Battery Maintenance (Mac Laptop)

Battery Maintenance (Mac Laptop)

This article will cover

  1. Expected battery life for your Mac laptop model
  2. Habits you can adopt to maximize battery life
  3. Important laptop settings you can use to extend battery life

You will need

  1. A Mac laptop
  2. An intention to learn about power management!

1 - Expected battery life

1.1 Know your laptop model

  1. Different laptop models have different battery life capacities, which will decline somewhat as they get older
  2. To manage your expectations for how long your laptop battery should last, make sure you know what the battery capacity of your laptop is. Click here for instructions on how to check what model of MacBook you have
  3. Here are the expected battery life capacities of recent laptops:


1.2 Use a recent version of macOS

Apple is always improving the efficiency of the operating system of its laptops (macOS).  Updating your version of macOS from time to time will help you get the best performance from your laptop battery.
  1. Click here for instructions on how to check what version of macOS you have
  2. Compare that to the current version of macOS.
  3. If your laptop doesn't have the current version, updating it may improve your battery life
IMPORTANT: Only install macOS updates - please do not install any upgrades - learn more about the difference between updates and upgrades in section 1.1 of the Updating Your Computer Software Knowledge Base Article

2 - Habits for better battery life

2.1 Charge without a case

  1. Some laptop cases cause your laptop to heat up when it’s plugged in to charge - this can affect your battery capacity
  2. If your laptop heats up while charging, remove your laptop from its case during charging

2.2 Quit it

  1. When an app is open but minimized or in the background, it will continue to use battery power
  2. Apps that are open have a dot underneath them in your dock
  3. To save battery life, quit apps you aren’t using by opening them and hitting the command (⌘) and Q keys on your keyboard at the same time

2.3 Temperature target

  1. You can use your laptop in a range of temperatures, but the ideal temperature range is room temperature (16°C to 22°C)
  2. Using your laptop at extreme temperatures (below 0°C or above 35°C) can affect your battery capacity and reduce battery life
  3. To save battery life, avoid using your laptop at extreme temperatures

2.4 Unplug from USB

  1. USB devices, such as flash drives, use battery power when plugged into your laptop
  2. To save battery life, unplug your USB devices when you aren’t using them

3 - Settings for better battery life

3.1 Banish Bluetooth

Bluetooth is great when you want to connect to a Bluetooth speaker or mouse, but it uses battery power even if you aren’t connected to any devices. To save battery life, turn Bluetooth off when you’re not using it.

3.2 Check your charge

To avoid being caught by surprise when your laptop battery is running low, it’s important to know the percentage of battery charge on your laptop. To check your charge, display the battery status and show the percentage of battery charge in the menu bar.

3.3 Dim the display

Lighting your display is one of the biggest battery drains on your laptop. The brighter your display, the more power it uses and the shorter your battery life will be. To save battery life, lower the brightness of your display. 

3.4 Keep current

New updates for your Mac often include new features to help extend and manage your battery life, like the battery health management feature, which is automatically enabled. To save battery life, keep your Mac up to date.

3.5 Turn off keyboard lights

Your keyboard backlights the keys to allow you to see them when it’s dark, which uses battery power. However, if you’re not typing, you don’t need to see the keys. To save battery life, set your laptop to turn keyboard backlighting off when you’re not using it.

Additional resources