From time to time, I lurk on the r/macbookpro reddit group. Chief among the main worries of new MacBook Pro owners are battery life and battery cycles. These folks seem extraordinarily concerned about the battery cycle count, to the point of anxiety.
To them, I would say:
Batteries are a consumable item – they will degrade over time. Don’t worry about battery cycles or charging. Just relax and use your MacBook Pro as you normally would.
If you want to optimize your battery’s health, macOS Tahoe provides a new option to set your battery’s charge limit. I have mine set to charge up to 95% of the full charge limit. But, truthfully, I never even remotely cared about charge limit before.
After five years of extensive use, my M1 Pro MacBook Pro has 81% charging capacity. The battery’s cycle count is 115, and its condition is reported as normal.
While my MacBook Pro remains plugged in 80% of the time, I’m not afraid to run the MBP on battery juice when I’m out and about. It’s not uncommon for me to run my Mac’s battery completely down to the point where I have to plug it in. When it happens, I don’t worry about it. (The battery still lasts about 4 to 5 hours on one charge. Pretty impressive for a five year old laptop, all things considered.)
Bottom line: Don’t worry about your Mac’s battery cycle count. Just use it like you normally would.
It’s fine.
-Krishna