Do notch apps drain your Mac battery?
There is no honest single answer, because the battery cost of a notch app depends on what the app does, not on being a notch app. An app that sits idle until you hover costs very little. An app that animates continuously, plays visualisers or polls the system every second costs more. Apple publishes no figures for third party apps.
What decides the cost
- How often it wakes up when nothing is happening. A closed panel that does nothing is cheap. A closed panel that keeps updating a readout is not.
- Whether it runs animations or a visualiser while idle.
- Whether it keeps the camera, microphone or network open.
- How many tools run at once.
What is known about NotchStar
NotchStar’s idle CPU, memory and energy impact have not been measured, so no figure is quoted here. What the code and feature page state: the System tool samples CPU, memory, disk, battery and network once a second and only while its tab is on screen, and the Mirror camera runs only while the Mirror tab is open.
Check any notch app yourself
Apple’s Activity Monitor has an Energy tab. Per Apple, Energy Impact is a relative measure of the current energy consumption of the app, and lower is better. On a Mac laptop a 12 hr Power column shows the average over the last 12 hours or since startup.
- Leave the notch app running and idle for a while, using your Mac normally.
- Open Activity Monitor and click Energy.
- Click the Energy Impact heading to sort, and find the app.
- Check 12 hr Power after a longer period, and compare with the app turned off for the same period.
Our energy by app page walks through those steps in more detail. Quit the app, wait, and compare. A single reading is not a comparison.
Reading the numbers
Energy Impact is not a measurement in watts. Apple describes it as a relative measure, so use it to compare apps on the same Mac, not to compare Macs.
Reduce the cost
Turn off tools you do not use, quit the app when you are on battery and low on charge, and check for updates. Turn on Low Power Mode if you need more time; see Low Power Mode on a Mac.
Before installing any app that runs all day, read the privacy checklist for notch apps. NotchStar’s System tool shows battery level and CPU use if you want a quick reading from the notch, with no per app breakdown.
