How to Set an 80% Battery Charge Limit on MacBook without Third-Party App

For the longest time, I relied on a third-party app called AlDente just to do one simple thing: Stop my MacBook from charging to 100%.

If you’ve read my previous how to manually set battery charge limit post, you know I used tools like AlDente for this. It worked great, but honestly, I always wished Apple would just build this feature directly into macOS.

Not in the mood for reading? Watch the video instead.

After years of waiting, well, they finally did!

If you’re on macOS Tahoe 26.4 or newer, you can now set a manual battery charge limit through System Settings, just like on iPhone. No extra app needed!

Update to Latest macOS Tahoe 26.4

Before setting it, you need to make sure you’re at least using macOS Tahoe 26.4. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Open System Settings
2. Go to General > Software Update
3. If you see Your Mac is up to date, make sure you’re on macOS Tahoe 26.4 or later.
4. If not, click the Check for Updates button. If you see an update to macOS Tahoe 26.4 or later, do it!

If you’re using older MacBook models, you probably won’t see any new macOS updates.

Or maybe you refuse to use Tahoe personally, you’ll also not see this new feature. In this case, you still can limit battery charging by using a 3rd-party app.

How to Set Battery Charge Limit

Once you’re sure you’re using at least macOS Tahoe 26.4, you can follow these steps to manually set battery charge limit on your MacBook:

1. Open System Settings
2. Go to Battery from the left sidebar
3. Click the (i) icon next to Charging.

4. A dialog will show up. You can choose your preferred limit:
   • 80%
   • 85%
   • 90%
   • 95%
   • 100%
5. Once you’re sure, click Done to apply changes.

That’s it. Once you set it, your Mac will stop charging at the selected percentage. If your battery is already above that limit, it will gradually drop down to it.

It behaves very similarly to the iPhone battery limit feature.

For example, if you set the charge limit to 80% and plug in your charger, then it will charge up to ~80% and stop there.

Why I Use 80%

I mostly use my MacBook plugged in at my desk, either for my remote work or my personal projects.

Keeping the battery at 100% all the time isn’t ideal for long-term battery health, so 80% is a nice balance because it has enough battery if I need to unplug and less stress on the battery.

And when I know I’ll be traveling, I just switch it back to 100%.

Video

Final Thoughts

This is one of those small features that makes a big difference.

I don’t really need to install an extra app and add more background processes to my MacBook anymore. Just a simple toggle built into macOS.

Honestly, this is something Apple should’ve added years ago, but hey, better late than never!

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading, and see you next time 👋