Apple’s iPhone lineup has long featured a charge limiting feature that is intended to maintain battery health by preventing the device from charging to 100 percent. By limiting the maximum charge level, users can reduce battery wear and tear over time, especially when their device is plugged in for long periods of time. Now the same functionality is making its way into MacBooks.
Apple introduced a new charging limit option in the latest macOS Tahoe 26.4 beta. According to MacRumors, this feature allows users to set a maximum charge level between 80 and 100 percent, giving them direct control over the battery’s lifespan. Once the feature is enabled, the MacBook will stop charging when the selected limit is reached instead of automatically charging to full capacity.
The new setting will appear in the Battery section of the System Settings app and users will be able to adjust the charging limit using a slider. The feature complements the existing Optimized Battery Charging option, which learns a user’s charging habits and delays charging beyond 80 percent until it predicts the device may be needed. Unlike the adaptive system, the new charging limit acts as a hard cap and stops charging at the selected charging percentage.
Battery health management has been available on Macs for several years, but until now users have had no manual way to enforce a strict upper charging threshold. The new “Load Limit” feature fixes this problem. Currently, the feature is limited to developers and public beta testers running the latest macOS Tahoe 26.4 beta. It is expected to be available to all users once the update hits the stable channel.
