General Explanation

Several factors can lead to rapid battery wear, with elevated battery temperatures being a primary cause. Excessive use of the CPU or GPU can significantly raise the temperature of your entire MacBook, battery included. Additionally, rapid charging or discharging intensifies the heat generated by the battery. The most severe conditions arise when multiple elements that increase battery temperature coincide, for example, heavy CPU usage paired with quick charging. Under these circumstances, battery temperatures can swiftly surpass 40°C.

To address this issue, we introduced the „Heat Protection“ feature. Once activated, Heat Protection ensures AlDente automatically halts the charging process if the battery temperature rises beyond a predetermined threshold, preventing further escalation of temperature.

Configuring Heat Protection

To activate Heat Protection, please:

• Navigate to the Features Category in AlDente Settings.
• Enable Heat Protection by toggling the slider to „enabled“.
• Set your desired temperature limit by clicking on the ‚Max Temp.‘ text field and selecting a limit.

What is the best temperature limit?

Apple advises against operating your MacBook in environments where the ambient temperature surpasses 35°C. Consequently, setting the Heat Protection trigger at 35°C is advisable. Opting for a trigger temperature below 35°C might enhance protection. However, this could be impractical or lead to charging issues depending on your surrounding climate, your use of your MacBook, and your specific model.

Disabled during Calibration Mode

To streamline the calibration process, we have chosen to disable Heat Protection during this mode. This adjustment helps avoid unnecessary delays, and given that the calibration occurs only biweekly, any negative effects are minimal. Additionally, theoretically, an uninterrupted calibration yields slightly better results.

Understanding Hysteresis

We’ve introduced a specific hysteresis mechanism to minimize frequent toggling between charging states and somewhat reduce prolonged charging durations. Once your battery’s temperature reaches the predefined threshold in Heat Protection, charging halts and a five-minute countdown begins. After this interval, one of two scenarios will unfold: If the temperature remains over the limit, charging will continue to be on hold, and another five-minute countdown will initiate. Conversely, if the temperature has dropped below the threshold, charging will resume for at least five minutes, even if the temperature climbs above the limit during this period. Should the temperature still exceed the threshold after these five minutes, charging will pause again; if not, the charging process will proceed for at least another five minutes.

Example

Your MacBook is currently charging with the battery level at 45% and set to stop at 80%. With Heat Protection enabled and its limit set to 35°C, the feature is on standby. The combination of intense tasks and charging is causing your battery temperature to climb, now at 32°C. Should this temperature surpass 35°C, AlDente will instantly pause charging, allowing the battery to cool depending on your MacBook’s workload and other variables. Charging will resume once the temperature dips below 35°C and five minutes have passed since the limit was reached, continuing until it hits the 80% limit or the temperature rises above 35°C once more.