If your Mac won’t hold a charge, you may be able to fix it yourself by trying some of these solutions from our in-house tech experts.
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Tips for optimizing your charger's performance
Reset the System Management Controller (SMC)
Restart your Mac
If your MacBook charger suddenly becomes unreliable, your Mac shuts down unexpectedly, or you see a message about the battery that reads, “Service Recommended” with a warning icon, try restarting your Mac to quit any energy-sucking apps that you might not even know are running.
Check your battery life
Battery health
Every Back Market vetted MacBook battery must have an initial capacity of at least 85% at the time you receive it. To check the state of your MacBook battery’s health, you can download the coconutBattery app and check the percentage bar under “Design Capacity” as shown in the image below.
Our tech wizards created a table that shows the relative battery life you can expect from your device by model. This table is solely for informational purposes and may not be perfectly accurate. Remember: battery life varies by use and configuration.
Battery life of your Mac by model
If you don’t know your MacBook’s model, you can find it on the device itself, on its Back Market product page, or in your order confirmation email.
Find the release year of your model:
| Model | Release year | Battery life expectancy |
| MacBook Pro | Before 2015 | 3–4.5 hours |
| MacBook Pro | 2015–2020 (included) | 4–6 hours |
| MacBook Pro | From 2021 | 8–10 hours |
| MacBook Air | 2011–2012 | 3–4.5 hours |
| MacBook Air | 2013–2020 (included) | 5–7 hours |
| MacBook Air M1 | 2020 | up to 9 hours |
Tips for optimizing your charger's performance
You can level up the performance of your MacBook charger by keeping an eye on how your device is running.
- Check your Activity Monitor — here you can check your overall energy use and some other granular stuff.
- Go to the Activity Monitor app on your Mac and select the “Energy” tab at the top.
- Here, you can close the apps that are using the most energy.
- See also the “CPU” tab (Central Processing Unit) to see how much of the CPU (i.e. the computer’s brain) is being utilized.
Update your apps and software: Make sure to update all your apps or each software program individually. Older versions can slow down the performance of your device.
Update your macOS: Keep tabs on whether or not your MacBook is updated to prevent any unnecessary issues.
Optimize your settings: Fine-tune your Mac’s energy, brightness, Wi-Fi, applications, and peripherals to keep your charger in tip-top condition.
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Energy: The "Energy Saver" preference pane includes several settings that determine the power levels for your MacBook.
- Your MacBook knows when it’s plugged in and runs accordingly.
- When using battery power, it dims the screen and uses other components sparingly.
- If you change this setting to maximize performance, your battery will drain more quickly.
- Brightness: Dim the screen to the lowest comfortable level to make the most of your battery life.
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Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi consumes power, even if you're not using it to connect to a network.
- You can turn it off in the Wi-Fi status menu in the menu bar or in "Network Preferences".
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Applications and external devices: Quit applications you’re not using and disconnect external devices (e.g. mouse, keyboard, printer).
- Eject your SD card when you’re finished using it.
Don’t let other devices drain your MacBook: When you’re using your MacBook to charge other devices with a USB, make sure it’s plugged in and powered on or those devices may drain your MacBook’s battery faster than normal. Additionally, if another device is connected to your MacBook when it’s turned off or in sleep or standby mode, the device’s battery may drain.
Reset SMC
The System Management Controller (SMC) controls the power on your Mac. Resetting it can solve some uncommon issues related to power or temperature management.
Step 1. Determine if your Mac has Apple silicon
See if you have a Mac with Apple silicon
If you do:
- Check that your computer is connected to a reliable power source.
- Restart your Mac or shut it down and turn it back on.
Step 2. If it doesn't, determine if your Mac has a T2 chip
See if you have a Mac with the Apple T2 Security Chip
If you do:
Laptop computer with the T2 chip
- Shut down your computer if you can.
- Press the power button for 10 seconds, then release.
- Remember, all Macs have this button, even if you have TouchID — you can also use it to restart your computer.
- Wait for a few seconds, then press the power button again to turn your computer back on.
If the issue doesn't resolve:
- Shut down your computer.
- Press and hold Control (⌃)-Option (Alt) ⌥-Shift ⇧ — your Mac may turn on in the process.
- Continue to press and hold all the keys for around 7 seconds, then press and hold your Mac's power button without releasing the other keys — if your laptop is on, it will turn off during this step.
- Keep pressing the keys for another 7 seconds, then release them.
- Wait for a little while, then press the power button again to turn your Mac back on.
Desktop computer with the T2 chip
- Shut down your computer and unplug the power cord.
- Wait for 15 seconds then plug the power cord back in.
- Wait for another 5 seconds, then press the power button to turn your Mac back on.
How to reset your Mac if it doesn’t have Apple silicon or a T2 chip
Laptop computer
- Power down your Mac.
- Press and hold Shift ⇧-Control (⌃)-Option (Alt) ⌥ at the same time.
- Press and hold the power button at the same time as the keys above.
- Hold the four keys for around 10 seconds.
- Release all of the keys and then press the power button to turn your computer back on.
Desktop computer
- Shut down your computer and unplug the power cord.
- Wait for 15 seconds then plug it back in.
- Wait for 5 more seconds and then press the power button to turn your Mac back on.