apphousekitchen / aldente-charge-limiter

macOS menubar tool to set Charge Limits and prolong battery lifespan

AlDente - Charge Limiter🍝

MacOS menu bar tool to limit maximum charging percentage

Don't overcook your battery! Keep it fresh and chewy with AlDente.

Why do I need this?

Li-Ion batteries (like the one in your MacBook) last the longest when operating between 20 and 80 percent. Keeping your battery at 100% at all times can shorten the lifespan of your MacBook significantly. More information can be found at Battery University.

What’s AlDente Pro?

AlDente Pro is our paid version of AlDente. It has many more features such as Heat Protection, Sailing Mode, Top Up, Calibration Mode,... It offers a better design and has live status icons. If you are interested in getting the most out of your battery, check out our website.

AlDente Pro is now available on Setapp too.

Features of AlDente Free

• Charge Limiter allows you to set your maximum charging percentage between 20 and 100 percent. You can either set it by using the slide bar or by typing in the desired percentage in the field above and pressing enter afterwards. Read more about the Charge Limiter feature in this article "Feature Explanation: Charge Limiter".
• Discharge - This feature allows your MacBook to run completely on Battery even if it is plugged in. Therefore, you can actively discharge your MacBook to a more healthy percentage. Unfortunately, while Discharge is activated, clamshell mode is not supported due to technical limitations. Read more about the Discharge feature in this article "Feature Explanation: Discharge".

Supported MacBook Models (macOS 11 Big Sur or later required)

Check out if your MacBook is supported on our FAQ page.

Download

You can download the app from GitHub: https://github.com/davidwernhart/AlDente/releases

Installation Guide

An installation guide can be found on our website:Installation Guide

How to use

When the installation is finished, enter your desired max. charging percentage by clicking on the 🍝 icon on your menu bar. Usually, the operating system will take a minute or two registering the changes, so be patient. You can check if it's working by setting the max. percentage to e.g.: 80%. After a while, clicking on your battery icon will report "Battery is not charging" if you have more than ≈73% left, even though your charger is connected. Notice that in this state, your MacBook is still powered by the charger, but the battery is not charging anymore.

IMPORTANT: Keeping your battery at a lower percentage, such as under 80%, over weeks without doing full cycles (100%-0%) can result in a disturbed battery calibration. When this happens, your Macbook might turn off with 40-50% left or your battery capacity will drop significantly. However, this is only due to a disturbed battery calibration and not because of a faulty or degraded battery. To avoid this issue, we recommend doing at least one full cycle (0%-100%) every two weeks. Even if your battery calibration gets disturbed, doing 4+ full cycles will recalibrate your battery and the capacity will go up again.

Support

• Most questions are already answered on our FAQ page or on our blog. Check them out!
• E-mail support is only available for AlDente Pro customers. Check out our support page if you want to contact us.
• Due to limited recourses, we are not able providing support to AlDente Free users or here in Github.

Other tools used in this project:

• https://github.com/beltex/SMCKit
• https://github.com/sindresorhus/LaunchAtLogin
• https://github.com/andreyvit/create-dmg

Disclaimer:

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

Copyright(c) 2021 AppHouseKitchen

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

aldente-charge-limiter's Issues

Released AlDente v1.2 file broken

Thank you very much for adding b/w icon! Unfortunately, the new release file is broken. At least MacOS doesn't want to open it.

Request: 10.13 High Sierra

Older computers (around 2011) don't have a way to keep their (failing) battery optimal. If this program was made backward compatible to High Sierra, I (my MBP 2011) would be really happy.

Thank you very much to write such a practical tool.

I used to worry about this for a long time, and the smart battery management on Catalina was very difficult to use.

Wrong battery limit with 2017 Macbook, Big Sur

I have a 13-inch Macbook (not Pro) from 2017. Upgraded to Big Sur yesterday. I discovered AlDente today and I tried it out. It installed without a hitch, but it does not limit battery charging. With my battery at 68%, I configured AlDente to max out at 50%. The machine's battery is now at 74%.

Update: my machine's battery level has been at 74% all day. Therefore, AlDente is having a beneficial effect. The issue then is that the level should be stuck at 50%.

Is there anything I can do to help the developer troubleshoot this? Some log file maybe?

