Apple brings battery health improvements to macOS Catalina with 10.15.5 update
Apple has released the latest update for macOS Catalina, bringing users up to version 10.15.5 and adding a new feature to hopefully help improve the battery performance of Macbooks over time.
We've known that Apple's Battery Health Management feature was coming, given that it's had multiple rounds of beta testing, but is now available for all users.
It effectively monitors your usage history and charging patterns to change the way that your battery charges when connected to power, which in practice may mean stopping it from reaching full charge at certain times, which Apple warns about in its explanation.
The flipside of this limitation, though, is that the battery should age more slowly and therefore retain its expected charge capacity for longer over time. This means that, for example, if you generally use your MacBook while it's plugged in, the computer should work that out and stop itself from reaching full capacity, which would over time reduce said capacity.
Given that battery capacity and charging is often the key reason why people feel the need to eventually upgrade their laptops, this could be a big benefit, if it makes an appreciable difference. Apple has also previously explained that all usage data for the feature will be kept on-device and not shared unless people opt into sending analytics info to Apple.
The macOS update, which is available now through the System Preferences settings on your compatible MacBooks, also brings some bug fixes, and a few tweaks to FaceTime calling to allow users more flexibility on whose video feed they see at given times in group calls.
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