The biggest power hogs

Most power–intensive processes are hardware related: Your laptop’s screen and speakers, wireless tech, and any connected hardware such as external drives. Also switch off your MacBook’s keyboard backlight when not needed (System Prefs > Keyboard). There are also background processes you may want to keep in check. These include Spotlight indexing (switch off by dragging your drive to the Privacy tab under System Prefs > Spotlight) and app notifications (disable all but the most essential). Your Mac will alert you to apps using lots of system resources, and power, when on battery power. Click the battery icon in the menu bar to see them.