New MacOS update wants to boost the longevity of your battery

Batteries can be a real pain in the neck, right? In a sense, they represent the inevitability of life. They start out fresh and full of energy and the more they’re put to the test, used and battered by the environments around them they start to lose that sheen, that charge that made them so desirable.

Enough of the existential pondering, we’d rather focus on more exciting things like the new MacOS update that’s reportedly in development. According to CNET, MacOS Catalina 10.15.5 will include a “Battery Health Management” feature. Which sounds pretty nifty, right? What the app will do is monitor your charging patterns, heat levels and general app usage and tweak your battery settings to reduce the rate it chemically ages over time.

The “Battery Health Management” feature will do exactly what it says on the tin and extend the life of your Mac battery, although don’t expect it to reduce how often you have to return to the wall socket. This feature is designed to extend the overall life span of your Mac’s battery, not its day-to-day uptime.

What does this mean for Mac users? Well, it means you’ll have to worry less about having to replace your battery in six years because HOO BOY, is that going to cost you a shiny cent or two. It also means that your Mac should retain a longer lasting charge over its lifespan, which should go a long way to improving the device’s efficiency and convenience.

While we don’t know when exactly you can expect the new update to drop, we do know that the feature will be turned on by default when you eventually download it. Long live Mac Batteries!