Battery Diag, useful, pretty MacBook tool
Ironically, because the Apple MacBook Air has a longer battery life than earlier laptops, there’s more need to watch how much juice is still in the tank.
That may not make sense, let me explain. In the old days you just knew you didn’t have much time left. You were always minutes away from needing a top-up.
With ten hours or so of computing from a single charge, it’s easier to lose track.
Monitor battery life
Battery Diag from the Mac App Store is a the best tool I’ve seen for monitoring the battery. It’s free and looks pretty, with a design that echoes the iOS 7 design found on iPads, iPhones and, surprisingly, Westpac bank's web site.
The app runs in the menu bar, so you can get at it quickly, it sips resources and stays out-of-the-way until needed.
Click on the menu bar icon to get a report on the amount of power left both as a percentage and as a time estimate. There’s also an indicator showing the state of battery health and number of charge cycles. Further information, including battery temperature and power usage is hidden behind an I icon.
The clever bit is that if you’re running out of juice, you can tinker with your open apps and usage to trim the power drain and extend the time remaining.
Recommended.