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MacBook Battery Health Dropped 7% After macOS 15.1 Update – Need Help

I have a MacBook 14 (2021), and everything was perfectly fine until last week. However, after updating to macOS 15.1, my battery health has dropped by 7% in just a few days, with a consistent 1% drop every day. I am very conscious about this issue. Please guide me on what to do.

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.1

Posted on Nov 17, 2024 12:43 AM

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1 reply

Nov 19, 2024 2:06 PM in response to mujahid008

There is nothing you can do. My advice to everyone is to just ignore the battery health information until you actually encounter a problem where the battery is not performing to your expectations (that is the battery run time is too short). Then & only then look at the battery health information and Cycle Count and Condition.


Apple only recently (a few years ago) started showing the Battery Health (aka Maximum Capacity) values so the average user is only just beginning to realize how their Apple batteries actually work/behave. I have observed my organization's batteries at a lower level for many years so I am aware of exactly how these Apple Lithium Batteries behave. The Apple Lithium batteries have their Maximum Capacity fluctuate up & down....sometimes just a little bit with a healthy battery, and more drastic fluctuations for failing batteries. A healthy battery can easily fluctuate by 5% (perhaps a bit more, I've never really tracked it by percentage points since I've tracked the raw data instead). See my other post here where I show an example with raw data from an actual Apple battery and the computed Maximum Capacity:

Battery Health draining fast -- HWTech explanation - Apple Community


The higher the load on the computer, the more likely you will see larger fluctuations.


If the condition of the battery is "Service Recommended" and the battery is not lasting long enough for you, then it is time to have the battery replaced. If the battery is still performing to your expectations with a long enough run time, then ignore the "Service Recommended" until the battery is no longer performing to your expectations.


If the Cycle Count is nearing 1,000 cycles, then the battery may be nearing it end of life....see my notes regarding "Service Recommended" condition above as the same thing applies. The Cycle Count is irrelevant for anything else since a low cycle count means nothing. The age of the battery is more important than a low cycle count as regards to health.


It is also possible Apple has somewhat modified the reporting of the battery information or its calculations of the Maximum Capacity (it is a computed value) with the update, but it doesn't actually affect the physical battery itself.


MacBook Battery Health Dropped 7% After macOS 15.1 Update – Need Help

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