Apple's Battery Health Management Feature Cannot Be Disabled on Apple Silicon Macs - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple's Battery Health Management Feature Cannot Be Disabled on Apple Silicon Macs

Apple's battery health management feature cannot be disabled on Apple Silicon Macs, as there is no toggle switch for this in System Preferences on these machines.

apple battery health management big sur

Battery health management cannot be disabled on Apple Silicon-based Macs

Introduced in macOS Catalina version 10.15.5, the battery health management system is designed to improve the lifespan of a Mac notebook's battery by reducing the rate at which it chemically ages. The feature achieves this by monitoring the battery's temperature history and its charging patterns, and temporarily reducing the battery's maximum charging capacity as necessary, according to Apple.

The feature can still be disabled on Intel-based Macs, but Apple warns this may reduce the battery's lifespan. On macOS Big Sur, navigate to System Preferences > Battery > Battery > Battery Health… and uncheck "Manage battery longevity." On macOS Catalina, the checkbox is located in System Preferences > Energy Saver > Battery Health…

apple battery health management big sur intel

Battery health management can be disabled on Intel-based Macs

As further confirmation, Apple has shared a new support document about battery health management on Apple Silicon Macs, and unlike the version of the document for Intel-based Macs, there is no section on turning off the feature.

Related Forum: macOS Big Sur

Popular Stories

apple silicon 1 feature

Apple Silicon is Taking an Unexpected Turn

Friday July 10, 2026 7:24 am PDT by
Ever since the Mac switched from Intel processors to Apple silicon starting in 2020, each generation of M-series chips has included higher-end Pro and Max variants. If a recent report proves to be accurate, though, that streak will be coming to an end. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple will be releasing a regular M6 chip, but it has no plans to offer higher-end M6 Pro and M6 Max...
M6 Pro M6 Max Mockup

Here's Why Apple is Reportedly Skipping M6 Pro and M6 Max Chips

Sunday July 12, 2026 8:12 am PDT by
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple will be releasing a regular M6 chip, but it has no plans to offer higher-end M6 Pro and M6 Max chips. In his Power On newsletter today, he said the reason for this break in tradition is AI. "Apple had been planning major neural-processing upgrades for the M7 family and ultimately decided those improvements were important enough to justify...
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Next Month With These 12 New Features

Thursday August 6, 2026 7:03 am PDT by
It is now August, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are just a month away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a...

Top Rated Comments

tgwaste Avatar
75 months ago
Is this talking about "Optimized Battery Charging"? Im able to disable that on my M1 Macair.
Click battery icon in menu bar -> battery preferences.



Attachment Image
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
75 months ago
People don't get it. The complaint is not because one would want to disable the feature. It's because one should be free to decide whether to disable the feature or not.

It's your computer. You paid very, very handsomely for it. You're supposed to be able to do what you want to it.

Well, I guess lots of people here would be just delighted to be at the other end of a Darth Vader-style "I am altering the deal, pray I don't alter it any further" speech.

PS: I use the AlDente app, and I manage my battery infinitely better than any crappy machine-learning-AI mumbo-jumbo would ever be able to. So, I do disable it. I wouldn't recommend this to 99.99% of other Apple users, though.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
75 months ago

Because they all think they are better hardware/software engineers than any that work at Apple. I wish there was a program that allowed these people to build their own laptops with a live streaming feed so we could watch them blow up within the first 72 hours. Assuming, that is, they can keep them running for more than 15 minutes.

Or maybe a reality show where they each get their own personal UNIVAC to keep running to win a prize while losers get shot out of a cannon into the Sun. It’s a win/win either way and would be funny as hell.
You have no idea what you’re talking about. I, unlike you, do — I’m an electrical engineer, I’ve designed Li-Ion battery-powered products, and I’ve read dozens of actual scientific papers, on peer-reviewed high-impact journals, about battery lifespan.

The Apple feature tries to predict when you’re going to need 100% battery charge, and time the charges that way. To maximize battery lifespan, the main thing it can do is keep it at a lower charge (e.g. 60% seems to be an ideal value) for as long as possible. Batteries degrade much much much faster when near 100% state of charge than when at 60% or even 80%.

I, unlike Apple, actually know when I’m going to need 100% charge. In my case, the answer is: never — OK, maybe once or twice a year, but this year I’ve yet to purposefully charge it beyond 60% (using the AlDente app to control the state of charge).

So, Apple may have the best and brightest engineers of the world. Maybe they can do the very best, state of the art machine-learning mumbo-jumbo (actually, from my experience it’s crap — optimized battery charging doesn’t work for me in the iPhone at all — but let’s pretend for a moment that it’s not crap). Unfortunately one thing that’s beyond Apple is predicting the future: i.e. when will you need 100% charge, so you can start charging it exactly X minutes before so the moment you unplug it, it’s at 100%. Since it can’t do that, those that care enough about managing their battery will always be able to do better. It’s simply impossible to argue with that.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SigurTom Avatar
75 months ago
Someone will think a lawsuit is a good idea.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Digital Skunk Avatar
75 months ago
Given how many time I've had to send a fat, swollen laptop in for repair, maybe this is a good thing.

A lot of people still use laptops as desktops or always have them plugged in, so .....*shrug*

I do know that the more I've used my laptops on the go for a lot of heavy lifting the more likely my battery starts to get fat.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
75 months ago
Given the battery life of these systems, it is probably less of an issue.

But, knowing these forums I expect there will be complaining that they are only getting 18 hours instead of 20.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)