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Get the best battery life for your MacBook by changing these settings

MacBooks manage power well, but you can squeeze out more battery life by tweaking settings like Low Power Mode, display brightness, and background app activity.

AI News Feed · 2026-08-15 06:26

Before fiddling with settings, it's a good idea to check the baseline you're working with. Go to System Settings > Battery, and see what it says next to Battery Health. Click the "i" icon next to that to see it as a percentage of its original capacity. If it's 100 percent, then your battery's age isn't affecting its current maximum. And if it's something like 95 or 90 percent, there isn't yet much to worry about.

Apple recommends replacing a MacBook's battery if the percentage is below 80 percent. In fact, you'll see a service warning. If yours falls that low, then it's time to book a Genius Bar appointment.

To get the most out of the battery in the long run, you can optimize your device's charging. In System Settings > Battery, click the "i" next to Charging, and then choose Optimize Battery Charging. This caps your Mac's charge at 80 percent. That won't change your battery life right now, but it may extend its lifespan.

The menu bar's Battery shortcut is an ideal place to monitor things. Clicking on it will reveal not only the battery's charge, but also its current Energy Mode and any apps using a lot of power. This is also a handy place to override the 80 percent cap when you need a full charge — say, before a long flight. And if you don't see the Battery icon, go to System Settings > Menu Bar, and make sure there's a checkmark next to Battery.

If you had to pick one setting to extend your MacBook's battery life, Apple's Low Power Mode is it. Head to System Settings > Battery, and check the settings under Energy Mode. Chances are, it's already set to Automatic, which is the best option for most people. If your MacBook has an aged battery — or you just need to stretch things out for a long day — you can switch Energy Mode in the On battery section to Low Power. This leaves it in energy-saving mode even when it has a good charge. And if this setting somehow got changed to High Power on battery, then, well, there's the source of your problem.

Screen brightness is another factor. Go to System Settings > Battery > Options, and make sure Slightly dim the display on battery is turned on. You don't want the screen to stay on for too long when you're not using your MacBook. Go to System Settings > Lock Screen, and set Turn display off on battery when inactive to a relatively short interval, like five or even two minutes. That way, you don't waste power when you step away from the computer.

If your battery often falls short while streaming video, here's a setting that could help. Go to Battery > Options, and turn on Optimize video streaming while on battery. This means HDR video will play in SDR while unplugged, reducing energy use. If you're planning to stream something on the go, this could keep your device up and running a bit longer.

Your keyboard's backlight doesn't use much power. Still, this is an area to consider if you want to be stringent. Go to System Settings > Keyboard to lower its brightness. While there, you can also set Turn keyboard backlight off after inactivity to a short interval. But again, don't expect more than minimal savings, if that.

There's a long list of third-party software, much of it paid, that calls out battery-draining apps. But Apple's built-in solution is probably all you need. Open Activity Monitor (it's in Applications > Utilities) and click on the Energy tab. Energy Impact shows the apps that are sucking up the most power right now. Meanwhile, 12 hr Power gives you a longer-term picture. But again, the Battery menu bar shortcut is a quicker way to view power-hungry apps. You can also see which apps fall under Preventing Sleep in Activity Monitor to see if any are keeping your Mac awake.

While you're hunting down power-greedy apps, you can check if any shouldn't be running in the first place. Go to System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions, and look at the list under App Background Activity. First, a word of warning: Many apps have background processes that are essential to their functionality. Occasionally, their entries in this list won't match the app's name. Shutting things down indiscriminately could break apps you use. But if you want to do a deep audit of battery drain, do some digging and see if anything truly doesn't belong there.

Web browsers can be a major battery drain — particularly Chrome. If using Safari fits your workflow, consider using it as it tends to be more power-efficient. But no matter which you use, there are settings you can tweak to save power.