Apple MacBooks users finally get important battery health feature in macOS Tahoe 26.4

MacBook users who are obsessed with extending the life of their laptop battery have long had to rely on third-party apps to enforce hard charge limits on their laptop. AlDente was perhaps the most well-respected app in this regard, and is available in both free-to-use and paid versions with additional features.

Finally, MacBook battery management without third-party apps

With the latest macOS Tahoe 26.4 Beta, Apple appears to have dug the grave for apps like AlDente. For the first time, MacBook users can enforce charge limits within the System Settings app, although the lowest possible value is locked at 80%. Those who want even lower numbers, for whatever reason, will still have to opt for third-party solutions.

Earlier versions of macOS have had an optimized charging feature which prevents charging beyond 80% based on usage schedules, but it was by no means a hard setting, and MacBooks (Air currently $850 on Amazon) would charge to completion on many occasions even with the feature enabled. With the new charge limit feature, however, customers can finally set a hard limit between 80% to 100%.

Interestingly, iPhone users have been able to take advantage of a charge limit feature for a few years now, which makes the addition of this much-needed feature to macOS much less of a surprise. Li-ion batteries do not like being fully depleted, or fully replenished, and maintaining charge levels between 25% and 80% definitely increases the lifespan of the battery pack.

Excited users are requested to note that macOS 26.4 is very much in Beta, and a public release is likely a few weeks away.