How much % does your battery use when in Sleep Mode? [Archive]

CSilver

Feb 1, 2009, 05:19 PM

I have recently purchased the Refurb Alum Macbook 2.0GHz and I was wondering if my battery was abnormal...

I left it in "Sleep" mode for like 1 hour and when I came back to check on it, the battery % was dropped from 78% to 72%.

Is that normal ?? I should let you know that I had Wifi connection on, and had firefox browser open when I made it to go to sleep.

Thanks for your time to answer ;)
-Chris-

jaxonkohne

Feb 1, 2009, 05:20 PM

thats seems about right to me..

CSilver

Feb 1, 2009, 05:32 PM

thats seems about right to me..

So, if I let it sleep all the night without the charger... I will have like no or low battery left in the morning ? :eek:

jaxonkohne

Feb 1, 2009, 05:36 PM

from my expereience.. i would always plug my laptop in if it was going to be on oover night... i dont find it shocking... thats liek 8-10 hours of battery life :confused:

CSilver

Feb 1, 2009, 05:39 PM

from my expereience.. i would always plug my laptop in if it was going to be on oover night... i dont find it shocking... thats liek 8-10 hours of battery life :confused:

I guess... but I was just surprised since I was out for just an hour for some errands so I just left it to sleep and dada~ lol

I guess I am just getting paranoid since this is my first mac :p:apple:

spinnerlys

Feb 1, 2009, 05:58 PM

6% battery drain in one hour while sleeping doesn't seem right.
Hell my iBook needed less than that for a whole day's sleep.

There seems to be an issue with the new Unibody batteries, as there are a lot of cases where new MBPs use up to 3% per hour sleep.
There is also a lengthy thread over at Apple Discussions in the MBP battery section.

DeusInvictus7

Feb 1, 2009, 08:10 PM

Yeah, that doesn't sound right... 6% in 1 hour?

It should be 1% every 1-2 hours, or at least, that's what I've been getting.

CSilver

Feb 1, 2009, 08:40 PM

Yeah, that doesn't sound right... 6% in 1 hour?

It should be 1% every 1-2 hours, or at least, that's what I've been getting.

So... should I call apple ?? I am not sure if my Refurb Macbook is normal... or not... this is my first mac so I am quite hesitated about making the right call...

edit: I think I am going to test my battery drain while in sleep again tonight... If I get the same result of 6~7% per hour then I will make a call to Apple tomorrow.

DeusInvictus7

Feb 1, 2009, 08:58 PM

So... should I call apple ?? I am not sure if my Refurb Macbook is normal... or not... this is my first mac so I am quite hesitated about making the right call...

edit: I think I am going to test my battery drain while in sleep again tonight... If I get the same result of 6~7% per hour then I will make a call to Apple tomorrow.

Yeah, my macbook is my first mac too, but I have done quite a bit of research and all so I kinda know my way around "problems." I haven't had any with my macbook until a couple weeks ago, where my magsafe light won't turn on/charge. It's working ok now, but randomly it will decide to not work.

But yeah, good idea on testing it again...do you have anything connected to the macbook? Bluetooth devices, ipods, anything? Those suck battery life as well no matter what.

CSilver

Feb 1, 2009, 09:49 PM

Yeah, my macbook is my first mac too, but I have done quite a bit of research and all so I kinda know my way around "problems." I haven't had any with my macbook until a couple weeks ago, where my magsafe light won't turn on/charge. It's working ok now, but randomly it will decide to not work.

But yeah, good idea on testing it again...do you have anything connected to the macbook? Bluetooth devices, ipods, anything? Those suck battery life as well no matter what.

I just tested for 1 hour sleep of battery drain and it went down from 67% to 57% when I opened the lid to check it....
This really worries me now... Anybody knows what do to here??:mad:

DeusInvictus7

Feb 1, 2009, 09:52 PM

I just tested for 1 hour sleep of battery drain and it went down from 67% to 57% when I opened the lid to check it....
This really worries me now... Anybody knows what do to here??:mad:

Wow...uh, like I said in my other post, do you have anything connected to your macbook?

CSilver

Feb 1, 2009, 09:58 PM

Wow...uh, like I said in my other post, do you have anything connected to your macbook?

Nothing what so ever... I even closed all the apps for this test and it resulted worse... What should I do? Is there a way to reset the battery? I have done the Battery calibration couple of times already the day I got it. I wasn't meaning to calibrate two times but the battery just ran out quickly and I didn't plug in while I was using...

