The recently-released macOS Catalina 10.15.5 update has a new battery management feature, which should mean you don’t have to swap out your Mac’s juice pack quite as often.
According to a post from Apple regarding the new feature, it’s designed to “reduce the rate at which your battery ages chemically.”
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The tool will analyse your usage patterns and decrease the maximum charge on the battery accordingly. By restricting that upper charge limit, the tool will reduce the amount of ‘wear’ that your battery is subjected to.
Not everyone will welcome the idea of an artificially shortened battery life, so Apple has made sure to include an ‘off’ button on the new feature. Disabling the feature means you can charge up the battery to its full whack, which might come in handy if you’re planning a long journey.
To access the new setting, you’ll first need to track down the latest update. If this hasn’t already popped up on your MacBook automatically, simply launch System Preferences and then click on Software Update. This should then prompt the download to start – it took 30 minutes to update on our machines, so make sure your session doesn’t clash with any work calls.
Once you’re up to date with the latest download, you can find the Battery Health Management option by heading to System Preferences > Energy Saver > Battery Health.
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In addition to the battery health features, Apple has also crammed in a FaceTime update, which allows you to turn off the annoying feature that expands the current-speakers video on screen.
The update also includes some refinement to the calibration on the Pro Display XDR, which will let you adjust the white point and luminance to match your own preferences.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
