Change Battery settings on a Mac laptop
Use Battery settings to set options that control your Mac laptop’s battery and energy use. How you set these options can help you optimize the lifespan of your battery.
As an ENERGY STAR® partner, Apple has determined that standard configurations of your Mac meet the ENERGY STAR® guidelines for energy efficiency.
For more information about ENERGY STAR, see the ENERGY STAR website.
Note: Some of the options may not be available, depending on your Mac.
To open these settings, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Battery in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
Option | Description |
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Battery | See the current battery level and any battery alerts at the top. |
Low Power Mode | Reduce energy usage to increase battery life. |
Energy Mode | Choose which energy mode you want your Mac to use while on battery power or plugged into a power adapter.
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Battery Health | See if your battery’s condition is normal, or if service is recommended. See Check the condition of your Mac laptop’s battery. Click the Info button next to the condition to turn on the following:
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Last 24 Hours | View usage history from the last 24 hours:
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Last 10 Days | View usage history for the last 10 days:
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Additional Options
Option | Description |
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Slightly dim the display on battery | Conserve energy by dimming the display when your Mac is not plugged in. |
Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off | Prevent your Mac from sleeping when it’s plugged in and its display is off. |
Put hard disks to sleep when possible | Put the hard drive to sleep whenever the computer is inactive. |
Enable Power Nap | Have your Mac check for email, calendar, and other iCloud updates while sleeping. Choose whether it checks always, only on battery power, or never. |
Wake for network access | Even in sleep mode, wake your Mac to provide access to shared resources, such as shared printers or Music playlists. Choose whether to wake it always, when plugged into a power adapter, or never. |
Automatic graphics switching | To optimize the lifespan of your battery, have your Mac automatically choose the best graphics mode based on your usage. |
Optimize video streaming while on battery | While on battery power, play high-dynamic-range (HDR) video in standard dynamic range (SDR), which requires less energy. See the Apple Support article Play HDR video on Mac. |
If you want to turn your display off after a period of inactivity, see Change Lock Screen settings.