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
| Feature |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
Open Battery settings
Choose Apple menu › System Settings, then click Battery in the sidebar.
Open the charging options
Click the ⓘ (info) button next to Charging.
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.
Need a full charge once?
Click the battery icon in the menu bar and choose Charge to Full Now. The limit applies again afterwards.
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:
Install Chargeberry
Download it, drag it to Applications and open it. It needs a MacBook with Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later.
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.
Choose Daily (80%)
Click the Chargeberry icon in the menu bar and pick Daily, 80%. Charging stops there and the charger runs the Mac.
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.
- Health
- 83%
- Cycles
- 349 of 1000
- Temperature
- 30.8 °C
- Charger
- 30 W
A working model of Chargeberry, not a video, running the same charging rules as the app. Plug the charger in and out, change the limit, turn up the heat, try Charge to 100% and Full by. Time runs fast here: two minutes every second, and faster with S.
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 (or see every option compared).
- Want heat pausing, a full battery by a set time, or a lower limit? Use an app. See macOS’s limit vs Chargeberry.
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.