Max. Battery Charge not respected

Running macOS Catalina 10.15.5 on a 2015 13" MacBook Pro. If I set the Max. Battery Charge to 80%, the battery continues to charge until it hits 83% and then stops.

Works flawlessly on MB Pro 13" Early 2015 @ OSX Big Sur. Thx!

...requires a restart to take effect.

Many thanks for your effort!

Feel free to add my spec to the README 👍

Thanks for releasing this. I have Installed the helper and restarted machine but not working on 16" Pro - Catalina 10.15.2

FAQ

Easy Yes/No Questions for an FAQ :)

• If you delete the software, does the SMC go back to default without changing any settings?
• If you reset the SMC, does the SMC go back to default without changing any settings?
• If I reset the SMC & delete AlDente, does the SMC go back to default without changing any settings?
• Is there anything more to deleting your software other than moving to trash?

Thank you for creating this amazing tool!

macOS battery scale inaccurate at lower percentages

Howdy, no rush on a fix, but just wanted to highlight (and note down, before I forget) where AlDente appears to get 'macOS battery scale' percentages slightly wrong, lower down the charging scale. All measurements done on 2020 MacBook Pro 13" (A2257).

AlDente 53% = Real 51%
AlDente 50% = Real 48%
AlDente 80% = Real 81% (was at 80%, but crept-up)

I'll update this as I find more. Maybe a pattern can then be established! :)

blacked out icon in status bar 2020 base model Mac Pro 2 thunderbolt

Hello,

Trying to install this, but I'm getting a black logo in status bar. Does this mean that this is not working?

If not, what's the proper way to uninstall? First Mac....

thanks

Launch at Login does not function

I've installed and run this and it works well except the launch at login function does not run. If I look in the system logs it returns an error every 10 seconds that it can not execute the program or that it does not exist. This is on Catalina 10.15.1. Executing the application manually it works fine. Needing to disable the Launch at Login to get rid of the every 10 second attempt to launch.

After I uninstalled AIDente，macOS didn't stop charge battery even it‘s fully charged

MacBook Pro 2015 early with macOS 10.15.6
After I uninstalled AIDente，macOS didn't stop charge battery even it‘s fully charged.(battery 100%，but the LED on magsafe plug always orange not green）

Did anyone can tell me how to uninstall AIDente in the correct way？

Interaction with new Battery Management Health functionality in 10.15.5

Apple released new battery management in 10.15.5 that claims to extend the battery life: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211094.

This also discharges the battery every so often. Is there something known about the influence of setting the BMCL with Aldente on this? Should we not do this anymore and rely on Apple's improved battery management?

charging level based on the time of day

Hi,

I wanted to suggest an enhancement to a future version of AlDente

I think AlDente should have charge levels based on the time of day or something similar, as an example the charge level can be set to 50% during the evening/night. Then as the day is about to begin the charge can/should be set to 80% so it can be usable all day.

I think this would be a good compromise between usability and preserving battery health.

This suggestion is essentially mimicking the battery health feature on iOS 13/iPhones.

Thanks for creating the app!

Only works with Catalina?

when I open the DMG on my laptops running Mojave I see the dreaded "circle with line" over the app's icon. I really wanted this to work for Mojave since I don't plan on going to Catalina until next September. Maybe update the readme to state "requires macOS 10.15.x"

Max Battery Charge Defaults to 61

Hi, regardless of which battery level I have set, the battery level resets to 61 after restarting the computer. Other than that, app works great.

2016 MacBook Pro 13" w Touch Bar
MacOS Catalina 10.15.7

MacBook Air 9,1 (2020) on MacOs 10.15.4 not charging anymore after installing AlDente

MacBook Air 9,1 (2020) on MacOs 10.15.4 not charging anymore after installing AlDente
Charger is not being recognized anymore according to system report.

Doesn't work at MBP 13'' Retina late 2012

I had so high hopes. However, the charging doesn't seem to be affected by AlDente.

Catalina 10.15.7 is installed.

Any ideas what can be done?

Repeatedly in Console Log - Service exited with abnormal code: 78

Running MacOS 10.15.5 on a 2015 13" MacBook Pro. Al Dente reporting repeatedly, in the Console Log:

Jun 1 09:08:32 Family-MacBook-Pro com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.davidwernhart.AlDente-LaunchAtLoginHelper[8302]): Service exited with abnormal code: 78
Jun 1 09:08:32 Family-MacBook-Pro com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.davidwernhart.AlDente-LaunchAtLoginHelper): Service only ran for 4 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 6 seconds.

