Know exactly whereyour power is going
The Mac power monitor that lives in your menu bar — real-time watts in, watts out, per-device USB power draw, and battery health straight from macOS power APIs. Catch weak chargers, test cables, track solar budgets, and get notified before your battery hits 0.
v1.3.0
Power intelligence your Macnever had out of the box
Real watts in, real watts out
Not a percentage. Not an estimate. Actual wattage from your charger and actual system draw — updated every 10 seconds straight from macOS power APIs. Numbers you can trust, not guess.
Which USB device is eating your battery?
UniqueEvery connected USB device has its own row: name, manufacturer, current in mA, voltage, and watts consumed. Finally know if that USB fan costs more power than it's worth.
Built for solar & off-grid work
Working off a solar pack, generator, or car inverter? Real-time watts in vs out tells you your exact energy budget. Know when to unplug non-essentials before you discharge into the unknown.
Alerts that save your battery
Two smart OS notifications: (1) your charger is delivering less than your Mac consumes — net drain alert. (2) Battery below 30 min with USB devices still connected — unplug them now.
Expose bad cables before they waste your time
UniquePlug in a USB-C cable claiming 100W. WattsOrbit shows 18W. That's a bad cable. Test every adapter and hub you own until you know exactly what delivers what.
Menu bar app — always there, never in the way
A 380px popup, no Dock icon, no full-screen window. Click the icon, see your power status, close it. Or open the full dashboard for history, charts, and per-session breakdowns.
Battery health at a glance
NewCycle count, health percentage, max vs design capacity — all pulled from your Mac's SMC with no extra tools. Watch your battery age in real time and know when it's time to book a Genius Bar appointment.
Temperature display with colour-coded alerts
NewNormal, warm, or dangerously hot — the battery temperature is colour-coded in both the popup and the health panel. A hot battery degrades faster; WattsOrbit tells you before the damage is done.
Charge-limit notifications (80% sweet spot)
NewGet notified when your battery hits 80% so you can unplug and stay in the healthy zone. A sustained alert fires after 30+ minutes above 80% while plugged in. Keeps cycles low, lifespan long.
Your Mac has no built-in power intelligence
Activity Monitor shows CPU and memory. iStatMenus shows temperature and battery percentage. Neither tells you what your 96W adapter is actually delivering, whether your USB-C cable is throttling power, or which connected device is draining your battery fastest.
If you work off a solar power bank in the field, off a generator on a shoot, or you just bought a USB-C hub and want to know how much it costs you — there was no tool for this. WattsOrbit reads directly from macOS power APIs and gives you the numbers, updated every 10 seconds, in a 380px popup that lives in your menu bar.
See it in action
No other Mac tool does this.
Activity Monitor shows CPU. iStatMenus shows temperature. WattsOrbit shows power intelligence.
Free now. Procoming soon.
WattsOrbit's v1 is completely free. Pro features require writing to your Mac's SMC chip to directly control charging hardware — the same approach used by AlDente and coconutBattery Pro. That needs a signed privileged helper, ongoing Apple notarisation, and significant engineering to maintain safely. Built in spare time, on nights and weekends — the Pro tier funds keeping it alive.
Everything you need to understand your Mac's power — zero cost, forever.
- ✓Real-time watts in / out
- ✓Per-device USB wattage
- ✓Charger & cable detection
- ✓Battery health panel (cycles, health %, capacity)
- ✓Temperature display & alerts
- ✓Healthy-range indicator (20–80%)
- ✓Charge-limit notification at 80%
- ✓Power flow chart (today)
- ✓Login-item autostart
Direct SMC control for battery longevity. Requires a signed privileged helper — safety, notarisation, and significant engineering to maintain. Privileged helpers must be re-signed and re-tested on every major macOS release. This tier funds that ongoing work.
- 🎯Custom Charge LimitPro
Stop charging at any % you choose — keeps long-term lifespan high.
- ⛵Sailing ModePro
Discharge to a target level before plugging in — recalibrate your battery.
- 🔥Heat ProtectionPro
Auto-pause charging when battery temperature exceeds a threshold.
- ⬇️Discharge ModePro
Force battery-only operation even while plugged in.
- 🔝Top UpPro
Temporarily override the charge limit and go to 100% for travel days.
- 📈Export & ReportingPro
CSV/JSON export, weekly summaries, and cycle-trend graphs.
A note from Slothy
Help us
please! ☕
100% open sourceWattsOrbit is free. Built with heart, on nights and weekends.
WattsOrbit is open source — every line is on GitHub. Zero tracking. Zero telemetry. The Apple Developer license is covered — signed builds are rolling out. If your download still shows a warning, see below.
WattsOrbit runs on spare time. No VC, no investors. Just something built from scratch in spare time because we wanted tools that don't exist. If you find it useful, a coffee keeps the lights on.
WattsOrbit is verified open source — MIT license, zero telemetry
Know where every watt is going
Free. macOS only. Native Rust binary.
v1.3.0 · Free forever · macOS 10.15+ · Apple Silicon & Intel