MacBook, longer battery life with a new feature of macOS

Battery Health Management is the new feature that Apple is preparing to introduce in macOS Catalina 10.15.5 to extend the life of the batteries of its MacBooks, contrasting the natural aging linked to the charge and discharge cycle.

What is it about? Simply in some cases, the battery will not recharge to its maximum capacity, despite the 100% autonomy on the operating system. A bit like what happens on many smartphones, iPhone included, even if in totally different ways.

Practically 100% will not represent the maximum possible charge based on the battery capacity, but the maximum possible charge to maximize its duration over time. With this feature, Apple seems to be particularly concerned about those MacBooks connected to the power outlet for a long time, whose battery is practically always 100% under stress.

Battery Health Management will start and stop the ability to charge the battery to the maximum to make it ” ageless. ”

This new feature, albeit activated by default, will have a different impact depending on the MacBook: it is based on the history of charging and discharging present on each device and on the temperature of the battery to determine whether the life span can be significantly extended or less.

The technology is ” adaptive, “so if the charging habits change, the system will adapt automatically. Battery Health Management applies to MacBooks with Thunderbolt 3 support, all MacBooks Pro from 2016, and MacBook Air from 2018.

Users can disable the feature by entering the macOS energy settings. All data related to this functionality will be collected and analyzed locally, with information sent to Apple only voluntarily (opt-in) and, in any case, anonymously.

Apple has stated that Battery Health Management will not significantly impact the autonomy of the MacBook, but have not clarified in what percentage the charge could be reduced. At the moment, the new feature is present in the beta of macOS 10.5.5 available to developers.