You can’t open the application “AlDente.app” because it may be damaged or incomplete.

Hey sorry if this is covering old territory. I saw #15 which seems to be the same issue, but it appears it's resurfaced. When I double click the app in Finder I get:

You can’t open the application “AlDente.app” because it may be damaged or incomplete.

I'm running Catalina on the new-ish 16" macbook. Downloaded from the releases page today (2020-11-19).

uninstall script

hello
what is the proper uninstall method ?

2020 MacBook Pro 13" results

Just for your information, I've got a 2020 MacBook Pro 13" (A2251) and I've been using AlDente on it for the past day or so.

I've found that it appears to work as intended (obviously taking into account the disclaimer in your README) and, when setting the max charge to 50%, the device stops charging at 51%.

I'm unsure of whether this is enough 'testing' for you to consider adding it to the README, but I wanted to let you know my results!

Does it work with Catalina 15.5?

Awesome software! I really like this project and, if it ever grows into an official release, I'll support it and spread the word. David, really thank you for your efforts.

macOS Catalina 15.5 introduces the new Battery Health feature. However, it doesn't substitute the functionality of AlDente, which I'd like to keep using.

Do your some other user have tested it with 15.5?

Build w/out Helper App

Is it possible to create a build of this app without the helper app? This would obviously mean having the user enter the password every time they change the setting for max battery, however it would now not have to run in the background all the time and it would theoretically be a more secure app and a complete uninstall would be possible after making the change. Most people would like to make the change and not have to worry about software lingering. Then if they need to change again in the future, they could just re-run and re-enter password. Something that doesn't require a full on install

I'd love to use it if so. I know this project is something you do in your spare time but you're doing a huge service to every mac user out there and a huge service to our environment by getting these batteries to last longer.

New 2020 13" MBP with 4 TB Ports keeps restarting every 7-10 days since AlDente

Hi, first of all, thanks for creating and providing AlDente.

Nonetheless, since I have installed AlDente on my 2020 13" MBP with 4 TB Ports, my Mac had to restart in the morning after opening the lid. Previous shutdown cause is -5 according to the log file. This already happened three times.

The MBP is plugged to a LG monitor, reason why I was hoping AlDente 1.2 would take care of the battery health.

I have to add tho, that the battery management function of 10.5.5 was enabled. I did disable it now, just to check if that might be the reason for the shutdowns and restarts.

Many thanks for any help or advice!

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019) not working

I'm setting Max Charge to 80% , Still over 80% ...
If need more information, Please replay me, I will provide your need. Thanks.

Battery Health Management

Do you recommend that we turn off Apple's "Battery Health Management" feature while using your app, or does it not matter?

I just purchase a 2020 MacBook Pro 16in" and I found this feature is turned on by default.

Thank you!

Unticking 'Use macOS battery scale' does not persist, following relaunch

As per title, in the latest release, unticking 'Use MacOS battery scale' does not persist, following relaunch of AlDente.app. Just an FYI! :)

VirtualSMC Support

Hi, nice to know this tool exists. I am wondering if this can be used with this kext too basing on your knowledge: https://github.com/acidanthera/VirtualSMC

Almost working on MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Two Thunderbold 3 ports) (A2159)

Thanks David.

• Just read that the AlDente functionality is present in MacOS 11. So it seems this has been a short but very welcome encounter. *

Here's what happens on the MacBook mentioned in the subject.
With MacBook charger connected: After installation of AlDente and setting the new charging value to e.g. 85%, the battery stays at 100%. So it seems AlDente is not working since in the Readme it says "wait till the OS registeres the change". But the charging value stays at 100%. I was expecting the charge to drop until it reaches the setting of 85%.
When I disconnect the charger and wait till the battery charging value drops to 85% I reconnect the charger and the charge value stays at 85%! Very good (see pic)
.
That's fine since I'm mainly using my MacBook as desktop with the charger connected continuously. When I stop AlDente the battery is charged to 100% again.

What is the de-installation?

