# How to limit MacBook charging to 80% > On macOS Tahoe 26.4 or later, set System Settings › Battery › Charging › Charge Limit to 80%. On older macOS, use a charge limiter app. URL: https://chargeberry.app/guides/limit-macbook-charging-to-80/ Author: Ayesha Gagan (https://chargeberry.app/about/) Published: 2026-11-06 · Updated: 2026-11-06 Guide # How to limit MacBook charging to 80% On macOS Tahoe 26.4 or later, set System Settings › Battery › Charging › Charge Limit to 80%. On older macOS, use a charge limiter app. A battery that sits at 100% all day ages faster than one held around 80%, which is the life of most MacBooks that live on a desk. There are three ways to stop that, and which one fits depends on your macOS version and how much control you want. ## The three ways, side by side Ways to limit a MacBook’s charging to 80%, November 6, 2026 | Feature | macOS | Chargeberry | | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Charge Limit in System Settings | An app with a background helper | | macOS | 26.4 Tahoe or later | 14 Sonoma or later | | Limits | 80–100% | 50–100% (80–100% on macOS 27) | | Price | Free | $5.99 once | | Heat pausing, Full by, drain, health history | No | Yes | Optimized Battery Charging (macOS 11 and later) is a third option, but it decides by itself when to hold at 80%, so it isn’t a fixed limit. ## Method 1: macOS’s Charge Limit (macOS 26.4 and later) If your Mac has Apple silicon and runs macOS Tahoe 26.4 or later, a fixed limit is built in, and it’s free. 1. ### Open Battery settings Choose Apple menu › System Settings, then click Battery in the sidebar. 2. ### Open the charging options Click the ⓘ (info) button next to Charging. 3. ### Choose 80% Set Charge Limit to 80%. Your Mac charges to within a few percent of it, then shows “Charged to 80% Limit” in the battery menu. 4. ### Need a full charge once? Click the battery icon in the menu bar and choose Charge to Full Now. The limit applies again afterwards. **Also turn off Optimized Battery Charging** in the same panel if you set a fixed limit. Apple notes that with either feature your Mac will still charge to 100% now and then, to keep its battery estimates accurate. ## Method 2: Optimized Battery Charging (macOS 11 and later) On older macOS, Optimized Battery Charging is the built-in option. It learns your daily routine and, when it predicts you’ll stay plugged in for a long time, holds charging at 80%, then finishes to 100% before it expects you to leave. The battery menu shows “Charging On Hold” while it waits. It’s on by default and costs nothing, but it’s a prediction, not a limit. If your days aren’t regular, it often charges to 100% anyway. Turn it on or off in System Settings › Battery › ⓘ next to Charging (or Battery Health). ## Method 3: a charge limiter app (any limit, more control) An app gives you a fixed limit on macOS 14 through 26 (macOS 27 included, through macOS’s own limit), a lower limit if you want one, and the extras macOS doesn’t have. With Chargeberry: 1. ### Install Chargeberry Download it, drag it to Applications and open it. It needs a MacBook with Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later. 2. ### Approve the helper once A short welcome installs the small helper that controls charging, with the exact steps for System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions. 3. ### Choose Daily (80%) Click the Chargeberry icon in the menu bar and pick Daily, 80%. Charging stops there and the charger runs the Mac. 4. ### Add what you want Pause charging when the battery is hot, be full by a time (or every weekday), or charge to 100% now with one click. The limit comes back when you unplug. > According to Chargeberry’s charge-rate record on a MacBook Air (M1, 2020), charging from 0 to 79% took about 1.2 minutes per percent, 80 to 89% about 2.5 minutes, and 90 to 99% about 3.0 minutes: going from 80% to 100% takes about 55 minutes, which is what Full by plans around. — Measured by Chargeberry: Chargeberry’s own charge-rate record on a MacBook Air (M1, 2020) with a 30 W USB-C charger: 104 one-percent steps, as recorded on October 28, 2026. Last verified October 28, 2026. Your Mac and charger will differ. ## Which should you use? - **On macOS 26.4 or later and 80% is all you want:** use macOS’s Charge Limit. It’s free and it’s Apple’s. - **On macOS 14 to 26.3:** there’s no fixed limit in macOS, so use an app like [Chargeberry](https://chargeberry.app/) (or see [every option compared](https://chargeberry.app/best-battery-charge-limiters-for-mac/)). - **Want heat pausing, a full battery by a set time, or a lower limit?** Use an app. See [macOS’s limit vs Chargeberry](https://chargeberry.app/vs/macos-charge-limit/). ## Questions about an 80% limit **Is 80% the best charge limit for a MacBook?** For a Mac that’s plugged in most of the day, 80% is a good balance: the battery avoids sitting full, and you still have most of its range when you unplug. If the Mac almost never leaves your desk, a lower limit such as 60% is gentler still; before a trip, charge to 100%. **Does a charge limit still work when the Mac is shut down?** An app’s limit doesn’t: apps can’t run while the Mac is off, so a Mac left plugged in while shut down charges to 100%. Next time it starts up, the app holds the limit again. Leaving it asleep instead of shut down keeps the limit working. **Will an 80% limit give me less battery time?** Yes, about a fifth less on each charge, because the battery starts at 80% instead of 100%. That’s why every method here has a quick way to charge fully: Charge to Full Now in macOS, and Charge to 100% Now or Full by in Chargeberry. **Why does my Mac show 79% or 81% instead of exactly 80%?** Limits work with a little room either side so charging doesn’t switch on and off constantly. macOS charges to within a few percent of its limit and starts again after a 5% drop. Chargeberry stops at your limit and starts again 3% lower by default, and you can change that gap from 1 to 10%. **Can I set the limit from the Terminal?** With Chargeberry, yes: chargeberryctl settings set limit=80 enabled=on changes the saved limit, and chargeberryctl status shows what the helper is doing. The free, open-source batt is a command line tool built for exactly this. ## Sources - [Apple: About Optimized Battery Charging and Charge Limit on Mac](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102338), checked November 6, 2026 - [Battery University: How to prolong lithium-based batteries](https://www.batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries)