macOS Catatina 10.15.5 update is available with Battery Health Management and more

Apple on Tuesday released macOS Catalina 10.15.5, an update to the Mac operating system. The marquee feature of this update is Battery Health Management, which was revealed to developers back in April. This feature adjusts the MacBook’s battery charging so that it doesn’t reach full capacity, thereby extending the overall life of the battery. (Charging lithium-based batteries to 100 percent can cause wear and tear, which shortens battery life.)

The update also includes a new option in FaceTime to turn off the user zoom during group FaceTime conferences. Apple introduced this option in iOS when it released the iOS 13.5 update.

For users who own Apple’s Pro Display XDR, macOS 10.15.5 has controls for fine-tuning the white point and luminance of the display’s built-in calibration.

According to the release notes, there are the “bug fixes and other improvements” in the update (the company says this document has the details on the included security updates):

• Fixes an issue that may prevent Reminders from sending notifications for recurring reminders

• Addresses an issue that may prevent password entry on the login screen

• Fixes an issue where System Preferences would continue to show a notification badge even after installing an update

• Resolves an issue where the built-in camera may not be detected when trying to use it after using a video conferencing app

• Addresses an issue for Mac computers with the Apple T2 Security Chip where internal speakers may not appear as a sound output device in Sound preferences

• Fixes a stability issue with uploading and downloading media files from iCloud Photo Library while your Mac is asleep

• Resolves a stability issue when transferring large amounts of data to RAID volumes

• Fixes an issue where the Reduce Motion Accessibility preference did not reduce the speed of animations in a FaceTime group call

How to install the macOS Catalina 10.15.5 update

Before you install the update, you should back up you Mac. This could come in handy in case you find that the update gives your Macs problems and you need to restore your data.

To install the update, you need an internet connection. Click on the Apple menu and select About This Mac. In the Overview section of the window that appears, click on the Software Update button. Your Mac will check for the update, and once it is found, you can proceed. The installation will take several minutes and requires your Mac to restart.