Hi,

I wanted to charge up to full 100% with AlDente. But the charger doesn't accept the "100" field or ignores it. So I set AlDente to not start on reboot, rebooted the MacBook (w/o AlDente) and put it on charging - with the result, that it also only charges to 83% (had set AlDente to 80% previously).
Now, my question is: how can I completely reset my device to original state without AlDente? Is there a hidden magic setting, that I don't see?
Bonus-question: how can I remove AlDente and all helper scripts safely?

Charged past limit

I installed AlDente on my MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) Running 10.15.5, Set the max to 80%, and discharged the battery to 50%. Plugged it in, and it charged back up to 100% despite the 80% limit. Do you need to reboot or something after the change is set? Is there a way to verify the new limit got set with a command or something?

Love the idea of the app, especially since the native Apple one is disabled on machines that would actually benefit from it. Hopefully can get this working. Thanks!

macOS Big Sur support?

Working on MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014)

👍

Possible to reduce max charging current as well?

I'm curious where you found the BCLM SMC key to limit battery charge level; maybe there are other SMC keys that allow e.g. limiting the charging current? Fast charging is also somewhat damaging to the battery.

request: brew cask support

As stated in the title, thank you.

Do we need to set the battery percentage on AlDente every time the machine reboot?

I realized I always set mine at 80% but when I reboot the machine, it goes back to 103%. Is this normal behavior?

Battery health dropped since using AlDente

Since the app ran on my MacBook Air 2014, which by the way did not work, my battery health has dropped from 94 to 85 percent. Checked with coconut battery. Deleting the app and an smc reset did not bring any improvement. What happened here?

1.2 Release File Damaged

After installing version 1.2 from the releases page, I am unable to open the app. I receive this message:

“AlDente.app” is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash.

I did the following:

1. Downloaded the .dmg.
2. Opened the .dmg.
3. Dragged the app to the Applications directory.
4. Opened "AlDente" with Launchpad.
5. Saw the error window.

I also tried launching the app directly from the Applications directory with the same result.

I am running Catalina 10.15.4 on a MacBook Pro A1989 (2018).

B&W Menu Bar Icon

Would it be possible to add an option to the app to make the menu bar icon black and white?

Not working with MacBook 12' (2017)

HI there,

I was waiting for this feature for ages, and now, that it seems to be available, it doesn't work on my MacBook:
MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017)
10.15.5 (19F101)

It charges up and above 100% although I installed (and re-installed) the helper several times.

Sad :-(
-crzydg

v1.2 app damaged

When I try to start the v1.2 app macOS says the app is damaged and cannot be started.
macOS 10.15.5

How to uninstall?

MacOS Big Sur Compatibility

Hi,

First of all, thanks for this great tool! Just wanted to know if this tool will continue working in the Big Sur update?

If not, do you have plans to make an update? More than happy to help you test as per your convenience.

Additionally, if you're not planning to make the update, is there some kind of guidance you can offer as to the step we'd require to take.

Thanks again!

Does not work on MacBook Pro 13" 2017 with 4 Thunderbolt ports

Hey,
i would love to use your nice little and helpful tool, but it didn't works on my MB 13" from 2017 with 4 Ports.
I hope you can add support for it.
Thanks in Advance
Marc

Battery indicator on Mac stuck on 100%.

The battery indicator on Mac stuck on 100%, after setting the limit charge to 100%, but after that the battery status stuck on 100% even after unplugging the power for a while, but when the battery status with other app (Battery Monitor from app store), the battery is actually 85%. -Macbook Pro 2017 Non Touchbar

Somone managed to run it on a M1 MBP with Big Sur?

Somone managed to run it on a M1 MBP with Big Sur?

Charging does not stop on MacBook Pro 2015 15" running macOS 10.15.5

Set it to 50 and it didn't stop. Let it drop to 47%, plugged back in, I'm at 88% and climbing. Maybe the new Catalina adding Battery Health stuff messed with it. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong, I kinda hope thats true because I want this to work bad enough I upgraded from Mojave haha...

V1.2: Icon in menubar is all black

The icon pre-version 1.2 was in color. With version 1.2 the icon shown in the menubar is all black.

How to deinstall?

Thank you for your great work, I love the idea of this project! But how can I get back to the old state, in case that I want to deinstall the app? Especially because of the helper, how can I remove it completely?