Macbook pro battery won't charge while in Zwift

Bugs and Support
1

Hi, lately I’ve noticed that my MBP battery won’t charge when plugged in while running Zwift (I have different adapters and outlets and have zeroed in on this being the obvious issue). It stops charging as soon as I hit the Paired devices page on Zwift. Instead of a lightning bolt the battery has a plug icon in it and the message says adapter plugged in but battery not charging. As soon as I exit Zwift the battery starts to charge again. It’s a 2019 MBP running MacOS Big Sur v.11.2.1. I’ve never had this issue before, it just started about a month ago Anyone else experience this and can offer a solution? Thank you.

2

Hey Sandy, I am going to assume that when you pair with Zwift the BT communication and graphics consume more power than it takes to charge the battery at the same time. Remember Zwift runs most if not all of the game off of your device and not a central server so it is pretty power intensive.
As a test you might want to try running RGT. It’s free with limited routes but you load the control app on your phone and the screen app on your mac. See if the Mac will charge while running the RGT app.

3

Bob, you are correct and when searching Google I see this is a common issue with Macs under heavy load. Here is one such reply to the same question.

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Thanks 4 replying. What is RGT?

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Thanks for replying. The only issue I have is this is new behavior. There is a new MacOS update which I think MAY have fixed the issue. Something about the Mac not working with unsupported USB-C Hubs…

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A competitor to Zwift.

7

if the charge of work is sucking to much power you mac is logically giving all the power to your app demand and stop charging the battery. same thing with an iPad, you start playing a 3D game at 10% battery iPad plugged. after your game your battery is at 10%…

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I almost wouldn’t say they are competitors as they are so different but yes they are both virtual platforms for riding and racing.

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Thank you for your comments. So yes, best I can tell the battery has to be at 100% for it to continue charging while in Zwift.

10

Depends on the wattage of your charger as well. I have run into this in (non-Zwift) CPU-intensive use with a 30 W USB-C charger but not with a 61 W one.

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It’s most likely related to the power board having too many connected items and not being able to supply enough energy to your mac, you could try powering your mac with it’s own individual outlet and see if that works. if that doesn’t work you might need a new power adapter that can supply more energy.

12

Hi - I had this issue and found what i think is a fix - my macbook pro (2015) would chew up all the battery and not recharge while plugged in while using Zwift App. I did two things - 1: An SMC (system management controller) reset - the SMC manages hardware functions like cooling fans, status lights, system performance, and power supply. Search for : AVAST How to Reset PRAM and SMC on Your Mac to see the steps 2: I installed a CPU limiter -went for a free one AppPolice - and limited the CPU usage by the Zwift App. Not sure if this worked (my guess it was the SMC reset) but given I can now run Zwift for 4hrs and still have 100% power I am not changing.

13

Ha. That’s great to know. I literally traded in my MacBook for a new one just because of this issue. Fortunately, it did not continue with the new Mac.

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