Change Battery settings on a Mac laptop

Use Battery settings to set options that control your Mac laptop’s battery and energy use. How you set these options can help you optimise the lifespan of your battery.

ENERGY STAR logo

As an ENERGY STAR® partner, Apple has determined that standard configurations of your Mac meet the ENERGY STAR® guidelines for energy efficiency.

For more information about ENERGY STAR, see the ENERGY STAR website.

Note: Some of the options may not be available, depending on your Mac.

To open these settings, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click Battery in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)

Open Battery settings for me

Option

Description

Battery

See the current battery level and any battery alerts at the top.

Low Power Mode

Reduce energy usage to increase battery life.

Energy Mode

Choose which energy mode you want your Mac to use while on battery power or plugged into a power adapter.

  • Low Power: Reduce energy usage to increase battery life.

  • Automatic: Have your Mac automatically use the best performance level.

  • High Power: Increase energy usage to improve performance during sustained workloads. See the Apple Support article Use High Power Mode on your 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Battery Health

See if your battery’s condition is normal or if service is recommended. See Check the condition of your Mac laptop’s battery.

Click the Info button next to the condition to view or turn on the following (depending on your Mac model):

  • Battery Condition: See if your battery’s condition is normal or if service is recommended.

  • Maximum Capacity: See the measure of your battery’s capacity relative to when it was new.

  • Manage battery longevity: Reduce peak capacity to optimise the battery’s lifespan. See the Apple Support article About battery health management in Mac laptops.

Charging

Click the Info button to turn on the following:

  • Charge Limit: Preserve the lifespan of your battery by limiting how much your battery charges to. To charge the battery to full, click the Battery status menu in the menu bar, then click Charge to Full Now.

  • Optimised Battery Charging: To reduce battery ageing, have your Mac learn your daily charging routine. Then your Mac delays charging past 80% when it predicts that you’ll be plugged in for an extended period of time and aims to fully charge the battery before you unplug.

Last 24 Hours

View usage history from the last 24 hours:

  • Battery Level: Shows the average charge level of your battery for each 15-minute period. Shaded areas indicate when your computer was charging.

  • Screen On Usage: Shows how long your screen was turned on each hour or each day.

Last 10 Days

View usage history for the last 10 days:

  • Energy Usage: Shows how much energy your computer used each day.

  • Screen On Usage: Shows how long your screen was turned on each hour or each day.

Additional Options

Option

Description

Slightly dim the display on battery

Conserve energy by dimming the display when your Mac is not plugged in.

Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off

Prevent your Mac from sleeping when it’s plugged in and its display is off.

Put hard disks to sleep when possible

Put the hard drive to sleep whenever the computer is inactive.

Enable Power Nap

Have your Mac check for email, calendar and other iCloud updates while sleeping. Choose whether it checks always, only on battery power or never.

Wake for network access

Even in sleep mode, wake your Mac to provide access to shared resources, such as shared printers or Music playlists. Choose whether to wake it always, when plugged into a power adapter or never.

Automatic graphics switching

To optimise the lifespan of your battery, have your Mac automatically choose the best graphics mode based on your usage.

Optimise video streaming while on battery

While on battery power, play high-dynamic-range (HDR) video in standard dynamic range (SDR), which requires less energy. See the Apple Support article Play HDR video on Mac.

If you want to turn your display off after a period of inactivity, see Change Lock Screen settings.

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