Edit: This Refurb Alum Macbook 2.0GHz arrived on Last Friday morning Jan 30th... And I purchased it online on the 27th... This is very frustrating..

DeusInvictus7

Feb 1, 2009, 10:02 PM

Nothing what so ever... I even closed all the apps for this test and it resulted worse... What should I do? Is there a way to reset the battery? I have done the Battery calibration couple of times already the day I got it. I wasn't meaning to calibrate two times but the battery just ran out quickly and I didn't plug in while I was using...

Edit: This Refurb Alum Macbook 2.0GHz arrived on Last Friday morning Jan 30th... And I purchased it online on the 27th... This is very frustrating..

I guess the only thing that I can really say is make a Genius Bar appointment and see if you can get it replaced.

CSilver

Feb 1, 2009, 10:04 PM

I guess the only thing that I can really say is make a Genius Bar appointment and see if you can get it replaced.

This is Really disappointing.... I researched it quite a bit and trusted the Refurb products as I found some good feedbacks and reviews...

So do I have to call the Apple Customer Service or... sorry its my first mac...:confused:

DeusInvictus7

Feb 1, 2009, 10:07 PM

This is Really disappointing.... I researched it quite a bit and trusted the Refurb products as I found some good feedbacks and reviews...

So do I have to call the Apple Customer Service or... sorry its my first mac...:confused:

Lol, as much as I really want to help, my macbook is my first mac too.

Do you have an Apple Store near you? You can just go to the Apple site and schedule an appointment there.

http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

CSilver

Feb 1, 2009, 10:10 PM

Lol, as much as I really want to help, my macbook is my first mac too.

Do you have an Apple Store near you? You can just go to the Apple site and schedule an appointment there.

http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

I live in Canada and ya there is one yet its 1 hour and 30 mins drive away...
phew... Now I am getting thoughts of regrets for choosing Refurb...well I guess its not refurb...

Thank you so much for your quick replies...:)

DeusInvictus7

Feb 1, 2009, 10:24 PM

I live in Canada and ya there is one yet its 1 hour and 30 mins drive away...
phew... Now I am getting thoughts of regrets for choosing Refurb...well I guess its not refurb...

Thank you so much for your quick replies...:)

Where in Canada do you live? My closest Apple Store is the same distance as you. And it's not just because it is a Refurb, I've read about people with brand new machines and this same thing happened to them too, so you can't really blame it on that. Batteries themselves are never 100% consistent, so pretty much everyone's battery will be different in a sense.

And I'm just glad I am able to help, I mean, I hate when people on these forums just keep saying "use the search" or "there are a ton of threads already about this". While those are true and might save you time, it's just...well, even more of a waste of time.

SteveMobs

Feb 1, 2009, 10:25 PM

I use the sleep function all the time and I use it when I go to bed, after about 8 hours of sleep, it'll have gone down about 5-8%

CSilver

Feb 1, 2009, 10:27 PM

Where in Canada do you live? My closest Apple Store is the same distance as you. And it's not just because it is a Refurb, I've read about people with brand new machines and this same thing happened to them too, so you can't really blame it on that. Batteries themselves are never 100% consistent, so pretty much everyone's battery will be different in a sense.

And I'm just glad I am able to help, I mean, I hate when people on these forums just keep saying "use the search" or "there are a ton of threads already about this". While those are true and might save you time, it's just...well, even more of a waste of time.

Yes, I am definitely glade that you helped me through this. I live in Edmonton area in Alberta, Canada. I think I will give Apple a call first thing tomorrow morning. Thank you again.
-Chris-

DeusInvictus7

Feb 1, 2009, 10:32 PM

Yes, I am definitely glade that you helped me through this. I live in Edmonton area in Alberta, Canada. I think I will give Apple a call first thing tomorrow morning. Thank you again.
-Chris-

Oh, and when you do go to the Apple Store, keep us (mainly me :) ) posted, I would really like to know the outcome.

CSilver

Feb 1, 2009, 10:36 PM

Oh, and when you do go to the Apple Store, keep us (mainly me :) ) posted, I would really like to know the outcome.

