Several users are reporting an alarming drop in their MacBooks’ battery levels, and it appears to be related to a Bluetooth issue in macOS 12.2.
The battery level of affected MacBook devices drops rapidly after a few hours in sleep mode. One user, in fact, says he saw his battery go from 100 all the way down to 0% during one night of sleep mode, MacRumors reports.
Whoa macOS 12.2 21D49 (the current version) is behaving like Windows! Battery went from full to 0% while on sleep mode overnight. Any fix, @AppleSupport? pic.twitter.com/w1kdJXyU7r
— fishjourner (@fishjourner)
January 29, 2022
The one factor all the affected machines have in common is they have macOS 12.2 installed.
macOS 12.2 was released last week, and includes a completely updated Music app among other changes. But with software updates it’s often a case of two steps forward, one step back: changes bring new problems, which only come to light when a large number of users try out the update.
The problem reportedly lies in the fact that Bluetooth accessories can wake up the Mac even when it’s in sleep mode, something that Terminal calls “DarkWake from Deep Idle”. The problem is said to affect both Intel-based and M1-based Macs, and seems reasonably widespread: users have complained of the issue on Reddit, Twitter and MacRumors’ forums.
Until the problem gets a proper solution, users have jointly managed to troubleshoot a (somewhat drastic) workaround for the issue: either turn off Bluetooth altogether, or turn off all connected Bluetooth accessories. Obviously neither solution is optimal, so we await Apple’s response with interest.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation (using DeepL) and additional reporting by David Price.
