Maximizing MacBook Battery Life: 10 Essential Tips and Tricks
By: RebootPoint_employee
17 July 2023
Having a long battery life on your laptop is vital because taking a wire with you and finding an electrical outlet is not something you want to do all of the time. All MacBook batteries deteriorate steadily over time, with some deteriorating faster than others. Fortunately, you can keep your MacBook battery from dying by adjusting key behaviors and settings. We’ve compiled a list of things and settings that are steadily draining your battery life and how to fix them.
- Charge cycles and battery capacity
- Use an original charger
- Close background applications
- Check the activity monitor
- Manage idle settings
- Use Safari instead of Google Chrome
- Don't let your MacBook become too hot or cold
- Lower the screen brightness
- Unplug gadgets
- Disable "Power Nap"
- Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when not in use
Charge cycles and battery capacity
The “Charge cycle” is one of the things to keep an eye out for as not all laptops have the same sort of battery, which is why you need to know what to look for if you want to obtain the best battery life. The number of times a device can be fully charged and then recharged before the battery’s performance deteriorates is known as the charge cycle, and the greater the number, the longer your battery will generally last before degrading.
The milliampere-hour (mAh) is a unit of measurement for the amount of electrical charge that a battery can store. It assesses the battery’s ability to supply a certain quantity of electricity over a specified period. Essentially, mAh specifies how long a battery can maintain a specific amount of current flow before needing to be recharged.
Use an original charger
Because batteries are sensitive, it’s important to use a good charger that matches your MacBook’s specs for power, voltage, and current. You can be sure you’re charging your laptop with the right amount of electricity by using an authentic Apple charger. A cheap or non-original charger might not have the same power output, which could harm the battery. Since cheap chargers lack the same security features as an original charger, they might also be dangerous.
Close background applications
Did you know that tapping the X in the top right corner of an app does not close it down and that the app may still be operating and using power in the background? After closing an app, look down on the right side of the taskbar for the app you just closed with a dot under it, indicating that it is still running. You can close down the app completely by following these methods. You can stop a process or program via the Activity Monitor, which fully stops the application’s activity. There is also a method for shutting down an app from the taskbar by right-clicking it and selecting “Force Quit.”
Check the activity monitor
It’s difficult to keep track of which application or software consumes the most power, but you can simply find out by checking the Activity Monitor. The Activity Monitor displays all currently operating activities and their resource use, such as CPU, memory, disk utilization, and network activities. By monitoring these indicators, you may detect programs or processes that are consuming too many resources, causing slow performance, or wasting your battery life. This information assists you in identifying the perpetrators and taking relevant changes to optimize system performance and battery use.
On your Mac, there are several methods to access the Activity Monitor. One method is to utilize the Spotlight search tool, which can be accessed by hitting Command + Spacebar and typing “Activity Monitor” into the search bar. The Activity Monitor may also be found by clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner of the menu bar and typing “Activity Monitor” into the search field.
Manage idle settings
Leaving your Macbook inactive with the display turned on for lengthy periods might result in excessive battery consumption. You may successfully preserve battery life by applying the function that turns off the display after a set period of inactivity.
To change the display timeout settings, go to the upper left corner of the screen and select “System Preferences” from the dropdown menu. To access the Lock Screen settings, in the System Preferences window, choose the “Security & Privacy” button.
Use Safari instead of Google Chrome
Chrome is a well-known and frequently used search browser due to its quick speeds and other beneficial features, but did you know that switching your primary search browser to Safari will benefit your Macbook battery? Chrome consumes more battery power than Safari since it uses more RAM memory. If you have a lot of tabs open, we recommend switching to Safari because it will make your browsing faster while preserving battery life.
Don’t let your MacBook become too hot or cold
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are used in the majority of modern electronic gadgets, including laptop computers such as the MacBook. These batteries store and release energy through electrochemical processes. Temperature is an important factor in these processes, influencing battery performance, capacity, and total longevity.
Extremely cold conditions can have a severe influence on the functioning of a laptop and its battery. Cold temperatures slow down the chemical processes inside the battery, decreasing its capacity to provide energy effectively. As a result, the battery’s capacity may suffer significantly, and it may struggle to sufficiently power the gadget.
Excessive heat exposure to the laptop and battery might also be harmful. High temperatures speed up the electrochemical processes inside the battery, causing it to deteriorate more quickly. As a result, the battery capacity may be lowered, internal resistance may rise, and the overall lifespan may be shortened.
Lower the screen brightness
If you use your display regularly, it’s not a good idea to keep it on full brightness all the time because it quickly depletes the battery. The recommended brightness-to-readability ratio for a laptop is under 50% because medium-low brightness is better for your eyes and conserves battery life.
Unplug gadgets
Make sure there are no accessories plugged into your laptop, including a mouse, corded earphones, or any other devices, if you wish to extend battery life. This is due to the fact that in order to function, these devices draw power from the laptop, which is not ideal if you want to preserve battery life.
Even when not in use, some accessories continue to use energy. For example, a corded mouse might contain an optical sensor that is always on and uses power even when it is not being moved. By unplugging such gadgets, you stop wasting energy and make sure that the laptop battery is only used for necessary operations, extending the battery’s life.
Disable “Power Nap”
Power Nap is a function that allows specific tasks and processes to operate in the background even when the lid is closed. While Power Nap is useful for getting alerts, refreshing email, and doing system maintenance, it can have an effect on battery health.
When Power Nap is activated, your MacBook may still check for new emails, sync calendars, update software, or do Time Machine backups. While these operations are meant to be power-efficient, they can nevertheless take some battery power over time, particularly if your MacBook is left in this configuration for a lengthy amount of time.
Follow these instructions to stop Power Nap and prevent background activity when your MacBook’s lid is closed:
Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when not in use
Disabling Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections on your MacBook can be an excellent method for extending battery life. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections need constant power to communicate with other devices or networks. When these functions are activated, they use energy even when you are not actively utilizing them. By turning off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, you decrease the power drain that these wireless connections cause, resulting in more efficient battery utilization.