macOS Sonoma better optimizes the long-term battery health of the 13-inch MacBook Air with the M2 chip, according to Apple's release notes for the software update.
"Battery health management updated on 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip to better optimize long term battery health," the release notes state.
Apple does not provide any additional details about the exact optimizations that it made, nor have there been any widespread battery health complaints from customers who own this 13-inch MacBook Air model, released in July 2022. Battery health information can be found by opening the System Settings app and clicking on Battery.
In a support document, Apple explains how the battery health management feature works:
Battery health management is designed to improve your battery's lifespan by reducing the rate at which it chemically ages. The feature does this by monitoring your battery's temperature history and its charging patterns.
Based on the measurements that it collects, battery health management may temporarily reduce your battery's maximum charge. This happens as needed to ensure that your battery charges to a level that's optimized for your usage—reducing wear on the battery, and slowing its chemical aging.
macOS Sonoma is set to be released today following over three months of beta testing, with key new features including interactive desktop widgets, a Game Mode, the ability to add websites to the Dock as web apps, several Safari improvements, and more. We previously shared a list of Macs compatible with the update.
