Can you please direct me to where this is possible in MacOS? I can't see any option to configure a charging cap except some "smart" option which has been on this whole time but always charges to 100%.
I was referring to the built-in "Optimised battery charging" feature. When this is active and has decided it will cap charging at 80% [2], you get a "charge to full now" option in the battery menu.
[1] https://apphousekitchen.com
[2] I do agree that this feature sucks and rarely actually works, unless you have a very predictable charging schedule.
I suspect quite a few people do that so it probably is net-good overall, but agree it doesn’t work well if you’re moving around a lot.
But my response was to the parent comment (emphasis mine):
> Noone should ever charge to more than 80%. That is short sighted and environmentally moronic. After less than two years a device will have more capacity at 80% than the same battery will have at 100% if it was charged to 100%.
My point is that I find there are legitimate uses cases for sometimes charging to 100%. And, indeed, those cases are much better served if most of the time I only charge less. In my case, this could be much less (50% of my iphone's battery is more than enough 360 days a year – and I know beforehand when it's going to be one of those 5 remaining days)
Don't forget, "100%" isn't really 100% any more after a year or two of charging to 100% all the time. You've probably lost 20% or so of your battery's capacity and it will be charging slower due to increased internal resistance.
> "Where does this 80% come from? Would it be even better if I stopped charging at 60%?"
Yes, but only marginally better since there's diminishing returns. 80% is generally considered to be the sweet spot that best balances practicality with battery health.