the circuitry take care of maintaining the battery.

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Macbook Pro Disable USB Charging

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