When your Mac’s battery is draining quickly, you tend to close unwanted apps and web browser tabs. This may fix the problem for some, but not for everyone. Sometimes closing unwanted apps running in the background doesn’t help much. And before you know it, your Mac is out of battery.
If your Mac’s battery continues to drain rapidly, you may want to troubleshoot and investigate. To get this started, follow the fixes mentioned in this post before taking it to an authorized service center.
Malware Check
In rare cases, your Mac is not 100% immune to malware. If you suspect something is infected with your device, you can install Malwarebytes to scan and determine the problem. To do this:
Stage 1: Get and install Malwarebytes on your Mac.
Step 2: In the main menu, click Scan. If the software finds malware, it removes it from your device.
You can also remove malware without third-party software, but it will take a little longer to do so.
Stage 1: Type “activity monitor” into the search bar in the top right corner of your toolbar and open the app of the same name.
Step 2: Look for malware in the Energy tab; common ones include MacDefender and MacProtector.
Stage 3: Locate the file in your Applications folder before moving it to the Trash and emptying it.
Limit Location Setting Permissions
Turning on your location settings is useful in some situations. However, it can drain your battery faster than you would like.
To save your battery longer, you can turn off your location settings, except for local and system apps. To do this:
Stage 1: Press Command+Spacebar to launch Spotlight Search, type System and Preferences and press Enter.
Step 2: Select Security & Privacy.
Stage 3: Click the Location Services tab. Then tap the unlock button at the bottom left and enter your password to make changes.
Step 4: Scroll through the list of apps and uncheck any that don’t fall into the categories mentioned above.
Reducing Screen Brightness
When you use your Mac, you’re probably turning the display up to the highest possible brightness. However, you usually don’t need such a high value – and having it will drain your battery faster than necessary.
Reducing your screen brightness is simple. All you have to do is follow the steps below.
Stage 1: Go to Display in System Preferences.
Step 2: Slide the Brightness tab to the left to dim your screen.
You can also check the box next to “Automatically adjust brightness” below if you want your Mac to manage your screen brightness levels on its own.
Disabling the “Enable Power Nap” Option
When you turn off your Mac at night, it can’t perform tasks like checking your email or calendar. One workaround is to turn on Power Nap in your Battery Preferences.
While convenient, Power Nap can also strain your battery. If that’s the case for you, it’s easy to turn it off.
Stage 1: Go back to your Battery Preferences.
Step 2: Uncheck the box next to “Enable Power Nap while on battery power”.
Turning On “Put Hard Drives To Sleep When Possible”
An unexpected battery drainer is your device’s hard drives. And believe it or not, you don’t have to keep them on all the time.
Some Macs allow you to turn off your hard drives when not in use. Follow the steps below to enable this feature.
Stage 1: Go to Battery Preferences.
Step 2: Check the box next to “Put hard drives to sleep when possible”.
Resetting the SMC
If everything on this list has failed so far, you can try resetting your device’s system management controller (SMC). In short, your SMC manages your battery and many other settings.
Resetting your SMC depends on whether your device has a T2 Security Chip which you can check here. If yes, follow these steps.
Stage 1: Shut down your Mac before holding down the shift, ctrl, and alt/option buttons.
Step 2: After holding them for seven seconds, press the power button and hold all these keys for another seven seconds.
Stage 3: Turn on your Mac with the power button.
On Macs without the T2 Security Chip, you should follow these tips instead.
Stage 1: Hold down alt/option, shift, and control at the same time – before doing the same thing while continuing to hold the power button down.
Step 2: Complete the above process for 10 seconds before letting go.
Stage 3: Boot your Mac as usual.
For desktop Mac devices with or without T2 Security Chip, resetting the SMC is the same.
Stage 1: Turn off your Mac and unplug your charger before waiting 15 seconds and plugging it back in.
Step 2: After five seconds, turn your Mac as you usually do.
Save Your Mac’s Battery
In addition to closing web browsers and applications, you can also extend your Mac’s battery life by using various features on your device. This article has provided you with several solutions and you should have no problems after applying them.
If you’re still experiencing battery problems, consider taking your Mac to an Apple Store or retailer for a diagnosis.
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