With the arrival of macOS 10.15.5 Apple released a new feature called ‘battery health management’. This has raised many questions about how it works and what it provides the user. In this article we tell you how it works and how you can activate or deactivate it at your whim.
Is a MacBook’s battery degrading?
We have talked long and hard about the iPhone battery and how important it is to take care of it so as not to degrade it, since its capacity will be diminished. The same is true of MacBooks, since all rechargeable batteries are consumable components that lose their effectiveness over time. But not only does the age of the battery influence, but the charging patterns and the temperature to which it is subjected are also very important in determining the life of the battery. This factor is called chemical age, and you should know how to optimize this chemical age yourself.
Among the tips that Apple gives to optimize the battery of your Mac, stand out having the latest macOS update installed or turning on the MacBook and having it plugged in to charge other devices. It is very common to charge a device such as the iPhone itself on the MacBook while it is turned off. This common practice can be harmful to the computer battery, and whenever this is done, it must be done with the computer plugged into the power supply to avoid discharging its battery.
But it is clear that there are some factors that can escape your understanding such as loading patterns or temperature. This is why Apple has created a management system that will help optimize the battery.
What is the battery status management for?
The battery status management feature came with macOS 10.15.5 and is designed to be able to improve battery life. It plays a crucial role in reducing the rate of chemical aging that batteries have.
Operation is really straightforward as it will simply monitor the temperature history and battery charge patterns. With all this data, the system will be able to regulate the amount of energy that enters the MacBook, reducing the maximum load when this function is active and when necessary. In this way, the battery will be charged to the optimum levels that guarantee a reduction in the deterioration of the battery.
We have always heard that having a battery that is always 100% charged is not always recommended. This is why we have an intelligent system on iPhones that stops charging at 80% and does not reach 100% until minutes before using it.
Applying these capacity limits reduces the time MacBook runs on a single battery charge . This means that if the battery lasts 5 hours as normal, it could last 4 hours when it does not reach 100% of its capacity. But we can always have control over this functionality by deactivating it to have the maximum autonomy possible before reloading it. Although if you want your battery to be in good condition for much longer, it is important to have this function always activated.
In addition, Apple reports that when the maximum battery charge is limited, the system can indicate that it requires maintenance . This does not necessarily have to be the case, since although the battery status menu reports this anomaly, it is mainly based on the fact that the maximum charge levels are not reached.
Compatible macbook
This function is obviously only available on those Macs that have an integrated battery, that is, the MacBook. In addition, the condition that it includes the Thunderbolt 3 connection is added, so it is limited to the 2016 MacBook Pro and 2018 MacBook Air or higher.
Enable and disable battery status management
By default, this function is activated on all those MacBooks that have macOS 10.15.5 or higher installed and are compatible with this new functionality. But we can always deactivate it or activate it at our whim following the following steps:
- Go to System Preferences.
- Enter ‘Economizer’.
- Click in the bottom right corner on ‘Battery Health’.
- Check or uncheck the ‘Battery health management’ box.
If you want to deactivate this function, a warning window will appear, clearly informing you that the durability of the battery will be affected. If you have it active, even if you have less autonomy and do not last as long on a single charge, the durability of the battery will increase.
It is interesting that the user is always given options to choose what he wants to prioritize: autonomy or battery health. Each one, depending on personal needs or specific situations, may choose one option or the other.