Apple’s upcoming macOS 26.4 update is silently folding one of the most requested battery health tools from iPhone into the Mac, and that alone could change how long your MacBook stays healthy over the years. This isn’t any flashy AI fluff that the company has been delaying for a while, it’s practical battery care that matters if you keep your laptop plugged in a lot.
macOS 26.4’s Biggest Battery Change Is A Practical One – Here’s What It Does
After seeding macOS 26.3, Apple has released macOS 26.4’s first beta to developers, and at its core, the update adds a Charge Limit setting for the MacBooks that lets you cap how far the battery charges. The battery charge limit can range from anywhere between 80 percent to 100 percent. Rather than always topping up to full, your Mac will stop charging near your chosen limit. That lessens the chemical stress that lithium-ion batteries face when they linger at 100 percent all day, which is a real driver of long-term capacity loss.
This isn’t a predictive or delayed charging feature like Optimized Battery Charging, it’s a hard ceiling you choose to protect the cells. This is you telling your Mac to “don’t drink past this point,” and it listens until you adjust the settings again.
Why The Feature Matters And How To Use It
- Battery Longevity Actually Improves: Batteries age faster when kept fully charged for long spans. Capping the charge at 80 or 90 percent can slow that wear if you’re constantly plugged in at a desk.
- It’s Built In, Not Third Party: MacBook users previously used tools like AlDente to do this, and having the feature natively means stability and less hacking around.
- Shortcut Automation: macOS 26.4 integrates this into the Shortcuts app as well, so you can automatically adjust charge limits based on time, location, or routine instead of fiddling with settings manually all the time.
On the sheet, this is not a radical redesign, in fact it’s far from it. For anyone who lives plugged in and wants their Mac’s battery to breathe a bit easier over the years, the Charge Limit slider is a genuinely useful addition that could translate directly into slower battery aging with everyday use.
Apple has also announced that it will be holding a a Special Event on March 4 in New York and other parts of the world, so be sure ti check what you should expect. The company is ready to start one of its biggest years when it comes to product launches so do stick around for the full scoop.
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