Do You Still Need AlDente Now macOS Has a Charge Limit?
If you only want your MacBook to stop at 80%, and it has Apple silicon and macOS Tahoe 26.4 or later, Apple's built-in Charge Limit now does that for free and you may not need AlDente. AlDente is still worth a look if your Mac cannot use Apple's setting, you want a lower limit than Apple allows, or you want extras such as discharging while plugged in and heat protection.
What Apple's Charge Limit does
From Apple's support article:
- It requires macOS Tahoe 26.4 or later and a Mac with Apple silicon.
- You choose a limit between 80% and 100%.
- Open System Settings › Battery, click the info button next to Charging, choose a limit, then click Done.
- The Mac charges to within a few percentage points of the limit and then stops. If the level drops more than 5% while connected to power, charging resumes.
- Charge to Full Now in the battery status menu gives you a full charge when you need one.
- The Mac will still occasionally charge to 100% to keep its battery estimates accurate, whether the limit is on or not.
That last point catches people out. Seeing 100% once in a while is expected behavior, not a broken setting. It is also separate from Optimized Battery Charging, which uses on-device learning to delay charging past 80% in some situations.
What AlDente adds
AlDente from AppHouseKitchen lists these on its site: a charge limiter, discharge, heat protection, sailing mode, calibration mode, top up, schedules, sleep control, Shortcuts support and a customizable menu bar. It comes in Free and Pro. Its pricing page lists Charge Limiter and Discharge under Free, and heat protection, sailing, calibration and top up under Pro, along with current prices.
The developer's own response to Apple's feature is a fair summary: Apple's version "may cover the basic use case", while AlDente is built around control and configurability.
Side by side
| macOS Charge Limit | AlDente | Mole's Battery charging protection | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limit | 80% to 100% | Your choice, see its site | Fixed near 80% |
| Macs | Apple silicon, macOS 26.4 or later | See its site | Macs with a battery where Mole can control charging, otherwise opens Apple's setting |
| Temporary full charge | Charge to Full Now | Top up (Pro) | Charge to 100% |
| Heat protection, sailing, calibration | No | Yes (Pro) | No |
| Discharge while plugged in | No | Yes | No |
| Extra software | None | The app | Mole and its helper |
How to decide
You leave it plugged in at a desk and only want it to stop at 80%: use Apple's setting. Nothing to install and no helper to keep updated.
You are on an Intel Mac or an older macOS: Charge Limit is not available to you. Optimized Battery Charging remains the built-in option, and a third-party tool is the way to set a hard limit.
You want to go below 80%, or care about heat and discharge: look at AlDente, and confirm the range on its site. Apple's slider stops at 80%.
You already use Mole: see the section below.
One rule for all of these: run one charging controller at a time. Two tools writing to the same charging controls can leave you confused about which of them is holding the battery. Turn one off before you try another. And before crediting any of them with saved battery health, know that Apple does not publish a number, and yours will not show a difference for a long time. How to check MacBook battery health covers what you can actually measure.
Where Mole fits
Mole has a Battery charging protection switch in the Battery section of Settings. It pauses charging near 80% and picks up again a few percent below, so the battery does not cycle constantly. Charge to 100% in the menu bar panel gets you a full charge for a trip, then Resume 80% limit puts it back. It uses a privileged helper, so turning it on asks for approval once. On an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 26.4 or later where Mole cannot control charging itself, it sends you to Apple's Battery settings instead. The menu bar panel also shows battery health and cycle count.
It has no heat protection, sailing, calibration or discharge, and the limit is not adjustable, so it does not replace AlDente if you use those. And if you only want this one thing, Apple's setting is free.
FAQ
Does macOS have a built-in charge limit?
Yes, since macOS Tahoe 26.4 on Macs with Apple silicon. Open System Settings › Battery, click the info button next to Charging, and pick a limit from 80% to 100%.
Is AlDente still worth it?
If you need a lower limit, discharge, heat protection or sailing mode, or your Mac cannot use Apple's Charge Limit, it is worth a look. If you only want to stop at 80%, Apple's setting covers it.
Why did my Mac charge to 100% with a limit set?
Apple says the Mac occasionally charges to 100% to keep its charge estimates accurate, with or without a limit. If it happens every day, check that you did not choose Charge to Full Now and that only one tool controls charging.
Can I use AlDente and Apple's Charge Limit together?
AlDente says it has worked on integrating Apple's system, so follow its guidance for your version. Otherwise use one, so you know which tool is responsible for what the battery does.
Does Charge Limit work on Intel Macs?
No. Apple's article requires a Mac with Apple silicon.