FEATURE Boost your battery
Boost your MacBook’s battery
Here’s how to avoid running out of juice when you’re working on the go
The biggest power hogs >
> Most power-intensive processes are hardware related… Your laptop screen, wireless tech (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi), your laptop’s speakers and any connected hardware such as external drives. Also switch off your MacBook’s keyboard backlight when not needed (System Prefs > Keyboard). There are also background rocesses you may want to keep in check – from Spotlight indexing (switch off by dragging your drive to the Privacy tab under System Preferences > Spotlight) to app notifications (disable all but the most essential). Your Mac will also alert you to apps using lots of system resources – and therefore power – when on battery power. Click the battery icon in the menu bar to reveal them.
These days, modern MacBooks offer jaw-dropping battery lives – thanks to Apple’s new M1 chips, they’re able to claim up to 20 hours’ life for the latest MacBook Pros. That’s great if you’ve bought a brandnew model, but about the rest of us?