Few things are more frustrating than working hard on an important project, only to have your MacBook unexpectedly shut down from a depleted battery. Rapid battery drain can severely disrupt workflows with slower speeds, leaving you scrambling for an outlet.
Luckily, there are a few tweaks you can make to significantly improve your battery life. In this article, we’ll cover common (and uncommon) culprits behind fast battery drain and actionable solutions you can implement right away.
What causes your Macbook’s battery problems?
There are a few factors that cause your battery to drain rapidly:
- Old battery: Lithium-ion batteries naturally degrade over repeated charge cycles. After a few years of use, your battery simply won’t hold as much juice.
- Outdated MacOS: If your system isn’t up-to-date, you may not be running at peak efficiency, draining your Macbook’s battery unnecessarily.
- Too many apps: The more programs and processes running, the more power they consume. Inactive open browser tabs also drain the battery.
- High brightness: Pumping up screen brightness may look nice, but it’s a major battery hog.
- Indexing and Spotlight: Indexing files in the background can temporarily sap more power.
- “Screen Time” app: This usage tracker runs non stop unless disabled, slowly draining battery.
How to stop battery draining
While you can always replace your Mac’s battery, there are a few simple adjustments you can make that will extend your battery’s life considerably:
1. Dim screen brightness
Go to Settings > Display and reduce brightness to around 50%. This alone can add 45-60 minutes of extra usage time per charge since the screen is a major power draw.
Unfortunately, if you’re working in a bright environment, this may not work for you — but don’t worry, you can also try disabling Bluetooth (and WiFi when possible) to get an extra 30 to 60 minutes of battery.
2. Disable the “Screen Time” feature
If you still get notifications every Sunday about the amount of time you’ve used your MacBook, you may have noticed that the time is always longer than when you’ve actually used your computer. That’s because Screen Time is constantly running in the background, unless you’ve shut your computer off.
So by heading to Settings > Screen Time, you can instantly save some extra battery life per charge.
Bonus tip: Turn off your keyboard backlight if you haven’t already — it’ll help you save battery instantly. Plus, here’s how to fix your butterfly keyboard problems.
3. Close unused apps and windows
Your computer’s main job is to run applications quickly, but when you’re really scrambling for more battery power, it’s important to close anything that isn’t essential. While it might be a hassle to reopen tabs each time you need to access them, you’ll save battery charge in the long run.
4. Replace your battery
If none of these tips above helped, it might be time to replace your battery, especially if it’s working at less than 80% maximum capacity. Our experts at iFixnSell can safely install an Apple-certified, high-quality MacBook battery.
If you’re in the Orlando area, contact us for a free quote on your Mac repair today!