You certainly can run the MBP with the charger connected even with the battery disconnected. I do not recommend that because the OSX will throttle the CPU and performance will be degraded.

Wohl wrote:

2015 Mac Laptop

A Mac is never going to be as good for gaming as a dedicated Windows PC, especially for the price. Even a Mac Pro can’t compete with a gaming-focused rig that costs a quarter of the Mac Pro’s $2999 price tag. If you’re serious about having the best gaming experience, your Mac isn’t going to cut it.

I ask because once I load Steam and install a game, I can only play for about 45 minutes, while plugged in with the original 85W adapter, before the battery is at 5%.

The MacBook Pro with Retina is suitable for mainstream gaming, running World of Warcraft at 1920 x 1200 at a smooth 66 frames per second and a still-playable 37 fps with the graphics kicked to Ultra. The 20 Mac games you can't miss from 2015. Give these a look, grab whatever strikes your interest, and stay tuned for more Mac gaming coverage in 2016. See larger image.

Is this normal behavior for this laptop?

What ever you are running must be a serious resource hog. In rare situations, when the charger is connected but additional electrical resources are required, the battery is tapped to make up the difference. This may be what is happening.

Try a SMC reset and see if there is a difference:

Macs have never had a good reputation as game machines.

Ciao.

Mac For Gaming 2015 2019

Apr 6, 2016 10:40 AM