In this episode, Tyler demonstrates how to limit the maximum charge of your Mac's battery to 80, 85, 90, or 95%, useful for prolonging long-term battery health.
To do this, go to System Settings > Battery, click the "Show Detail" button to the right of "Charging," adjust the slider to your desired charge limit, and click Done. Note that the available increments are relative to the slider rather than the battery percentage, meaning setting it to 0% will limit the maximum charge to 80%, 25% will limit it to 85, 50% will limit it to 90, 75% will limit it to 95, and 100% will allow the battery to charge to its full capacity. The set limit is displayed to the right of the slider and is updated as the slider is adjusted.
Transcript
Disclaimer: This transcript was generated by AI Note Taker – VoicePen, an AI-powered transcription app. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.
Tyler: Hey Apple visitors, Tyler here, with a quick tip for how to limit the maximum charge of your Mac's battery. Starting with macOS 26.4, you can configure your Mac to only charge the battery to 80, 85, 90, 95, or 100%. To prolong your Mac's long-term battery capacity, it's best to keep it around 80%. e setting, you'd go into System Settings, Battery, hit the Show Detail button next to Charging, and adjust the slider. And I'm going to demonstrate that now on my Mac.
VoiceOver: Menu bar Apple. Apple. Menu. About this Mac. System Settings. Alexis. T7. Volume. System. Window. B, A for Battery. Battery. Jump to the scroll area. Battery. Charging on all. Interact. In battery. VL Write. To the left.
Tyler: Get to the top of the dialog.
VoiceOver: Charge limit. 100%. Charge limit. Slider.
Tyler: Okay, so here we are. Charge limit. 100%. Meaning there is no limit configured, and the battery will charge to 100%, unless Optimized Battery Charging is on, which limits it automatically based on usage patterns. But if I press down arrow.
VoiceOver: 75%. 75%.
Tyler: And this is a little confusing, because when it says 75%, it's 75% of the slider, meaning it's 95% charge limit. So you can see by pressing VL Write, your Mac will
VoiceOver: charge to 95% limit. Charge to 95%.
Tyler: So if I go back to the slider.
VoiceOver: 75%.
Tyler: Go down. 50%.
VoiceOver: 50%.
Tyler: It'll charge 90%.
VoiceOver: 25%. 25%. 85%. 0%. 80%.
Tyler: So if you want to know what the limit is set to with the slider, just press VL Write. And of course, if you want to change, go back up, just go
VoiceOver: 25%. 25%. 50%. 50%. 75%. 75%. 100 in dialog cancel button. Keeping your charge limit below 100% helps preserve your battery lifespan over time.
Tyler: Okay, so you have a dialog warning here to confirm you're really sure you want to set it to 100%. And you can choose. Set limit to 100%. And allow until tomorrow, which may be useful if you normally want it at a certain, a lower limit but need to charge your battery fully for extended, you know, planned extended use on battery power, in which case you can have the limit set until tomorrow and then have it automatically revert to your previously set limit, or you can just have it set limit to 100%, which is what I'm going to do. 100% charge limit slider. And, because I'd rather have it optimize automatically with the optimize charging toggle, which is also in this dialog. If I VL Write.
VoiceOver: Your Mac optimized battery charging. Optimized battery charging on switch. To reduce battery aging, your Mac learns from your daily charging routine so it can wait to finish charging past 80% until you need to use it on battery.
Tyler: Okay. So, if the limit is set to 100%, optimized charging will set limits automatically, assuming it's turned on. Otherwise, your user set limit will override the automatic optimizations. So, I'm going to go write.
VoiceOver: Learn more button. Done button. Done.
Tyler: Hit it.
VoiceOver: Show detail button.
Tyler: And here I am back in the battery settings window. So, that's a quick tip for how to limit the maximum charge of your Mac's battery. There is a trade-off here in that you are trading short-term battery life for long-term battery health, but you do have some flexibility. So, you can have it at 80%, which is generally considered best for prolonging battery health. Or, you can have it, say, 85, 90, 95, or 100% for increased short-term battery life. I hope you found this helpful. Peace.