If you want to avoid a trip to the Apple Store, try fixing macOS Sonoma battery life issues yourself.
If you recently moved your Mac from macOS Ventura to macOS Sonoma and your Mac’s battery seems to be draining faster than it should, there are some steps you need to take before contacting Apple customer service.
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Restart Your Mac
If you start noticing abnormal battery drain on your Mac, the first step is a simple reboot. Turn off your Mac, wait a minute, turn it back on and see if battery life improves. If not, continue to the next steps.
Update Your Mac
Apple will occasionally release new macOS Sonoma software. Point updates (xxx) usually fix bugs and security issues, while milestone upgrades (xx) usually introduce various features and fixes.
Apple may not list fixes for battery drain issues in the changelog for the macOS Sonoma update. But new software always has the potential to help. If you’re running outdated macOS software, consider updating. Might help.
For more information on the latest version of macOS Sonoma, check out our guide.
Update Your Apps
Developers are releasing new updates for their apps, and a new version of an app could help alleviate macOS Sonoma’s battery life issues.
Go to the Mac App Store and check for the latest updates. If you’re feeling cautious, check out reviews from Mac users currently running macOS Sonoma.
You’ll also want to click the battery icon in the upper-right corner of your Mac. If you see an app that is “Using Significant Energy,” you will want to contact the developer to see if an update is available, if there is an update planned, or if there is a known issue with macOS Sonoma.
Check Processes
One or more of your apps may be draining your Mac’s resources. This will drain the battery quickly. You can conduct research using the built-in Activity Monitor feature.
Find Activity Monitor in Finder and open it. You should be on a screen like the one in the screenshot above. Now click on the Energy tab.
Now click on the Energy Impact tab. This will sort the list by the apps and processes that use the most energy. If you see an app or process that’s using a ton of energy, highlight it and click the “X” in the toolbar.
Check Your Battery Usage History
Usage History provides detailed information about your Mac’s battery life over the last 24 hours or the last 10 days. You’ll find this in System Settings, located in the “Battery” section of your Mac.
It’s split into Battery Level and Display On Usage, so you can see how your Mac’s battery is currently performing. If the readings do not appear correct, you may need to contact Apple customer service.
You will also see the Battery and Power Adapter sections. You can choose when to turn off your Mac’s screen, turn power nap on or off, and more.
Reduce Screen Brightness
If you’re constantly setting your Mac’s screen to maximum brightness, this could be the problem. We recommend enabling the “Automatically adjust brightness” feature on your device to help prevent battery drain. This option is only available if you have a Mac with an ambient light sensor.
Here’s how to enable it:
You can also manually adjust the brightness of your Mac’s screen. One way is to use the F1 and F2 keys on the keyboard. The other way is to use the Control Center located in the upper right corner and adjust the brightness using the slider located there.
Reset PRAM and NVRAM
If none of the above works, you can try resetting your MacBook’s PRAM and NVRAM. This will reset some settings but will not delete your Mac’s data.
Here’s how to do it. Note that this will only work with Intel-based MacBook models:
reset SMC
The System Management Controller (SMC) manages hardware functions like your MacBook’s battery. You can try resetting it to see if it helps increase battery life:
If you have a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air apple siliconeJust restart your device.
Downgrade
If you can’t find a solution to your problem and/or don’t want to wait for the next version of macOS Sonoma, you can try downgrading your Mac’s software to an older version.
For more information on downgrading macOS, check out our step-by-step instructions.
