Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
60,267
24,679


macOS Big Sur does away with the "Energy Saver" section of System Preferences, replacing it with a new "Battery" section that expands the battery reporting capabilities of the Mac.

macosbigsurbatteryusage.jpg

A new Usage History feature provides details on the Mac's battery life over the course of the last 24 hours or the last 10 days, broken down into Battery Level and Screen On Usage so you can see how your battery is performing.

There does not appear to be a detailed rundown on which apps used the battery the most as there is on iOS, but it does provide a better look at how the battery is being consumed over time.

Along with the Usage History section, there are Battery and Power Adapter sections that replace the functionality that was previously available through Energy Saver. You can choose when to turn the display off, enable or disable power nap, and more, with the settings split for battery usage and usage when connected to power. The schedule feature is also present.

macosbigsurbatterysettings.jpg

In the menu bar, clicking the battery icon now provides an estimate of remaining battery life, a feature that was removed from macOS Sierra back in 2016. At the time, Apple said that the battery life indicator in macOS Sierra was inaccurate and led to confusion about battery performance.

macosbigsurtimeremaining.jpg

The menu bar battery icon also displays apps that are using significant energy, as in macOS Catalina, and it provides an option for opening up Battery Preferences. There does not appear to be an option to display current battery life percentage right in the menu bar, however.

macOS Big Sur is limited to developers at the current time, but Apple plans to make a public beta available this July ahead of when the software sees a full release in the fall.

Article Link: macOS Big Sur Adds Battery Usage History and Brings Back Remaining Battery Estimates
 

mcfrazieriv

macrumors 65816
Jan 30, 2012
1,066
2,754
Man what the **** is going at at Apple UI?

That sidebar has so many alignment issues... it's like left justified, but with massive margin at left, but then auto width based on text and aligned right as a group.

The dragger bar is significantly different then the ones demoed with a white background and white dot. These are segmented as blue stroke lines.

The toggle bar has almost zero padding around the text.

And the battery icon looks like it's something from toon town at Disneyland?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.