MacBook models get thinner and more powerful every year, but battery life doesn't improve anywhere near as much as raw performance does. This leaves us in a weird situation. While the current MacBook models are quite powerful, at best they have the same battery life as their predecessors. And sometimes a four-hour battery cycle from a MacBook Pro just isn't enough.

So what can you do? Quite a bit actually—from nifty software skills to hardware replacements. Here's how to improve the battery life on your MacBook.

1. Update to the Latest macOS (If You're on a Newer Device)

Unfortunately, battery fluctuation and drainage issues have been reported for operating systems from macOS Sierra (10.12) and later, affecting a range of slightly older MacBook models.

It appears that upgrading can affect your Mac's battery life, but not always. For older devices, it can actually be smarter in the short-term to stick with the OS you currently have, before eventually replacing the battery and stepping up. For newer models, updating to the latest macOS would be wise as updates often include optimzation tweaks.

2. Check Your Battery Condition

Screenshot of a Mac desktop and Google Chrome program, with the battery life displayed after clicking the battery while holding option.

If you're experiencing horrendous battery life, especially if your MacBook dies in under an hour, then your battery might need replacing. After using them for a long time, batteries die out. If there's something seriously wrong with your battery, macOS will tell you.

Head to the Apple > System Preferences > Battery, then click Battery again. In the lower-right corner, click Battery Health, and you can see the same two conditions as listed above.

This is slightly different in older versions of macOS where you need to click the battery icon in the menu bar while holding the Option key.

If it says Condition: Normal, everything is A-OK. But if there's something wrong, it will say Service Recommended. That's your cue to get the Mac to the service station, as the battery is less able to hold charge than it was when it was new.

3. Switch to Safari, If You Can

Seriously, this is the only trick that's going to give you an instant and significant battery bump. The simple act of switching to Safari from Chrome can increase your battery life by an hour or two, depending on your usage. Chrome is an absolutely enormous battery suck, with its heavy RAM consumption being the reason behind this.

Try switching to Safari; it's a really good browser. You can keep Chrome around for things that don't work so well on Safari (not a lot).

4. Customize Your Battery Preferences

macOS comes with built-in energy saver settings that can help you maximize your Mac's battery life. In System Preferences, select Battery. From the sidebar, select Battery and reduce the time for how long the screen stays on when you're not using the Mac.

macbook improve battery life 2

Below, make sure the Slightly dim the display while on battery power option is checked. It's also advisable to turn off the Power Nap option that periodically checks for updates for apps and data when your MacBook is closed. With customizable options for when you're on and off your power adapter, this can be a great little inbuilt tool.

5. Dim Your Screen

While this advice doesn't really hold up for the latest MacBook Pro models, the displays on older devices are much less energy efficient. Turning the brightness down on your Retina MacBook Pro can certainly help when it comes to extending the battery life.

You can do this using the F1 and F2 keys on the keyboard or tapping the brightness icon on the Touch Bar. You might also want to disable automatic brightness. You can do this by going to System Preferences > Displays.

6. Manage Rogue Apps

Generally, it's rogue and resource-intensive apps that eat up battery. What you need to watch out for is if they're still running when you're not using them. Practice quitting resource-intensive apps you're not using. Apps like Photoshop, Steam, and any games you have installed are obvious culprits for this.

macbook improve battery life 3

To see if any app has gone rogue, open Activity Monitor (from Applications > Utilities) and click on the CPU tab. Here you'll see the apps that are the biggest resource hogs. If an app is taking up an unusually large amount of CPU processes (more than 70 percent), double-click on it and select Quit.

7. Clean Your Mac

Using an unoptimized Mac is like driving a car that's way past its service date. While macOS is generally pretty good at managing its own resources, junk can still develop.

The severity of the problem depends on what you do on your Mac. If you're a programmer and you install a lot of packages on your Mac, only to forget about them down the line, you might have a problem.

Related: How to Free Up Space on Mac: Tips and Tricks You Need to Know

In any case, when your Mac starts misbehaving and draining a lot of battery, it's a good opportunity to take stock and clean up your Mac. You can do this using a couple of different tools.

macbook improve battery life 4

You can use a third-party app, like CleanMyMac as well. It has a maintenance section that's dedicated to improving your Mac's performance and battery health.

macbook improve battery life 6

If you're looking for free options, look at OnyX. It might look daunting at first but select the things you want to do and let OnyX do its thing (it's advisable to backup your important files before this). OnyX will run optimization scripts on an OS level and it might just take care of things that have gone wrong on a level that's not user accessible.

8. Disable the Keyboard Backlight

If you routinely work in the dark or you just happen to have the keyboard backlight enabled, you should consider turning them off. You can do that using the F5 key. While a backlit keyboard is a great feature on a MacBook, using it for a long period can mean decreased battery life.

9. Monitor Your Mac's Battery Life

The first step towards change is knowledge. Battery Health is a free menu bar app that monitors your Mac's battery life and provides you with specific technical information that macOS won't. The app gives you an overall score of the health of the battery along with its current highest charging capacity.

macbook improve battery life 1

A an extra benefit to installing the app is that it will even provide you with the estimated remaining time for the battery (in various circumstances). Even with Battery Health, I would suggest you use the estimate as just that: an estimate.

10. Turn Off Turbo Boost

Turbo Boost is a feature of Intel CPUs that enables a kind of overdrive, all the way up to 11. If you're using a modern Retina MacBook, your Mac supports the feature (to make sure, look up your model's specification page on Apple's website).

macbook improve battery life 5

If you're using a 15-inch MacBook Pro, disabling turbo boost has a clear positive effect on the battery life. CPU intensive tasks take a hit. But for general usage, disabling Turbo Boost, even temporarily when you're in dire circumstances, can be a big help.

Marco Arment tested this theory by turning off turbo boost on his 15-inch MacBook Pro and found that the battery life went up by 25%. You can do this using the Turbo Boost Switcher app.

Ultimately, Your MacBook Battery Depends on Your Use

If you're watching full HD movies with the brightness turned all the way up, or you're performing intensive tasks like transcoding videos, your MacBook is still going to die on you in three or four hours. But in general use, the above tips should help you get more juice out of your current machine.

You can also try calibrating your MacBook's battery. It's like resetting your battery's default behavior. Fully charge up your MacBook, then drain it down entirely, and then charge it up all the way again.