When I bought my MBA - shipped straight from Shanghai in early August - I was blown away by the 11-13 hours of battery life I was getting from it. Now, after only 1.5 months, with the same activities, I barely pull 8 hours - full brightness, running nothing but Safari . Is this happening to anyone else? 8 hours is still respectable, but not after the promised 12. Is my battery failing, or should I check something else? Is this happening to anyone else?
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MBA 2013 Battery Life DROPPED after 1.5 months
- Thread starter LogicPro
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Try looking at power in system report (click the apple logo at top left, click about this mac, click more info, click system report, click power in the list on the left).
Maybe posting some info like charge cycles, battery health/condition
Maybe posting some info like charge cycles, battery health/condition
Thought it was imagination
Very similar problem I noticed just today...my battery life after just 2 months of use is plummeting...doubt I'm even getting 6hrs...and thats with the unit just sitting half of the time without any use
Very similar problem I noticed just today...my battery life after just 2 months of use is plummeting...doubt I'm even getting 6hrs...and thats with the unit just sitting half of the time without any use
I get 8 hours in the office with an 11" Air on 3/4 to full brightness.
if the OP's experiencing battery issues and the suggestions made in this thread don't correct it, then it could well be a warranty issue that could result in a replacement machine
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To reply to several of your questions:
1. I owned another MacBook before this, and the battery life stayed consistent in the first 2.5-3 years of use.
2. The battery health appears normal.
3. While yes, the brightness does kill the battery, I was getting 11-13 hours with roughly the same activities and settings as I use now.
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Precisely my point - what I really want to know is: is this a widespread issue. I used to watch a 40 min video on VLC and be at 98% battery life. Now it's 95%.
1. I owned another MacBook before this, and the battery life stayed consistent in the first 2.5-3 years of use.
2. The battery health appears normal.
3. While yes, the brightness does kill the battery, I was getting 11-13 hours with roughly the same activities and settings as I use now.
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Precisely my point - what I really want to know is: is this a widespread issue. I used to watch a 40 min video on VLC and be at 98% battery life. Now it's 95%.
You know what, I feel like I've been noticing a drop like this as well. When I first got this it felt like I never had to charge it, but I've been noticing that I have to plug it in much more often. At 81% it says 7 hours left. Brightness less than half way.
There are many factors that impact your battery life. See the BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE section of the following link for details, including tips on how to maximize your battery life.
The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.
It is necessary to cycle the battery, preferably more often than once a month. However, that doesn't require completely draining the battery at all. It is no longer necessary to calibrate a battery, which is something different.
What do you mean? The batteries charge estimation doesn't change by Apple label affixation, as well as batteries chemistry.
If you're referring to calibration, the built-in batteries in the newer Mac unibody notebooks come pre-calibrated and do not require regular calibration like the removable batteries in older Apple notebooks.
I'm not claiming I was getting 11-13 hours with full brightness. I was getting 11-13 hours with half brightness, wi-fi on about 2/3 of that time. Either way, I'm not arguing about what settings I was using, I'm saying that I'm roughly doing the same activities with similar settings, I've noticed an incredible drop in battery life, and have to charge much more often. I barely pull 8 hours.
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Precisely. Spot on my symptom; I'll be reaching out to Apple about this soon.
One theory I have is that maybe I have some processes running that I'm not aware of? I've only been using Safari with a flash blocker, but maybe I'm missing something. What should I look for in Activity monitor?
Did you read the BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE section of the Battery FAQ, as I recommended? The 3rd bullet point answers your question.
Why not? I'm pretty sure Apple has that suggestion under Stabard Maintence in the link below.
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
then you need to update your OP because this reads like you are claiming you were getting 11-13 hours full brightness:
reading your followup now it just seems to me that you went from 11-13 hours half brightness and now you're getting 8 hours full brightness. I think that explains it right there.
On the Apple Notebook Battery FAQ, I noticed this,
I keep my 2013 Macbook Air plugged in most of the time. Should I follow this guide, and keep the battery running every 2 or 3 days? Because a friend of mine told me to unplug my Macbook Air once a month and run the battery down to 10%. He's been doing it to his rMBP since he got it and the battery's been fantastic.
So which one should I follow?
You never need to drain the battery down to a certain percentage and you never need to fully drain the battery. Run on battery whenever you need to and plug it in whenever you can. You can plug or unplug any time you need to, regardless of the charged percentage, and you never need to completely drain your battery. Just make sure you don't run on AC power exclusively, as your battery needs to be used regularly to stay healthy. Running on battery for a few hours every few days will be sufficient.