2019 MacBook Pro Battery Drain

[mac_in_tosh]

Until recently, I've had this laptop always plugged in and connected to a monitor in my office, with rare exceptions. I thought Apple had some way of detecting this and adjusting the charging of the battery appropriately. Recently, I've been using the laptop off of the desk and notice that the battery can go from fully charged to about 65% in a short time with minimal occasional use. If I click on the battery icon, Malware Protection.app* always shows up as "using significant energy."

Now it's a separate question as to whether this app is needed, but given that I've paid for it for one year I'd like to continue using it. So, is it reasonable that it would be such a battery hog and is there some setting, either in the app or in Mac OS, that can reduce it's use of the battery?

Thanks.

*Edit: It's actually "Malwarebytes Protection App." I have Malwarebytes installed.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Age itself can degrade a battery. Additionally, it’s best to keep an unused battery (including during storage) at ~50%. With that said, I suggest doing a calibration:

How to Calibrate Your MacBook's Battery for Better Performance

Apple MacBooks include a smart battery to manage the charge and discharge cycles. Calibrating the battery results in better battery performance.

www.lifewire.com

I vividly recall Apple’s own knowledge base article with similar instructions of the “newer” method the above article describes — Apple has removed it in the last few years and appears to force battery calibration during (at least some) OS updates. I have no recollection of the “wait at least five hours” directions claimed for “older” Macs. It could be true and I lost recollection. Nonetheless, the first method will do fine. If there’s no observed difference after one recalibration, I recommend trying at least one more instance. You do not need to perform them back-to-back.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

Thanks. One question - that article, from April 2021, refers to "newer" and "older" Macs but doesn't define the terms. Is my 2019 MB Pro considered "newer?"

 

[MacCheetah3]

Based upon the description and photos, I am guessing “newer” is 2016 models and more recent.

Basically, follow this method:

1. Plug in the power cable and charge the battery to 100-percent.
2. Allow the MacBook to discharge completely and power off.
3. Then, plug in the power cable and charge the battery again to 100-percent.

If this doesn’t improve the battery situation, of course, we can move onto other troubleshooting.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

Will do. Thanks.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

I did steps 1 to 3 and while I didn't do any kind of accurate timing, my impression is that it didn't make a noticeable difference.

What I'm trying now is that I've changed the background color from white to dark grey and will see if that makes a difference.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

Forgot to mention - when I was letting the battery discharge it seemed to take about a half hour to go from 5% to where the laptop shut off. So it appears the scale is highly nonlinear. Is this an indication of the battery needing calibration or is the scale designed that way?

 

[MacCheetah3]

The duration is entirely subjective. Additionally, as the battery nears depletion, the device may throttle performance somewhat to squeeze every last second, of course, slowing the discharge.

If you mean the percentage jumped/skipped (i.e. went from 5% to off), that’s not alarming. However, the decrement should be smooth (i.e. one percent at a time) in most cases. In other words, if the percentage is frequently/often falling multiple percent each step, it could be an issue of calibration.

 

[chabig]

I've never heard of "Malware Protection.app". It's certainly not showing in Activity Monitor on my Monterey MBP. If it is something you installed, I suggest deleting it entirely.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

I've never heard of "Malware Protection.app". It's certainly not showing in Activity Monitor on my Monterey MBP. If it is something you installed, I suggest deleting it entirely.

My mistake. It's Malwarebytes Protection App. I corrected my original post.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

If you mean the percentage jumped/skipped (i.e. went from 5% to off), that’s not alarming. However, the decrement should be smooth (i.e. one percent at a time) in most cases. In other words, if the percentage is frequently/often falling multiple percent each step, it could be an issue of calibration.

It was a gradual, stepwise reduction from 5%.