Macbook Pro said about 6 hours of battery remain and 10 mins later says 2 hours Help

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irunthistown

macrumors newbie

Original poster

• Apr 15, 2011

• #1

Can someone explain this ? I just opened final cut and watched a couple videos on Quicktime.

 

alust2013

macrumors 601

• Apr 15, 2011

• #2

It's just basing that estimation on current usage, so watching videos uses more power, and will decrease your estimation.

 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere

• Apr 15, 2011

• #3

Your battery life is determined by a number of factors, including screen brightness, WiFi, Bluetooth and what you have running. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 16, 2011

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irunthistown

macrumors newbie

Original poster

• Apr 15, 2011

• #4

So it can drop by 4 hours in less than 10 mins ?

 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere

• Apr 15, 2011

• #5

irunthistown said:

So it can drop by 4 hours in less than 10 mins ?

Click to expand...

Yes. Read the FAQ I posted. It also helps to calibrate your battery, to make sure your readings are accurate. Instructions are in that FAQ.

 

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superericla

macrumors 6502

• Apr 15, 2011

• #6

It estimates the battery life based on what you're doing. All that it is saying is that with Final Cut and those quicktime movies oven you should only expect 2 hours of battery life. The expected battery life would increase if you lowered your usage (i.e. closed quicktime or final cut).

 

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mark28

macrumors 68000

• Apr 15, 2011

• #7

irunthistown said:

Can someone explain this ? I just opened final cut and watched a couple videos on Quicktime.

Click to expand...

If you open up final cut pro, then it uses up more CPU and hence a bigger battery drain.

 

legreve

macrumors regular

• Apr 16, 2011

• #8

The battery time you have read regarding 7 hours life, Is with 50% brightness or so and minimal usage... the more you have running the less battery you have and playing a movie Is one thing that really sucks battery...

 

mrwonkers

macrumors 6502

• Apr 16, 2011

• #9

irunthistown said:

Can someone explain this ? I just opened final cut and watched a couple videos on Quicktime.

Click to expand...

The only way to deal with this is to throw your MBP out of the nearest window.

 

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iMackPro

macrumors 6502

• Apr 16, 2011

• #10

legreve said:

The battery time you have read regarding 7 hours life, Is with 50% brightness or so and minimal usage... the more you have running the less battery you have and playing a movie Is one thing that really sucks battery...

Click to expand...

+1.


especially if you have the higher end 15 with the big boy GPU

 

Fubar1977

macrumors 6502a

• Apr 16, 2011

• #11

Final Cut and quicktime both chew up the battery to some degree, especially FCP.
I can comfortably get 7 hours plus out of my mid 2010 15" i5 on light useage (web browsing etc) but if I start hitting the meaty apps then that battery will plummet.
Ripping a DVD in handbrake will reduce it from 7 hours plus to around 90 mins for example.

Also, do follow GGJ`s guide and calibrate your battery, it won`t improve the life of the battery but you will get more accurate estimates.


Better yet, switch to percentage instead of time remaining, you stress about it less I find...