Apple MacBooks are known for their longevity. Many have had their Macs for over five years. However, the MacBook’s Battery is a component that wears and wears out over time. After all, Lithium-ion batteries contain a limited number of charge cycles. With the latest macOS 10.15.5 Catalina update, Apple has added a Battery health management function for MacBooks that comes with USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports and is designed to keep your MacBook’s battery healthier for longer.
Your MacBook’s battery goes through charge cycles. For example, you can use half of your laptop’s charge in a day and then fully charge it. If you do the same the next day, one charge cycle will count, not two. This way, a cycle can take several days to complete.
The new Battery health management feature prevents the battery from being fully charged and prevents its life from slowly but gradually decreasing. This requires macOS to learn and understand your usage and charging patterns. Read on to find out how this new feature works.
How Battery Health Management Works in macOS Catalina
All MacBook batteries have a limited number of charge cycles before their performance begins to degrade. Most MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models come with 1000 charge cycles. After that, you need to replace the battery of your MacBook, which is expensive and time consuming.
This is where Apple’s Battery health management comes into play for MacBook models (see below for supported models). The Battery health management function in macOS 10.15.5 Catalina analyzes your MacBook’s usage and charging habits. If the function predicts that the MacBook will stay on charge for an extended period of time, it automatically stops charging to 100%, reducing the battery’s charge cycle.
It is essential for those who connect their MacBook to an external monitor. This means that the MacBook has a stable and consistent power supply. Battery health management can prevent the MacBook from charging to 100% when using the power adapter and extend the life of the battery. However, for this you need to enable the Battery health management option and let macOS learn about your usage patterns and charging frequency.
Supported MacBook Models
Apple MacBook models with Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C port are compatible with Battery health management. This includes the 2016 MacBook Pro, 2018 MacBook Air and models released thereafter. When you update the MacBook to the latest macOS 10.15.5 Catalina, this feature is enabled in the System Preferences menu.
Will My MacBook Ever Charge 100%?
Certainly. That’s the beauty of Apple’s Battery health management functionality. Over time, this feature learns how often you charge and use your MacBook, and will charge your MacBook up to 100% accordingly.
The function is similar to the Optimized Battery Charge function of the iPhone released with iOS 13. iPhone learns your daily routine and estimates how long iPhone will stay on the charger. Optimized Battery Charge prevents your phone from fully charging up to 100% the moment you plug it in. Instead, the iPhone battery charges up to about 80%.
How to Enable or Disable Battery Health Management on Mac
If you don’t want macOS to automatically limit the battery charge levels on your MacBook, you should consider turning the function off in Settings. Follow the steps below.
Stage 1: Click on the Apple logo menu in the upper left corner and go to System Preferences. Alternatively, you can use Command + Space to open Spotlight Search and System Preferences To access the menu
Step 2: Go to Energy Saver and tap on Battery Health at the bottom.
Stage 3: From the dialog you will have the option to turn off the Battery health management feature.
Step 4: You will need to select ‘Close’ again to confirm your selection.
How to Find Battery Charge Cycles on a MacBook
As mentioned earlier, the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models come with 1000 charge cycles. Apple has added an option to browse the laptop battery’s charge cycle in macOS. Go through the steps below.
Stage 1: Use Command + Space to open Spotlight Search and type System information To access the menu
Step 2: In the window that opens, you can see all the information about the MacBook hardware, software and network. Click the Power option in the left column under the Hardware menu.
Stage 3: In the right pane, you can view the Cycle count under Health info in Battery info.
When the battery health management feature is enabled, it will run in the background and you will not be a witness while it is running. It keeps the cycle count from going fast and that’s the only information you can see. So how do you really know your MacBook’s battery health?
View Battery Health Information from the Menu Bar on MacBook Air and MacBook Pro
Because battery health management runs in the background, it doesn’t show any details about charge capacity, battery status, and other details. For this you need to visit the System Information menu as shown above. Wouldn’t it be easier to reach those battery details with one click? That’s why a third-party app called coconutBattery 3 is suitable for this.
CoconutBattery 3 lets you view current MacBook battery charge, full charge capacity, cycle count, macOS battery status, temperature, and more; you can do all of this with a click of the menu bar. These details are essential for those who are often on the go with their MacBook. CoconutBattery 3 is free to use. However, if you want to print a detailed view of your iOS and Mac battery health and device health reports, you can purchase the Plus version from the official site.
Intelligently Manage Your MacBook’s Battery Life
By default, Apple enables the Battery Health management option in macOS. If you travel a lot and want your MacBook to always be 100% charged, you can disable the option from the System Preferences menu.
Next: Got a new MacBook recently and want to organize a life on it? Read the post below to find the seven best Mac apps to stay organized.
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