MacBooks generally manage power well, but users can optimize battery life through several settings. First, check your battery's health in System Settings > Battery. Apple recommends battery replacement if capacity drops below 80 percent. To extend lifespan, enable 'Optimize Battery Charging' to cap charging at 80 percent. The menu bar's Battery shortcut is useful for monitoring charge, energy mode, and power-hungry apps, and can override the 80 percent cap.

Enabling 'Low Power Mode' in System Settings > Battery is crucial for extending battery life, especially on older batteries or during long days. Adjusting display settings, such as 'Slightly dim the display on battery' and setting 'Turn display off on battery when inactive' to a short interval (e.g., two minutes), conserves power. Optimizing video streaming by playing HDR video in SDR while unplugged also helps. Keyboard backlight settings can offer minimal savings.

Identify power-draining apps using Activity Monitor's Energy tab. Review 'Login Items & Extensions' in System Settings > General to disable unnecessary background app activity, but proceed with caution. Web browsers, particularly Chrome, can be significant drains; consider using Safari or enabling 'Energy Saver' in Chrome settings. Disabling auto-playing videos and animations can further conserve power. Finally, in System Settings > Battery > Options, set 'Wake for network access' to 'Only on Power Adapter' to prevent unnecessary wake-ups while unplugged. Auditing app location permissions is also advisable.