Yes, for sure ;) I will update on what the Apple Customer service says about it.

hsleiman

Feb 1, 2009, 11:19 PM

Just thought I would chime in to make you feel better about your refurb... I have a new unibody macbook and have the same sleep battery issue. This is my first mac so I thought it was normal until I saw this thread. I'll check with some of my macbook using friends and see how their batteries hold up. Keep us posted with what customer service says about it:)

tubbymac

Feb 2, 2009, 12:59 AM

Yeah you were unlucky and got a lemon. That much battery drain during sleep is not normal. You should expect about 1% per hour of battery drain on a normal machine. Make sure you get yours fixed with Applecare.

Beanlok

Feb 2, 2009, 01:06 AM

You probably got my old one!! haha send it back get an exchange.

ppc750fx

Feb 2, 2009, 01:16 AM

The rule of thumb that I use is that sleep power usage should be < 1%/hr. Anything more than that and I know that the machine's either got a bum battery or isn't sleeping properly. I've never actually measured power drain (and the software percentage reading is just estimation anyways), but the rough 1%/hr rule's a pretty conservative one that has served me well in the past.

Macinposh

Feb 2, 2009, 01:44 AM

I have the exactly same problem and asked about it couple of days ago.
Intrested to hear what peeps come up with. I installed a new HDD on mine and now the computer eats the battery during the night time...
My old iBook lost maybe 5% during the night, alubook looses about 60%...

Hmm.

CSilver

Feb 2, 2009, 10:37 AM

I use the sleep function all the time and I use it when I go to bed, after about 8 hours of sleep, it'll have gone down about 5-8%

Yeah you were unlucky and got a lemon. That much battery drain during sleep is not normal. You should expect about 1% per hour of battery drain on a normal machine. Make sure you get yours fixed with Applecare.

The rule of thumb that I use is that sleep power usage should be < 1%/hr. Anything more than that and I know that the machine's either got a bum battery or isn't sleeping properly. I've never actually measured power drain (and the software percentage reading is just estimation anyways), but the rough 1%/hr rule's a pretty conservative one that has served me well in the past.

Ya, I was expecting to go down probably around that rate per hour... This just blew my happiness bubble away :mad: I am on the phone right now trying to talk to the Apple Care Customer Service right now...:p
The lady I am talking to is super...I mean extremely quite... I am almost having hard time following her instructions..

She asked me some bunch of questions on battery version, max capacity, and the serial number of the product etc.
I will be keep updating as I talk to her...;)

Update: After talking to her on the phone for about 30 mins (she had to put me on hold after 15mins). She asked me if I did the right procedure on battery calibration. I told her step-by-step how I calibrated the battery and she told me try it again but this time when the battery is dead or pretty much unusable, take the battery out and leave it for 8~10 hours.:C (I never heard of doing this part xD) Anyways... So as I drain the battery out today, I will remove the battery and try out "calibration procedure from Apple Specialist" and let you guys know what's up.
Thanks to all for replying and helping me out ;D
-Chris-
p.s. I wonder what would of happened if I just took it to the Apple store and complain about it...Maybe a new Macbook?o.O

Macinposh

Feb 3, 2009, 01:05 AM

Any news,CSilver?

Damn.
Tested last night with the computer = the battery had 40% left when going to sleep and 7 hours later it was dead.
And I mean restart with the powercable and boot again dead.
I mean,start with the alt button pressed and it still boots into windows first dead.

Time to call applecare.

doubleohseven

Feb 3, 2009, 01:18 AM

My MacBook loses, say, 5% to 7% overnight (about 10 hours) when in sleep mode.

DeusInvictus7

Feb 3, 2009, 08:25 AM

My MacBook loses, say, 5% to 7% overnight (about 10 hours) when in sleep mode.

Yeah, that's what it is supposed to be. That's what I usually get as well.

iMacmatician

Feb 3, 2009, 09:02 AM

It should be 1% every 1-2 hours, or at least, that's what I've been getting.Yeah, my iBook gets about 1% every hour. And that I believe was when I had 3-4 hours battery life, lower than the original 6.

Recently when my battery was practically dead (it was so weak that my iBook would shut off after a few minutes of video playing, even at close to full charge), I left it on sleep in school for the better part of a week and the battery went down from close to 100% to 1% or so. Looks like I got back just in time. :D

CSilver

Feb 3, 2009, 01:15 PM

Sorry for the late update~:p

Last night I have drained my Alum Macbook all the way down till the Macbook shutdown.

