MacBook Optimised Battery Charge

Optimised Battery Charging is on by default on every MacBook since macOS Big Sur, but worth verifying. Open System Settings → Battery → Battery Health (click the small "i" beside it). Toggle on "Optimised Battery Charging". macOS will then learn your daily routine and hold the battery at 80% during long plugged-in stretches (overnight, all-day desk use), only charging to 100% shortly before you typically unplug. This reduces high-voltage stress on the lithium cells and meaningfully extends battery lifespan - Apple cites up to 1,000 cycles to 80% capacity, roughly 4-5 years of normal use.

Also enable "Low Power Mode" under Battery → Options for travel days. Battery health below 80%? Cycle count over 1,000? Apple recommends replacement. We swap MacBook batteries in 4-6 hours at our Dubai workshop with a 90-day warranty.

Optimized charging can hold the battery at 80 percent, which looks like a fault. If the Mac stops at a lower figure or will not charge at all, see MacBook not charging.

Optimised charging helps, but it cannot undo storage at 45C; read the effect of Dubai heat on MacBook batteries for the habits that matter more.

We check this setting on every MacBook that comes through for a battery assessment, and roughly half the laptops from office users in Dubai have it switched off. The other thing we tell people is that Optimised Charging needs a routine to learn from. A laptop that is on the charger at the desk all day and never unplugged will be held at 80 percent most of the time, which is good for the cells. One that is plugged in at random times never learns and charges to 100 every time.

For desk-bound machines we suggest leaving it plugged in with the setting on, and once a month running it down to 20 percent to keep the fuel gauge calibrated. Heat is the bigger enemy here; a laptop charging on a bed or in a hot car degrades faster than one at 100 percent on a cool desk.