Battery management apps for MacBook Pro.

[goldmac2006]

Hey everyone! I’m so glad to hear from my Mac users about their thoughts on battery apps.

This summer, I’m on the hunt for a MacBook Pro M4 or a MacBook Air M4. I’ve been chatting with a few of you Mac users here and an ex Apple employee who’s a friend from school. My friend’s brother owns a m4 pro MacBook Pro 14-inch with 36GB RAM and a 2TB SSD. We talked about battery health and how to keep it in top shape.

The ex Apple employee’s brother said he uses the Al Dente app on his MacBook Pro. It’s free with an in-app purchase to check more technical battery stats. He said it’s like setting charge limits and measuring beyond the optimized battery charging built into macOS. It’s similar to the Battery settings you can do on new iPhone models and iPad Pro.

Here’s a link to the Al Dente app overview: https://apphousekitchen.com/aldente-overview/

Any of you have any recommendations for battery apps from the Mac App Store or the internet? Or do you know of any better alternatives to this? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Have a great weekend, everyone! Cheers!

 

[someoneoutthere]

I just use my Apple products… I don’t worry about leaving them plugged in for an extended period of time either. They are plugged into the charger whenever and wherever possible; USB-C port of the couch, AC port hidden in the sofa, portable battery when I travel, riding public transportation, driving in the car, flying overseas, you name it. The only thing I try not to do is discharging them below the 20% level and the reasoning behind that has been explained in this forum many times.
You will find many discussions and app recommendations in this forum from the user base that babies their batteries. To me it is a serviceable/replaceable component.
Let’s say you use an app and get X time out of your OEM battery and people out there get X minus Y time not using an app and the difference is not too significant. Is it worth the obsession? Just use it. MacBooks you mentioned will at least have 18 hours of battery life. Let’s say after two years you are now getting 15 hours. Are you ever away from a power outlet for 15 hours in the world we live in?

 

[goldmac2006]

I just use my Apple products… I don’t worry about leaving them plugged in for an extended period of time either. They are plugged into the charger whenever and wherever possible; USB-C port of the couch, AC port hidden in the sofa, portable battery when I travel, riding public transportation, driving in the car, flying overseas, you name it. The only thing I try not to do is discharging them below the 20% level and the reasoning behind that has been explained in this forum many times.
You will find many discussions and app recommendations in this forum from the user base that babies their batteries. To me it is a serviceable/replaceable component.
Let’s say you use an app and get X time out of your OEM battery and people out there get X minus Y time not using an app and the difference is not too significant. Is it worth the obsession? Just use it. MacBooks you mentioned will at least have 18 hours of battery life. Let’s say after two years you are now getting 15 hours. Are you ever away from a power outlet for 15 hours in the world we live in?

I’m also contemplating this. In my conversations with the brother of an ex-Apple employee, he mentioned that Apple’s built-in power management features in Macs are sometimes not as optimized as they should be, particularly in terms of battery charging.

I’m similar in my iPhone usage. I charge my iPhone whenever the battery drops below 30-45%, depending on the availability of power banks or charging sources like MagSafe or outlets. More info in my iOS 26 battery thread.

However, since I’m on summer break, I usually charge my only personal laptop, my Chromebook, in specific situations:

- When the battery drops below 50%.
- When school is in session, I plug it in the night before school days. Then, when it’s time to go to sleep for school the next day, I put my laptop in my backpack and pack the charger in my peripherals bag.
- When not in use for long periods, such as during the day or not during meetings, I leave it on the wooden table in my room with the lid closed.

I work remotely during the summer.

 

[okkibs]

You can use the free aldente version to limit the charge to anything you want such as 80%. I just use my devices and I don't look at battery stats or care to play nice with my charging habits. And I certainly don't spend money on apps, I'd rather save that money and replace the battery once if at all. You might find that your M4 Macbook will still retain a couple hours of battery life even 5 years down the line. Haven't had to replace a battery since switching away from Intel. Battery life is an non-issue on M4 Macbooks and I certainly didn't spend a couple grand on a Mac so I can micromanage and worry about the battery.

 

[goldmac2006]

You can use the free aldente version to limit the charge to anything you want such as 80%. I just use my devices and I don't look at battery stats or care to play nice with my charging habits. And I certainly don't spend money on apps, I'd rather save that money and replace the battery once if at all. You might find that your M4 Macbook will still retain a couple hours of battery life even 5 years down the line. Haven't had to replace a battery since switching away from Intel. Battery life is a non-issue on M4 Macbooks and I certainly didn't spend a couple grand on a Mac so I can micromanage and worry about the battery.

Y’all think power management is more manageable in m series macs? Cos if you read my iOS 26 beta thread you can see that I discussed a lot about the rapid decrease of battery health I had back in May from 100 to 95% max capacity and now as we approach July it’s 92% health. I do a mix of different charging methods but I do wired charging mostly.