88 MACWORLD SEPTEMBER 2020
WORKINGMAC WHY YOU SHOULDN’T KEEP A LAPTOP CHARGED AT 100%That leads to greater battery life. My
iPhone 11 Pro from last October shows 99
percent battery capacity, which is quite a
bit higher than previous phones I’ve
owned over that period of time. (The
included one-year warranty on Apple’s
battery-powered devices allow for a
no-charge replacement if capacity drops
below 80 percent in that first year [go.
macworld.com/bl80]. AppleCare+ extends
that replacement for as long as you’re
paying for the warranty.)
Apple brought a charging algorithm for
its laptops that sport Thunderbolt 3 to
macOS Catalina in the 10.15.5 update that
macOS 11 Big Sur will bring iOS-like battery-management and usage features to the Mac.
isn’t quite the same, but it is designed to
take the edge off a battery as it ages. In
the Energy Saver preference pane’s
Battery tab, click Battery Health. Battery
Health Management should be checked; if
not, you almost certainly want to enable it.
(Mac laptops with Thunderbolt 3 currently
include the MacBook Pro models since
2016 and MacBook Air models since 2018.)
With the preview of Big Sur, Apple
promises the same sort of charging
algorithm in iPhones and iPads for recent
Mac laptops as well. It’s a painless and
management-free way to get more life out
of your laptop battery. ■