Battery drain concerns on M1 MacBook Pro after upgrading to Ventura

You might do a pre-check of your battery's current condition. Find the System Information app in the Utilities folder and launch it. From its lefthand sidebar, choose "Power." You get this:

See the part I outlined in red? What does your Mac show for those three metrics?

That gives us a few data points that may help us better recommend an action. Example: If Maximum Capacity is under 80%, if may be prudent to wait until getting the battery replaced to update to a higher macOS version.

Hi,

Rapid battery drain after upgrading an M1 MacBook Pro to macOS Ventura is commonly caused by background indexing, rogue apps, or updated power settings.

It also can says when upgrade to Golden Gate.

Quick Fixes to Stop Battery Drain

• Check Energy Usage: Open Activity Monitor (via Spotlight or Finder under Utilities), click the Energytab, and force-quit any apps showing abnormally high energy impact.
• Enable Low Power Mode: Go to System Settings > Battery, and set Low Power Mode to Only on Battery to reduce background activity.
• Turn Off Wake for Network Access: Under System Settings > Battery, disable wake settings that let your Mac wake up randomly for network tasks and background syncs.
• Allow Indexing Time: Major macOS updates re-index Spotlight and sync iCloud in the background for the first few days, which temporarily increases power consumption

anitaandjoe wrote:

Am thinking of upgrading from Monterey 12.7.6 to ventura on my m1 macbook pro. i read that the battery drains very quickly on ventura. is that correct?

It is not correct.

i had thought it would be temporary as someone indicated. If the battery is affected, i'd rather not switch.

What you're seeing is people misinterpreting some other problem as battery drain.

Modern Apple computers are exceptionally fast and exceptionally cool. Years on, with Intel computers, one could always tell when the CPU was overloaded and thrashing because it would sound like a jet aircraft with the fans running full blast.

You don't get that sound on a modern Apple Silicon computer. But incompatible/buggy software can still cause heavy CPU usage, leading to battery drain.

Monterey is easily one of the best, most stable OS versions that Apple has released. Easily the best Apple Silicon version. However, Ventura is almost as good, but is more modern internally and more compatible with newer apps.

Sorry for the late return. We're traveling this weekend.

87% health is impressive, especially considering it has 900 cycles. Apple says a healthy battery should retain 80% health "up" to (wiggle words) 1000 cycles.

Does that mean they die after 1000 cycles. No, but it suggests that it's in it's twilight years and could fail.

So the battery is healthy enough to upgrade, but the cycle count is high. Were it mine and I wanted to keep it in service, I'd have Apple (and no one else) replace the battery, then update. From this Apple page:

Apple Service and Repair for Mac Laptops - Apple Support

that's going to cost US$249.

If your M1 has only 8GB RAM and a 256GB storage drive, I'd be inclined to go newer. Newer macOS versions are getting a bit "piggy" in their need for drive space and there are lots of complaints here about 256GB storage being too small.

Check your storage capacity and how much is available using Disk Utility:

Intro to Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

and your physical RAM amount from "About this Mac..." in you Apple menu.

I'll be home late today but may not be able t get back to you until tomorrow morning.

That computer is a battery-CAPABLE device, It is not optimized as a battery-operated device (it is not an iPhone.)

Your computer performs best when connected to AC power, such as the power adapter. It can use the full output of the Power Adapter AND when doing especially challenging work could also freely "borrow" power from the battery. In some cases, even with the power adapter connected, the charged state may decline during very stressful work.

When used only on battery, your computer has no extra cushion of power, and may perform more slowly. However, for ordinary non-stressful tasks this may not be objectionable (possibly not even noticeable.)

In general, you should ALWAYS connect a power source when it is possible to do so, and only run on batteries (which could be somewhat slower) when no power sources are at hand. Modern Macs maintain optimum battery charge levels under program control, and will NEVER over-charge. Connected to Power is NOT necessarily charging.

When you set it down in one place, or set it down for the night, Plug it in. Then you won’t CARE whether it would drain the battery. 

anitaandjoe wrote:

Am thinking of upgrading from Monterey 12.7.6 to ventura on my m1 macbook pro. i read that the battery drains very quickly on ventura. is that correct?

i had thought it would be temporary as someone indicated. If the battery is affected, i'd rather not switch. Thanks so much, Anita.

Not heard this.

macOS Ventura was released in 2022...

Your M1 mac supports the current macOS 27.0.1

ref: Batteries - Maximizing Performance - Apple

Batteries - Maximizing Performance - Apple

Thanks so much! I didn't find power under my battery health, usage, etc...(am on Monterey still). but the maximum capacity relative to when it was new is 87%. Is that what i need to know maybe? Thanks so much for telling me to pre-test it. i work a lot with website programs, so i want to make sure everything will be ok. Anita

Thanks so very much, i found it under "hardware", and i have enough battery power (max. capacity 87%).

Charge Information:

The battery’s charge is below the critical level: No

Fully Charged: No

Charging: No

State of Charge (%): 83

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 900

Condition: Normal

Maximum Capacity: 87%

Awesome! Thanks for ALL your help. I had no idea about the cycle count. I will then let them change the battery and then update. I'll check the disk utility also. Very detailed answer. You have been amazing in your support! Thank you soooo much! Anita