MacBook Air M1 battery not holding charge before reaching 1000 cycles

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MacBook Air M1 battery not holding charge before reaching 1000 cycles

I have had this computer for four years now and just this year I was notified that my computer is not holding its charge. I looked into it and talked to a tech from a you break I fix store and they said that my computer type has a max cycle of 1000. My computer has less than 800 cycles on it. I want to know why it is no holding a charge if I am less than 200 cycles from 500 cycles.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: why is my macbook air m1 not holding a charge even if I haven't reached the max cycle of 1000?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.6

Posted on Jul 27, 2025 04:46 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 27, 2025 05:16 PM in response to Pixiedust02

Batteries are consumable items with a finite lifespan. Just like a tire rated for 30,000 miles might need replacement before that, a battery with an expected life of 1000 cycles may not last that long.

Some of that variability is out of your control (e.g., I’ve had new Macs with batteries at 98% ‘health’ (actual capacity relative to design capacity), and I had one that started at 108%. Some is in your control, in the tire analogy if you tend to corner really hard you’ll wear them out sooner…for a battery if you leave it fully charged in a hot car, or frequently charge the Mac with it sitting on a blanket, you’ll shorten the lifespan.

The end result is the same. If your battery isn’t holding a charge well (Apple’s replacement threshold is 80% health), then you need to either live with needing to charge more frequently or have Apple replace the battery.

Mac Repair and Service - Apple Support

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