When Apple’s latest MacBook Pro iteration was reported to be suffering from incredibly below-average battery performance, we all thought Apple would try and fix it. A software update, maybe… and so they did. A kind of. In the latest version of macOS Sierra (version 10.12.2), Apple has definitely found a “new” way to deal with this problem. They removed the “Time Remaining” option from the battery menu bar icon. Problem. Solved. So, if you are wondering how you can check the remaining battery time on macOS Sierra 10.12.
note: Battery estimates made by apps or even Activity Monitor are not always accurate. So, your mileage may vary.
1. Using Activity Monitor
Macs come with this great tool called “Activity Monitor”. Basically, it’s where you can check disk, memory, energy and network usage by your MacBook or iMac. Apparently, you can still access the “Energy” menu in Activity Monitor to find the remaining battery time on your Mac. Here’s how you can do it:
- Launch Activity Monitor Using Spotlight or “Applications -> Utility -> Activity Monitor”. After doing this,Energy” tab.
- Here, below, you will be able to see remaining battery time for your Mac.
Isn’t it easy?
2.Using a Third-Party Application
If you don’t want to open Activity Monitor every time you want to check how long your Mac battery will last, you can choose a third-party app like below. iStat Menus 5 (download free trial, licenses start at $18.
iStat Menus; It is a very useful application that can help you monitor various details about your Mac, including CPU temperature, free memory, SSD space and much more. It can also be used to keep track of various battery-related details on your Mac, including cycle count, battery health, and – that’s what we’re interested in – remaining battery time.
After downloading iStat Menus, you can: Just enable Battery and Power settingsand will be displayed in the menu bar.
by clicking on menu bar item The for iStat Menus will tell you details about the battery, including the remaining battery time, before you need to plug your Mac into AC power.
note: There is another app called “CoconutBattery” that can tell you the estimated battery time remaining on your Mac. However, the app crashed on my MacBook Air running macOS 10.12. Unlike iStat Menus, CoconutBattery is completely free. you can check here.
3. Check Remaining Battery Time Using Terminal
You can also use Terminal to check the remaining battery time on your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. To do this, simply follow the steps below:
- Start terminal and type “pmset -g hit“.
- In the output, you will be able to see the amount of time your Mac can stay on battery power.
SEE ALSO: How to Customize the Touch Bar on the New MacBook Pro 2016
Track the Battery Time Remaining on Your MacBook
You can use these methods to estimate the remaining battery time on your Mac. Personally, I don’t mind using Activity Monitor to check the remaining battery life on my Mac, but it’s always handy to have a menu bar icon that gives you the information you need.
So what do you think about Apple’s move to remove the remaining battery time value from the menu bar? Also, if you know of other ways to track battery time remaining on a Mac, feel free to share them with us in the comments section below.
