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How to Fix Bad macOS Monterey Beta Battery Life

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If you start running into battery life issues after installing the macOS Monterey beta, and you want to avoid a downgrade back to macOS Big Sur, there are some solutions you can try.

Excessive battery drain is a common issue on Apple’s beta software so it hasn’t been surprising to see macOS Monterey beta users complain about it. Unfortunately, it can be a bit tricky to fix and in some cases it might require a fix in a new beta release from Apple.

In this guide we’ll take you through some potential fixes for bad macOS Monterey beta battery life. The fixes we’ve listed here have worked for us, and many others, in the past and there’s a good chance one of them will work for you.

Reboot Your Mac

If your Mac’s battery starts draining rapidly for no apparent reason, the first thing you’ll want to do is reboot your computer. Rebooting can end rogue processes and it has the potential to improve your Mac’s battery life.

We recommend rebooting your Mac before taking any other steps.

Install the Latest macOS Monterey Beta

Apple will periodically release new macOS Monterey beta software. And while the company might not call out battery life fixes in a new beta’s change log, new software could alleviate your issues.

If you’re running old macOS Monterey beta software, try moving your Mac to the latest update.

Check Your Apps

Applications, particularly third-party applications, often go haywire on macOS beta software. Remember, this is pre-release software so many apps aren’t optimized for the new operating system.

There’s a good chance one or more of your applications are causing your Mac’s battery to drain rapidly so you’ll want to check them for issues.

The first thing you can do is click on the Battery symbol in the upper right hand corner of your screen. This will show you apps that are using significant energy on your Mac.

If you notice an app that shouldn’t be there, you’ll want to investigate further. You may need to update the app, uninstall it, or if you can’t find a fix and the app is essential, move off the macOS Monterey beta.

In your Mac’s System Preferences you’ll find the Battery section. In here you’ll notice a Usage History feature. Usage History gives you details about your Mac’s battery life over the last 24 hours or the last 10 days.

It’s broken into Battery Level and Screen On Usage so you’re able to see how your Mac’s battery is performing. If the readouts are way off, you might want to get off the beta.

Reset PRAM & NVRAM

This next step is a little more involved, but it can fix battery life issues.

Try resetting the PRAM and NVRAM on your MacBook. This resets some of your Mac’s settings, but does not delete your Mac’s data.

You will need to set up speaker, screen resolution and some other settings after you do this, but there’s a chance it fixes your battery life problems.

Here’s how to do this:

  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Turn on your MacBook.
  3. Press and hold the Command, Option, P, R keys at the same time right after the startup sound.
  4. Hold until the computer reboots and you hear the startup sound again.

If you have the 2016 MacBook Pro or newer you need to hold these keys as soon as you turn your MacBook Pro on and hold them for 20 seconds.

Downgrade to macOS Big Sur

If you can’t find a manual fix and/or you don’t want to wait for Apple’s next macOS Monterey beta release, you can downgrade back to older macOS software.

For more on the macOS downgrade, take a look at our walkthrough.

4 Reasons Not to Install macOS Monterey Beta & 9 Reasons You Should

Install to Help Improve Apple Improve macOS Monterey

Install to Help Improve Apple Improve macOS Monterey

Using the macOS Monterey beta will help Apple squash issues before they reach millions of Mac users in the fall. 

Your feedback about the macOS Monterey beta's performance could help the company discover a nasty bug or performance before the final version of the operating system rolls out. 

If you're sick of dealing with issues or tired of hearing friends and family complain about their macOS issues, think about giving the macOS Monterey beta a try. 

If you decide to download the macOS Monterey beta and find a bug, glitch, or performance issue on board, make sure you report it to Apple so that its engineers can get to work on a fix. 

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