The Best Ways to Manage Your MacBook Battery Health
Battery life is one of the biggest features of the latest MacBooks. M-series processors can potentially last a couple of days without recharging. I rarely notice that my laptop has a battery, unless I’m traveling.
But that battery life isn’t forever. Batteries wear out over time, and to some extent that’s inevitable. But there are ways to slow down that process.
According to Battery University , a site with many in-depth articles on battery performance, there are two main factors that will shorten a battery’s life over time: environmental conditions (primarily temperature) and charging cycles. “The worst thing to do is store a fully charged battery in elevated temperatures,” the site says.
It is important to be aware of temperature: for example, you should not leave your laptop in a hot car, especially if the battery is fully charged. Avoid using and storing your laptop in extreme temperatures.
But while it’s easy to remember not to subject your laptop to extreme conditions, monitoring its charge level can be tricky. The good news is that modern Macs are designed to do this automatically, and you can use third-party software to take control if that configuration doesn’t suit you.
Optimized battery charging
MacBooks running macOS Big Sur (released in 2020) and later have a feature calledOptimized Battery Charging that is turned on by default. The idea is to only fully charge the battery when you are likely to unplug the laptop; otherwise, the charge level should be maintained at around 80%. “Your Mac learns your charging pattern and aims to ensure that your Mac is fully charged when unplugged,” Apple says in its official documentation.
How this plays out will depend on your habits. I personally find that if I plug my laptop in while I work, it doesn’t fully charge until midday—that’s because I usually leave my laptop plugged in during the workday. If you typically charge your laptop at night, your MacBook will charge to 80% most of the night, but won’t be fully charged until you pick up your laptop and leave for work.
You can force your MacBook to fully charge by clicking the battery icon in the menu bar and choosing Charge to Full . You can turn this feature off in System Preferences: in the sidebar, select Battery , then click the information icon (the letter “i” in a circle) next to Battery Health . You can also turn off Optimized Battery Charging here.
However, for most users, I would recommend leaving this feature enabled. It extends battery life without affecting day-to-day use.
If you want to control time
What if you like the basic idea of Optimized Charging, but want more direct control? That’s where Battery Toolkit comes in. This free app lets you set your own rules for determining your battery’s charge level. As we mentioned, this app lets you fine-tune how your device charges.
With this app, you can choose a custom range for your battery. This means that it won’t charge until the battery level drops below a certain threshold, and won’t charge beyond that threshold. You can manually set your Mac to fully charge via the app’s menu bar.
The basic idea is to let you manually manage your Mac’s charging, so I can only recommend this option to advanced users who want to get the most out of their battery. The downside is that if you want to keep your MacBook fully charged, you’ll have to remember to do so in advance. In return, you’ll get a battery that may last longer.