I removed the Battery from the Macbook and left it in my room for about 10 Hours. (I didn't use my Macbook with charger only plugged in.Yes, It felt like hell not to use it)

After 10 Hours I replaced the Battery in the Macbook and DIDN'T turn it on while charging overnight.

This morning I turned it on and let it sleep for 1 hour and 15 mins.

Result 99% to 98% :eek: No way~ it worked~
However, I have been typing this up for 4 mins and the battery went down from 98% to 96%... I ain't doing anything special here...Is that normal?
Anyways... Whoever has the similar problem as what I did for sleep mode battery drain just calibrate your battery and let it sit in your room for 10 hours or so then recharge.~

I am going to keep testing this sleep mode throughout today to let you guys know whats up ;) thanks for replying guys ;D

DeusInvictus7

Feb 3, 2009, 01:20 PM

That's awesome man, glad it is fixed.

richorlin

Feb 3, 2009, 01:41 PM

hmai18

Feb 3, 2009, 02:28 PM

I was going to post SmartSleep, but somebody beat me to it.

It works as advertised. I lose 1%/hour on average.

skye12

Feb 3, 2009, 02:36 PM

Agree with previous posters about 5% or so during the night. Battery
behavior corresponds with age, number of charge cycles and whether
you let it run down every month or so as Apple recommends. They believe
your battery should maintain at least a 80% charge up to 300 cycles..

yoak

Feb 3, 2009, 02:46 PM

I was very surprised to see the battery drain on my MBP compared to that of my ibook.
I even have the problem that it suddenly shuts down completly even if it´s like 20% left.
I have to plug it and start it up all over again, everything i had up lost

mobilehavoc

Feb 3, 2009, 03:19 PM

There seems to be a problem with 10.5.6 and the Macbook/MBP and sleep.
The default of sleep/hibernate seems to drain the battery a lot faster than previously.

I have found that the SmartSleep preference pane http://www.jinx.de/SmartSleep.htmlhttp://www.jinx.de/SmartSleep.html
helps prevent thebattery from draining too quickly. I have set the pref to "sleep only" and that seems to have solved the problem for me.

Be careful, this is great until for some random reason the Macbook freezes on waking up and you lose everything. Sleep/hibernate at least guarantees you won't lose data if something happens.

CSilver

Feb 4, 2009, 10:49 AM

Thank you every for helping me out here ;)
I was very sick with the flue that my little sister brought back from her school:mad:, although I could test couple of times for the battery drain % after I updated last time.

Result: So far so good actually, as the people posted it should be 1% per hour or so and the Apple lady told me it shouldn't be more than 5%. My new Refurb Alum Macbook is doing alright now ;D

Only thing that makes me kind of worry is that I can see my battery drain like crazy when I am using it... I even turned off the blue tooth and such.. Only using firefox 2 tabs at a time....

Anyways...~ Have a great day everyone and be careful not to get sick ;)

99MustangGTman

Feb 4, 2009, 01:44 PM

I usually let my MB sleep at night, when I wake up and use it, the battery goes from 100% to 92%

yoak

Feb 6, 2009, 01:51 AM

Splash7279

Feb 6, 2009, 02:01 AM

I have the same macbook as you and i think your battery is kind of messed up because my macbook only uses 1% per day.

tubbymac

Feb 6, 2009, 03:21 AM

I have the same macbook as you and i think your battery is kind of messed up because my macbook only uses 1% per day.

No way is that possible. 1% total battery drain while sleeping for an entire day (ie: 24 hours) is just not going to happen on an aluminum Macbook, no matter how good your battery is.

yoak

Feb 6, 2009, 07:43 AM

No way is that possible. 1% total battery drain while sleeping for an entire day (ie: 24 hours) is just not going to happen on an aluminum Macbook, no matter how good your battery is.

Well, if you look at his signature you will see he has a very special 14" alu Macbook. Maybe that model can pull it off;)

VSMacOne

Feb 6, 2009, 08:21 AM

Well, if you look at his signature you will see he has a very special 14" alu Macbook. Maybe that model can pull it off;)

Hehe... :cool:
The 14" screen probably has a little more room for some extra battery so there's your explanation for 1% per day!

gr8phan

Feb 6, 2009, 11:51 AM

Only thing that makes me kind of worry is that I can see my battery drain like crazy when I am using it... I even turned off the blue tooth and such.. Only using firefox 2 tabs at a time....

