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Intel-only Macbook (OSX) limit maximum battery charge using SMC

Python 24.78% Makefile 0.67% C 73.47% Shell 1.08%

battery limit osx macos maximum charge battery-life battery-percentage battery-level battery-management-system

osx_battery_charge_limit's Introduction

Intel only Macbook (OSX) limit maximum battery charge.

Li-ion and polymer batteries (like the one in your MacBook) last the longest when operating between 30 and 80 percent. Keeping your battery at 100% at all times can shorten the lifespan of your notebook significantly. More information can be found here: https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_charge_when_to_charge_table

Script info

This is script for changing maximum battery charge value on macbook by setting SMC's value. It uses smc-command binary from smcFanControl project for SMC keys access smcFanControl.

Script changes SMC key "BCLM" (Battery control level maximum). Script sets maximum battery charge percent value from 20% to 100%.

You can check real battery charge level with coconutbattery. MacOS shows charge approximately 3-5% greater than real value.

You can reset macbook's SMC for rollback script changes in case of some problems.

Tests

Tested on:

Macbook Pro 13 (mid 2020, 2 ports), OSX Catalina (10.15.5)
Macbook Pro 13 (mid 2019, 4 ports), OSX Catalina (10.15.5, 10.15.6)
Macbook Air 13 (mid 2011), OSX High Sierra

Requirements

All commands must be written in Terminal application step-by-step

# 1. Install command-line tools
xcode-select --install

# 2. Install Homebrew
ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

# 3. Install Python3
brew install python3

Usage examples

Highly recomended turn off OSX Catalina 10.15.5 system battery care function before set limit value! Reboot is recommended after changing value. System update can reset SMC, and you will need to start script to set limit again.

All commands must be called in osx_battery_charge_limit folder. Change folder example:

cd ~/Downloads/osx_battery_charge_limit/

Usage:

# Get current charge limit
python3 main.py
python3 main.py -c

# Set maximum charge level at 65%
sudo python3 main.py -s 65

# Reset maximum charge level to 100%
sudo python3 main.py -r

Sometimes homebrew's folders owner need to be fixed in case of some freezing on reboot.

sudo chown -R "$USER":admin /usr/local/*

Warning!

I do not take any responsibility for any sort of damage in result of using this tool! Alltough this had no negative side effects for me, scripts still taps in some very low level system functions that are not ment to be tampered with. Use it at your own risk!

Alternatives with GUI:

Alternatives without GUI:

bclm

Other references:

osx_battery_charge_limit's People

Contributors

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krackers fanlessfan jackyvan vdvibhu20 jw6 jnibrahim ganeshhalthota gust4ng

osx_battery_charge_limit's Issues

MagSafe LED indicator

Hi!

Does script controls the MagSafe LED indicator?

This script works in MD101 Mojave

I just want to give information, that this script is working on my MacBook Pro mid-2012 MD101 running Mojave 10.14.6

App

Can you put this in a downloadable app? Because I don't use x-code and my space is small in my MBA 2011.

Hackintosh support

Hello!
Thanks for great tool!
Is there a way to support hackintosh based systems that uses VirtualSMC?

For now I receive an error

python3 main.py
ERROR: SMC out parse failed
valid "  BCLM  [ui8 ]  60 (bytes 3c)"
current "  BLCM  [     ]  no data"

Apple M1 support

Any chance your tool may work (now or in the future) for the new M1 MacBook Air?
thank you
Lukas

No BCLM entry on MBP 13 2020, Big Sur 11.2.2?

Hello,

Thank you for your work on this tool, it is exactly what I am looking for.
However, I tried to run your script with sudo python3 main.py -s 65 but errors are produced.

ERROR: SMC out parse failed
valid "  BCLM  [ui8 ]  60 (bytes 3c)"
current "  BCLM  [    ]  no data"

I am using a 13-inch MBP, 2020 with M1 chip and Big Sur 11.2.2 and python 3.8.6.
The repo is cloned to ~/osx_battery_charge_limit and the commands were ran from that directory.

sudo ./smc-command_from_fan_control/smc -l | grep "BCLM" returns no output was well, my complete output of smc -l is here: https://pastebin.com/ehGgH95J
Am I using the script wrong? Has the BCLM key been removed?

Working on El Capitan?

Hi Pavel,

since AlDente is not working on older macOS-Versions, I tried your script on my old MacBook Pro running El Capitan.
But I receive an error message every time I try to run the script:

ERROR: SMC out parse failed
valid " BCLM [ui8 ] 60 (bytes 3c)"
current " BCLM [ ] no data"

Am I doing something wrong?

getting error current " BCLM [ ] no data" retina 2012

I get