How to understand batteries in Mac notebooks

MacBook、MacBookAir and MacBookPro computers are equipped with lithium polymer batteries to provide maximum battery life in compact space. To understand battery technology and battery life, it is good to understand common battery terms:

Setting up your Mac for the first time

When you set up your Mac for the first time, some activities—like setting up Mail and Photos, downloading your files from iCloud, and indexing your files with Spotlight—can use more power than your Mac requires in general use. 

If you have a large amount of data to transfer over Wi-Fi, it might take a few days for your Mac to finish its setup process. It’s best to keep your computer connected to a power source during this time. Once setup is complete, the battery life will begin to reflect the regular activities you perform on your Mac.

The battery status menu

Your primary resource for viewing battery status is the battery status menu. It shows you how much charge your battery has and whether it’s currently charging. This menu is at the right side of the menu bar:

The battery status menu also tells you if your display or any apps are using significant energy. Click Display Brightness if it’s listed under Using Significant Energy, and your display dims to 75% brightness. Also consider closing any apps that are listed to save Apple a1278 laptop battery power.

To see the health of your battery, hold the Option key and click the battery icon in the menu bar to reveal the battery status menu. You’ll see one of the following status indicators:

While some third-party apps report on battery health conditions, the data reported by these apps may be inaccurate and isn’t a conclusive indication of actual diminished system run time. It’s best to rely on the information reported in the battery health menu, described above.  

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