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Battery

Recently I bought a monitor. When I plug it to my macbook pro 2017 13.3 inch the monitor works with closed lid only when the laptop is connected to the charger. Being always plugged to the charger this harm the battery?

I found an application called amphetamine on the app store which turns off the sleep mode when the lid is closed and the monitor-laptop works without being plugged to charger. But probably this will drain a lot of battery because of giving signal to the monitor.

Moreover I found another application called the Aldente which sets a limit to your charging level and after that it stops charging and maintain the battery level (for example 80%).

How do you recommend to work with the monitor? Which is the best for my battery?

Posted on Nov 15, 2022 5:28 AM

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Posted on Nov 15, 2022 7:36 AM

"Best" is not using clever non-Apple products that seek to circumvent Apple's charging algorithms. Uninstall those things and use your MacBook Pro the way it was designed to be used.


No "Aldente", no "Amphetamine". Just say no.


About battery health management in Mac notebooks - Apple Support

Charge your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro - Apple Support

Get help with your Mac laptop battery - Apple Support

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13 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 15, 2022 7:36 AM in response to ilias201

"Best" is not using clever non-Apple products that seek to circumvent Apple's charging algorithms. Uninstall those things and use your MacBook Pro the way it was designed to be used.


No "Aldente", no "Amphetamine". Just say no.


About battery health management in Mac notebooks - Apple Support

Charge your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro - Apple Support

Get help with your Mac laptop battery - Apple Support

Nov 24, 2022 5:39 PM in response to ilias201

No; leaving your particular model Mac and with the macOS version you have, you cannot harm your battery by leaving its power adapter connected all the time. The Apple Support documents I linked earlier describes how it works and the reason you can't harm the battery.


The "lightning bolt" symbol just means it's plugged in.


2) Some people mention that display port usb c could work better than the HDMI that I use and that leads to lower temperatures.


I really doubt it. The battery charging components don't know or care how power gets supplied to the Mac.


3) When the CPU die temperature reaches let's say 65-75 degrees you said that it is okay and I think that it is okay. You said that for intel is normal temperature but is there a possibility this temperature to harm other part of the macbook pro? for example the battery, screen, or whatever other parts?


It's definitely ok. Macs have many thermal sensors. The CPU is typically the component that generates the most heat. A heat sink carries that heat away from the CPU directly to the cooling vents in back. As the CPU gets warmer, the exhaust fan velocity increases in an effort to carry that heat away faster. If the temperature continues to increase the fan may become audibly loud, while at the same time macOS automatically starts to limit the CPU's throughput and reduce its temperature. If those steps still don't help keep the CPU within limits, an autonomous hardware feature will unceremoniously shut down the Mac. That only happens in extreme circumstances.


I am asking these questions because I just bought the the external monitor and when I worked without it my macbook was usually worked on lower temperatures.


The reason is due to the fact your Mac does not have a separate GPU. If it did though, the GPU would be the component that would become warmer when using the external monitor, instead of your Mac's CPU with its integrated Intel Iris GPU.


**Regarding question 1: I can not find if my macbook has an auto cut-off charge system after reaching 100% Do you know if my macbook has this feature?


Yes. About battery health management in Mac notebooks - Apple Support describes it for your Mac specifically.

Nov 24, 2022 8:47 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks again John. So I have some more questions regarding this situation. My macbook pro 2017 has the following features: 2,3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 1536 MB, 8 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3, version macOS Ventura 13.0.1


1)To use the monitor my macbook needs to be plugged to the charger. Do you think that could harm my battery? Because I am not very familiar with this technology, so I dont know if my macbook stops charging when reaches 100% because as I can see there is still this lighting sign (check the photo that I attached).

2) Some people mention that display port usb c could work better than the HDMI that I use and that leads to lower temperatures. Do you think this will help?? Have you ever used it?

3) When the CPU die temperature reaches let's say 65-75 degrees you said that it is okay and I think that it is okay. You said that for intel is normal temperature but is there a possibility this temperature to harm other part of the macbook pro? for example the battery, screen, or whatever other parts?

I am asking these questions because I just bought the the external monitor and when I worked without it my macbook was usually worked on lower temperatures.

Nov 27, 2022 5:14 PM in response to John Galt

Thanks again John! You helped a lot. Also one last question regarding the charging. When I use the monitor I usually charge my macbook through the adapter(check photo). Do you think that if I charge the macbook through the adapter or If i plug the cable of the charger directly to the type c port of the macbook does it make any difference or it's just the same thing? In heating for example or whatever in general. Thank you in advance!

Nov 25, 2022 11:09 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks again John! You helped me a lot again! Regarding the question that I made you about the HDMI and the displayport, you said that "I really doubt it. The battery charging components don't know or care how power gets supplied to the Mac".

1) Except this, which was very helpful, do you think that the macbook can send signal easier by using the displayport or by using HDMI (in terms of what is healthier for the macbook)? I mean from the aspect of how each cable works, how it sends the signal to the external monitor etc. Actually I mean if the technology used in the displayport is less demanding and can lead to lower CPU usage compared to the CPU memory that the HDMI demands and if this can lead to better performance and lower temperatures. Do you think is the same or one of the two cables is less demanding? Because as I said in the previous post, some people say that the display is better, but this is like some youtube videos, posts etc, which I dont know if it's trustful.

2) Do you think that the low power mode which leads to lower temperatures of CPU and I use it always when the macbook is plugged because it has a good result on the temperature could harm my macbook in some way? I ask because I see some posts say "dont use this mode when the tasks of the computer are demanding". I suppose that probably this mode could be a little bit slower in terms of speed since it's a low power mode for some tasks compared to the normal mode.Is this bad for the macbook? Do you think that this mode can harm the macbook in some way? What do you know about this mode? Thank you in. advance John!


Nov 26, 2022 6:14 PM in response to ilias201

Neither method is particularly advantageous over the other. The particular interface or cable you use does not matter to what your Mac's integrated GPU does.


The "low power mode" is strictly intended to maximize the amount of time you can use your Mac on battery power alone. It's neither good nor bad in that regard.


The bottom line is that you can't hurt a Mac just by using it. They are designed to work hard, and if they get warm it just means they're doing what they are designed to do.

Nov 30, 2022 3:36 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks again John! You helped a lot. Also one last question regarding the charging. When I use the monitor I usually charge my macbook through the adapter(check photo). Do you think that if I charge the macbook through the adapter or If i plug the cable of the charger directly to the type c port of the macbook does it make any difference or it's just the same thing? In heating for example or whatever in general. Thank you in advance!

Battery

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