I am experiencing the same thing in a 2.0 aluminum that I bought new on new year's day - surfing over wifi with Safari, and an hour or two of use drains about half the battery life. I know that the harder the machine works the more power it will consume, but what is really to be expected? Screen brightness is around 35%, btw.

CSilver

Feb 6, 2009, 02:31 PM

I am experiencing the same thing in a 2.0 aluminum that I bought new on new year's day - surfing over wifi with Safari, and an hour or two of use drains about half the battery life. I know that the harder the machine works the more power it will consume, but what is really to be expected? Screen brightness is around 35%, btw.

I am really not sure... Right now I am fighting the stupid cold flue that is taking over my life. :mad: For now, I have left my Macbook plugged in at 99% battery and just using it normally. This coming up Tuesday will be my 14days from the purchase date so I will try to play with it just using battery power and let you know.
-Chris-

CSilver

Feb 6, 2009, 02:32 PM

After reading this I took my MBP to an Apple shop here in Norway, the rep had one look at it and just handed over a new battery. Now it performs great. I get 4,5 hours out of it and it only lost 7% of the charge.
Just under 1% pr hour.

So if your Mac is fairly new and performs badly, take it back and let them look at it.
(Mine was even an ex-demo, so I thought maybe they had let it run on battery in the shop quite often and worn out the battery somehow)

Alright, that sounds very promising. Did you have to make an appointment or anything? I purchased mine from Refurb store if that makes anything different situation when I am at the Apple store?:confused:

arthursiew

Feb 7, 2009, 12:39 PM

I don't think that's right. I left my MB in sleep mode for about two hours... and the battery was still the same... w/o the charger.

Jinsou

Feb 7, 2009, 01:40 PM

i left my Alu macbook over night in sleep mode, went from 78% to 16% :/....

CSilver

Feb 7, 2009, 03:58 PM

i left my Alu macbook over night in sleep mode, went from 78% to 16% :/....

Try a Calibration method. Drain it completely and remove it from the Macbook. Let it die for about 8 to 10 hours then recharge. That worked for me to solve the sleep mode battery drain problem. I hope that helps ;)

-Chris-

Heimlich

Feb 7, 2009, 04:03 PM

i left my Alu macbook over night in sleep mode, went from 78% to 16% :/....

woah HOLY SHZ**
you just completely beat everyone's macbooks here.
You should get that checked out

CSilver

Feb 7, 2009, 11:32 PM

woah HOLY SHZ**
you just completely beat everyone's macbooks here.
You should get that checked out

Well lol If I would of left my macbook sleep overnight mine would of been from 76% to umm... 0% lol Since mine lost 10% or more sometimes less per hour before I fixed* the problem.

barryst

Mar 13, 2009, 07:25 AM

sorry to bump up an old thread

i lost about 10% in about 6-7 hours in sleep mode.

not bad , but not the 1% per hour that people are saying is normal.

i also experience the seemingly fast drain that CSsilver is describing. the percentage points seem to be going down every few minutes just surfing the web, even though it still says i have about 3 1/2 hours left (at 72%)

brian9271

Mar 13, 2009, 07:41 AM

When you put your Mac to sleep over night, doesn't it get annoying when the light at the bottom keeps going on and off, also when I have my mouse attached to my Mac while its sleeping it kind of wakes up with lid down then goes back to sleep... strange, and my battery sucks now lol, ill probably loose 10% of battery in 1 hr...

barryst

Mar 13, 2009, 07:46 AM

it sounds like 1-2% per hour (in sleep mode) has been the norm for many unibody macbooks and mbps.

kinda sucks.

the high battery drain under light load is kinda odd also (im even using coolbook to undervolt).

is apple even looking into this or are they saying its 'normal'?

barryst

Mar 13, 2009, 08:35 AM

There seems to be a problem with 10.5.6 and the Macbook/MBP and sleep.
The default of sleep/hibernate seems to drain the battery a lot faster than previously.

I have found that the SmartSleep preference pane http://www.jinx.de/SmartSleep.htmlhttp://www.jinx.de/SmartSleep.html
helps prevent thebattery from draining too quickly. I have set the pref to "sleep only" and that seems to have solved the problem for me.

"Sleep only" helps your batterylife in sleep mode?? I thought it would make it worse

also my battery seems to take a long time to charge. i had the battery down to about half and plugged it in, it's been saying ~2 hours to full charge for a wile now and its at 68%