How to Turn Off Battery Health Management in macOS Catalina 10.15.5

[MacRumors]

Apple in the second macOS Catalina 10.15.5 beta added a new Battery Health Management feature for Macs, which is designed to prolong the battery life and battery health of modern Mac notebooks (aka those with Thunderbolt 3 ports) by reducing the rate of chemical aging.

Battery Health Management is an intelligent feature that analyzes the battery status of a Mac notebook and its charging pattern, and based on this information, it may preserve battery health by not charging a MacBook to full capacity.

Charging a MacBook to 100 percent and then letting it sit plugged in without draining the battery through use can lead to reduced battery life, which is what Apple is aiming to avoid. Macs that are often used plugged in and with the battery full may have the Battery Management feature kick in to stop charging short of a full charge.

Battery Health Management is entirely opt-in and can be disabled for those who do not want to use the feature. Protecting battery health will be useful for most Mac users, but there may be some situations where Battery Health Management is not ideal, such as if you're about to leave the house and need maximum battery life, so it's worth knowing how to turn it off and on.

All Battery Health Management controls can be found in the Energy Saver section of System Preferences, as outlined below.

1. Open the System Preferences app.
2. Choose the Energy Saver section, which is denoted by a light bulb.
3. Select the Battery Health section.
4. Click the box next to Battery Health Management to deselect it.
5. Click Turn Off to confirm.

When upgrading to macOS Catalina 10.15.5, Battery Health Management will be enabled by default and will need to be manually turned off by those who don't want to use it.

macOS Catalina 10.15.5 is limited to developers at the current time, but will see a public release in the not too distant feature, bringing Battery Health Management to all users with a 2016 or later MacBook Pro and 2018 or later MacBook Air.

Article Link: How to Turn Off Battery Health Management in macOS Catalina 10.15.5

 

[Klae17]

I leave my MBP plugged into my workstation 99% of the time, is it good to use this mode or turn it off?

 

[MauiPa]

More battery life? I got 5 years on my first one without it

 

[Cythth]

On my 2017 Macbook, that feature doesn't appear. I guess it's restricted to MBP's and MBA's.

 

[krusnof]

Not present on MBP 13-inch, Early 2015.

 

[farewelwilliams]

didn't OSX used to refuse charging to 100% if you plugged in the laptop at around 95%? i remember I had to unplug to let the battery drain down to 90%, then plug it in so that the battery would be charged to 100%

 

[Fusionskies]

I've been using my rMBP since 2013, it saw me through University (and everything since), and with 1279 cycles the battery is still excellent.
Wish this feature came sooner, I am debating on whether to get my battery serviced, or just hold off and upgrade in 2-3 years.

 

[krusnof]

I've been using my rMBP since 2013, it saw me through University (and everything since), and with 1279 cycles the battery is still excellent.
Wish this feature came sooner, I am debating on whether to get my battery serviced, or just hold off and upgrade in 2-3 years.

No need to do anything if it's excellent. Or just Option-click the battery in the menu bar and see what it says for the condition.

 

[Böhme417]

On my 2017 Macbook, that feature doesn't appear. I guess it's restricted to MBP's and MBA's.

Not present on MBP 13-inch, Early 2015.

As stated in the article, it's for 2016+ MBP and 2018+ MBA. So, this would mean it's only on Thunderbolt 3 laptops.

 

[krusnof]

As stated in the article, it's for 2016+ MBP and 2018+ MBA. So, this would mean it's only on Thunderbolt 3 laptops.

Totally missed that part. Thanks

 

[Fusionskies]

No need to do anything if it's excellent. Or just Option-click the battery in the menu bar and see what it says for the condition.

Condition: Normal

Crazy to think its 7 years old and still running fine.

 

[Chompineer]

didn't OSX used to refuse charging to 100% if you plugged in the laptop at around 95%? i remember I had to unplug to let the battery drain down to 90%, then plug it in so that the battery would be charged to 100%

it still does. You just don’t see it because it still says 100% above. But if you use a utility like coconut battery you’ll see it’s not 100% of the current maximum possible charge.

 

[farewelwilliams]

it still does. You just don’t see it because it still says 100% above. But if you use a utility like coconut battery you’ll see it’s not 100% of the current maximum possible charge.

ah ok. that makes sense.

 

[zorinlynx]

Why the hell are they limiting this to 2016 and newer Macs? Older Macs can benefit from this too.

 

[albeik]

I don't see this on my 2019 16" MacBook Pro ?

 

[FightTheFuture]

I don't see this on my 2019 16" MacBook Pro ?

10.15.5 BETA

 

[albeik]

10.15.5 BETA

Yes. That's what I'm running — per the article.

 

[CWallace]

Why the hell are they limiting this to 2016 and newer Macs? Older Macs can benefit from this too.

It might be managed by the T1/T2 chip?

 

[albeik]

-

 

[_torgo_]

Perhaps I'm being dense, but what would be the benefit of turning it off?

 

[nortonandreev]

I leave my MBP plugged into my workstation 99% of the time, is it good to use this mode or turn it off?

Seems like that if you mostly use it plugged in, it should be on.

 

[jhill-evans]

Perhaps I'm being dense, but what would be the benefit of turning it off?

I’m guess for example if you knew you’d need 100% battery for the day ahead so charge it over night but the system thinks draining the battery is required you could be caught out less % than you’d want!

 

[CWallace]

Perhaps I'm being dense, but what would be the benefit of turning it off?

If you leave your laptop plugged in for an extended period, it will not receive a 100% charge to preserve the usable charging life of the battery pack. So if you planned to use the laptop off-battery and a 100% charge could/would be desirable, disabling the software will insure the battery pack is at 100% charge.

 

[roar08]

Perhaps I'm being dense, but what would be the benefit of turning it off?

Not being trolled in the media for forcing customers to update their machines when their batteries naturally degrade. Providing the choice mitigates the perception of control and is probably more of a sociopolitical decision than a technical one.

 

[TheSkywalker77]

Not present on MBP 13-inch, Early 2015.

Sadly it's only for the newer Thunderbolt 3 port Macs (so 2016 onward). I hope they bring the feature to older ones, I don't see what's holding them back.