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What the battery gauge in NotchStar shows

System stats Published

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The battery ring in NotchStar shows how charged your Mac is, as a percentage. It does not show time remaining. While the Mac is charging the label reads Charging and the ring turns green, and below 20 percent on battery it turns red.

What you see

  • A percentage inside the ring. NotchStar reads the current charge and the maximum charge that macOS reports for the power source and divides one by the other.
  • Charging. If the power source says it is charging, the label changes from Battery to Charging and the ring is green. A full battery on charge is green, not an alarm.
  • Low. On battery, anything under 20 percent is red.
  • Otherwise the ring is white.

The other rings do the opposite and warn when the number is high. Battery is the one where low is bad, so it has its own rule.

What it does not show

  • No estimate of time left. If you want that, look in the Mac’s own battery menu in the menu bar.
  • No battery health, cycle count or temperature. The percentage is the charge level of a battery at its current capacity.
  • No ring at all on a Mac without a battery, such as a Mac mini or Mac Studio.

The reading refreshes once a second, and only while the System tab is open. For how the sampling works, read how often NotchStar updates system stats. For the whole tool, see the System stats feature page.

Quick answers.

Does NotchStar show how long my battery will last?

No. The ring shows the charge level as a percentage and whether the Mac is charging. It has no time remaining estimate.

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Why is there no battery ring on my Mac?

The ring only appears on Macs that report a battery. A desktop Mac shows CPU, memory, disk and network only.

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Keep reading.

CPU, memory, disk, battery and network
Live CPU, memory, disk, battery and network speed gauges in your Mac notch. Sampling only runs while the tab is open, so it stays light.
How often NotchStar updates system stats
The System tab samples once a second, and only while it is on screen. The Monitor section in Disk samples every 3 seconds, ports about every 9.
Does NotchStar system stats drain your battery?
The System tab reads a few counters once a second and only while it is open. No battery cost has been measured, so none is claimed.
What the CPU gauge in NotchStar shows
The CPU ring in the NotchStar System tab shows how busy your whole Mac is, as a percentage, sampled once a second while the tab is open.

More in System stats.

What the CPU gauge in NotchStar shows
The CPU ring in the NotchStar System tab shows how busy your whole Mac is, as a percentage, sampled once a second while the tab is open.
What the memory gauge in NotchStar shows
The memory ring in NotchStar counts active, wired and compressed memory against your Mac's total RAM. Cached files are not counted.
What the disk gauge in NotchStar shows
The disk ring in the System tab shows how full your startup volume is, counting space macOS can reclaim as free, so it can differ from Terminal.
How NotchStar measures network speed
NotchStar shows download and upload speed in bytes per second from your WiFi and Ethernet interfaces, so VPN traffic is not counted twice.
How often NotchStar updates system stats
The System tab samples once a second, and only while it is on screen. The Monitor section in Disk samples every 3 seconds, ports about every 9.
Does NotchStar system stats drain your battery?
The System tab reads a few counters once a second and only while it is open. No battery cost has been measured, so none is claimed.
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