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Many people prefer to keep their MacBook on at all times. However, this negatively affects battery life. While it’s natural for a MacBook battery to break down, you can extend its life by limiting the percentage of charge in macOS. In this article, let’s look at different methods to limit or stop charging your MacBook to 80 percent or any other level.
Related | 9 reasons to buy the new MacBook 2021 Pro
Stop or limit MacBook charging to 80 percent
Like any other laptop, MacBooks have lithium-ion batteries that chemically degrade over time. 20-80 percent is the ideal range for these batteries. Therefore, you should avoid allowing it to charge over 80 percent or to discharge to less than 20 percent.
Charging the battery to maximum capacity causes chemical wear due to high voltage and temperature. Other factors such as the battery cycle also determine battery degradation.
Why limit battery charging on a MacBook?
As mentioned, charging or discharging to the extreme burdens and degrades the li-ion battery. Thus, forcing it to charge from 80 to 100 will cause faster aging. This will reduce its capacity to retain charge, and may even cause its long-term swelling.
So, if you prefer to keep your MacBook turned on all the time for convenience, it would be a better option to limit charging to between 65 and 80 percent using the methods listed below.
Method 1 – Limit MacBook loading with AlDente
AlDente is a popular app that limits the maximum charge level on a Mac. These third-party applications can do this by changing the “Maximum Battery Charge Level” (BCLM) parameter in the SMC. Here’s how to use AlDente on Mac:
1. Download AlDente using the link below.
2. Open the dmg file and drag it Applications.
3. Click the application icon in Applications. You can also open it from the Launchpad.
4. Touch Open when it appears “Are you sure you want to open it?” a warning appears.
5. The app will now ask you to install the MacBook Charging Behavior Assist.
6. Click Alright. Then enter your MacBook password and tap Install Helper.
7. Then go to System settings > Battery > Battery on your Mac.
8. Uncheck the box here Optimized battery charging and click Turn off.
7. AlDente will now appear in the menu bar at the top. Set the percentage you want to limit billing to.
Here we set it up so that the MacBook automatically charges to 80 percent. Once it reaches the set percentage, the MacBook will say “Battery is Not Charging” and stay at that particular level.
You can explore other settings in the AlDente settings. However, most of them require the Pro version. You can turn AlDente on or off at any time by clicking the Power icon in the app settings.
Method 2 – Using BatteryStatusShow
BatteryStatusShow is a similar application to limit charging. However, it comes in a portable version, which means you don’t have to install it. All you have to do is open the downloaded app, make changes and you’re ready to go.
1. Download BatteryStatusShow using the link below.
2. Click the downloaded BatteryStatusShow.app application to open the application.
3. After the application opens, click To change in addition to the charge level.
4. Drag the slider to 80% or any level you want your MacBook to stop charging.
5. Now click on the gray Alright button.
6. Then enter the device password and tap Alright.
Method 3 – Use a charging limiter for your MacBook
Like AlDente, Charge Limiter is an open source application that stops automatic loading of MacBooks above a certain level. To use it, follow the steps below.
1. Download Load limitation on your MacBook via the link below.
2. When you open the application for the first time, GateKeeper will stop you because the application is not signed with a code. To bypass this warning, right click in the application and select Open.
3. Once opened, enter a billing limit. To limit charging to 80 percent, enter 80. Click ALRIGHT.
4. Enter the Mac password and click Alright.
The charge limiter will now limit the maximum charge level of your MacBook. If the battery is currently at a higher level than the installed one, disconnect it from the charger. When it falls below the set level, turn it on again.
Method 4 – Optimize battery charging on your MacBook
With macOS 10.15 Catalina, Apple has introduced a battery status management option on Mac laptops with Thunderbolt 3. When turned on, it would reduce charging to reduce premature battery drain.
Later, on macOS 11 Big Sur, Apple added “Optimized Battery Charging” which teaches your daily charging routine and tries to keep the battery at 80 percent by delaying charging. The same feature has been transferred to macOS 12 Monterey.
To enable optimized battery charging on your MacBook:
1. Click the Apple logo in the upper left corner. choose System settings.
2. Then click Battery and select Battery from the sidebar.
3. Then check the box for Optimized battery charging.
However, this feature can sometimes be picky. Because it learns from the way you charge your MacBook, it may not always limit charging to 80 percent, which is why you think optimized battery charging doesn’t work on your MacBook.
It would have been great if Apple had allowed users to manually set the maximum charge level. In any case, you can always do this through the above third-party applications.
macOS can’t validate these applications?
While trying to install or use the above applications, GateKeeper on macOS may show you errors such as “macOS cannot confirm that this application does not have malware” or “cannot open because the developer cannot confirm”.
To get rid of these warnings, either open the app from the right-click menu or go to System Preferences > Security and privacy > In general and click on Open it anyway. here they are fixes macOS cannot confirm that this application does not have malware.
Bonus- Check battery health and number of cycles on your MacBook
According to Apple, the MacBook battery is designed to retain up to 80 percent of its original capacity at 1,000 full charge cycles. You can check the current battery status of your MacBook and the number of cycles through the MacOS System Report.
All you have to do is click on Apple icon on the menu bar and select About this Mac. Then click on System report. choose Power and check Battery health the battery status column and how many times it is charged to full capacity.
We have made a detailed article about checking the battery health on the iPad where we explained what the number of battery cycles is and why it is important. In addition, you can use the aforementioned third-party apps to check the battery health of your MacBook and the number of cycles.
Finish
This was all about how you can limit the charging of your MacBook to 80 percent or any other level to prolong battery life. I hope the above guide will help keep your MacBook on without worrying about battery degradation or depletion. Follow us for more tips and tricks on the gadgets you use.
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Thanks for your help and for writing this post. It’s been great.