Battery is one of the most important components in any laptop. Apple claims that the latest M1/M2 chips can hold up to 21 hours of battery power. Regardless of Mac model and processor, it is necessary for you to take care of the way you use your computer. Though you can follow some effective ways for protecting your battery life, there are some easy ways to check the health status. Mac offers a battery health management that will show the current status of your battery. Based on this information, you can understand whether you need a replacement or fine-tuning the usage will help.
Charge Cycle Count and Battery Health
Before we proceed, there is one important term to understand – Charge Cycle Count. Your Mac will keep a count on the battery charging cycles to find the battery health status. One charge cycle count indicates when you use 100% of battery power. For example, if you charge 100% and then use 100% then it will be counted as one cycle. Since charging and using can happen intermittently, one cycle count can happen in one day, one week or take even more time based on the way you use your Mac.
There are two important points to understand from the charging cycle:
- Each MacBook model comes with a maximum charging cycle count. You can check this official Apple documentation to know the limit for your computer model. 1000 is the maximum cycle count and all models will have either 1000 or lower as the count limit.
- When maximum cycle count is reached, your Mac will only hold up to 80% battery power of its original capacity.
Based on the cycle count and usage pattern, your Mac will automatically show the battery health status as Normal or Service Recommended. So, when you see “Service Recommended” health status for MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) model, most likely you have used more than 1000 battery charging cycle and it’s time for a battery replacement. With this understanding, let us show you where you can check the battery status and charging cycle count in Mac.
1. Check System Information App for Battery Health
The first option is check System Information app as it works on all macOS version and models.
- Click on the Apple logo on top left corner of the screen and select “About This Mac” menu.
- On the pop-up that appears, click on “System Report…” button showing under “Overview” tab.
- This will open System Information app and go to “Hardware > Power” section from the left sidebar.
- Check “Health Information” heading showing under “Battery Information” section.
- You will find cycle count and the battery condition status.
Though battery condition is showing normal in the above MacBook Pro screenshot, the cycle count is reached well above its maximum level of 1000. In this case, the battery will hold only 80% of its original capacity and replacement is a best solution to fix battery draining issues.
2. Batter Health Management
Apple introduced a battery health management feature in macOS 10.15.5. This will analyze your battery charging cycle and usage pattern and show your battery condition. There are two battery condition statuses – Normal and Service Recommend. You can check whether you battery is in normal condition or need to be replaced.
- Click the Apple logo and select “System Preferences…” menu.
- Click on the “Battery” option to open its preferences.
- Go to “Battery” section from sidebar and click on the “Battery Health” button.
- This will show a pop-up like below showing your battery condition is normal or service recommended.
Though this an easy way compared to checking in System Information app, “Battery Health” button will be available only on Intel processor models with thunderbolt 3 ports. So, you should use the System Information app if “Battery Health” button does not show on your Mac.
3. Check Status from Battery Icon
By default, Apple will show the battery icon in the top menu bar. If you are not seeing the icon, go to “Apple menu > System Preferences > Battery > Battery” section as explained above and enable “”Show battery status in menu bar” checkbox. Alternatively, go to “Apple menu > System Preferences > Dock & Menu Bar > Battery” and enable “Show in Menu Bar” checkbox.
To see your battery condition, hold option key and click on the battery icon on the top menu bar. If there is a battery problem, you will see “Service Recommended” or “Service Battery” with a warning symbol. This will show your battery condition along with other battery information. However, this works if you are still using macOS Catalina (10.15) or earlier versions.
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