How I Set a Manual Battery Charge Limit on MacBook (Like iPhone 80% Limit)

UPDATE 2026/03: You can now set battery charge limit manually without any 3rd-party app! Just update your macOS version to Tahoe 26.4 and set the limit manually through System Settings.

I work from home, play at home, and rest at home. So naturally, I like keeping my devices plugged in because I rarely go out.

The problem? I don’t like keeping my battery at 100% all the time.

On newer iPhones, Apple gives you a manual charge limit. You can set it to 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, or 100%. Super simple. Super useful. You’re in full control.

But on a MacBook? We only get Optimized Battery Charging, which is actually a good feature.

But honestly, in my experience, it’s not very reliable. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it just sits at 100% anyway.

That’s because it relies on machine learning, and the algorithm is unknown to us. It’s even worse if you don’t have a predictable schedule.

So I wanted the same manual control I have on my iPhone. Here’s how I did it.

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

Before We Begin

You probably don’t need this.

If you regularly use your battery, just let Optimized Battery Charging handle it. It’s usually not worth forcing the battery charge limit to 80%. You’ll just get less battery life throughout the day. And if your battery frequently drops close to 0%, that can hurt battery health even more.

This setup is useful in cases like:

• A homelab server that needs to be available 24/7
• Machine learning training or rendering tasks that run for hours or even days
• Front-office usage where the MacBook stays on the desk all day
• Developers running DevOps workloads

You get the idea.

Basically: if you rarely rely on the battery, limit it. If not, just use it normally.

Manual Battery Charge Limit Solution: Use a Third-Party App

To manually control your Mac’s charge limit, you’ll need a third-party app. It basically lets you say:

“Hey Mac, stop charging at 80%.”

And it actually listens.

Under the hood, these apps use built-in macOS battery management commands to limit charging. So overall, they should be safe to use.

There are a few third-party apps that can handle this, such as:

• AlDente
• actuallymentor/battery

My personal favorite is AlDente. The free version is enough for most use cases. But if you want to buy a license to support the developer, go for it.

How to Install AlDente

My preferred method is using the Homebrew package manager:

brew install --cask aldente

Or you can download it directly from the official GitHub page:

1. Go to the official AlDente GitHub Release page
2. Download the latest DMG file
3. Open it
4. Drag and drop AlDente into Applications

Then launch the app.

Install the Helper

When you open AlDente for the first time:

• You’ll see a new AlDente icon in the menu bar
• It will show an onboarding screen asking you to install the helper

Click Install Helper, and a new dialog will pop up asking you to enter your macOS password. Enter it and click Install Helper again.

This helper is required so AlDente can actually control the battery charging behavior. Once installed, you’ll see a confirmation dialog.

(Optional) Disable Optimized Battery Charging

After installing the helper, AlDente may recommend disabling Optimized Battery Charging.

In my experience, it’s not strictly required, which is why I consider this optional. You can skip this part.

However, AlDente recommends disabling it to avoid potential conflicts between the two battery management systems.

If you want to follow the recommendation, here’s how:

1. Open System Settings
2. Click Battery in the sidebar
3. Click the ⓘ icon next to Battery Health
4. Uncheck Optimized battery charging
5. Click Done

With Optimized Battery Charging turned off, battery management is now fully handled by AlDente. If you uninstall AlDente in the future, you can simply re-enable Optimized Battery Charging.

Set Your Charge Limit

Once everything is installed:

• Click the AlDente icon in the menu bar
• Set your preferred charging limit
• By default, it’s already set to 80%

Now when you plug in your charger:

• Your Mac will stop charging at around 80%
• It will stay there instead of going to 100%

If you later change it to 90%, it will resume charging until it reaches 90%.

It’s that simple.

Why I Use 80%

Keeping lithium batteries at 100% for long periods can increase wear over time.

I mostly use my MacBook plugged in at my desk, so 80% is more than enough for me. In case of a power outage, my MacBook would still be usable for almost a day.

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

You can choose another number if you prefer — the closer it is to 50%, the less stress on the battery.

If You Missed the Onboarding or Want to Uninstall AlDente

If you missed the onboarding, you can always access the settings by clicking the AlDente icon in the menu bar and selecting the Settings icon.

You can re-run the onboarding by clicking the Onboarding button in the settings.

If you decide to uninstall AlDente, click the Remove AlDente button in the settings.

Do Battery Calibration Once a Month

One last piece of advice: calibrate your MacBook battery once a month.

What does that mean?

Charge your MacBook to 100%, then use it until it reaches around 40%. After that, you can limit it back to 80%.

This helps keep Apple’s battery health calculations accurate.

If Optimized Battery Charging is active — for example, when the status says Charging On Hold (Rarely Used On Battery) — macOS will occasionally charge to 100% automatically to maintain accurate battery state-of-charge estimates. Since that’s an OS feature, it runs automatically in the background.

But when you’re using third-party apps to manage charging, you may need to do this manually if the app doesn’t include a similar calibration feature. If it does, you may want to use it occasionally.

Video

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been frustrated with macOS’s Optimized Battery Charging and just want manual control, AlDente is a solid solution.

It gives you:

• Predictable charging behavior
• Manual control
• Peace of mind

For me, it’s one of those small utilities that makes macOS feel more complete.

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