Battery drain while lid closed

[PaulCostello]

It started a few days ago. I make sure my 2012 11" is fully charged at evening time, close lid and put my macbook away. I wake up in the morning to find it at 85%. I haven't installed any new programs, power nap is turned off, cant seem to figure it out. Any suggestions? (BTW, I've had my macbook for about 4-5 months and never had this issue) thx

[wolfpuppies3]

Sure, turn it off.

[Bob Coxner]

My 13" 2011 MBA loses about 1% overnight while sleeping. From previous threads that seems to be about normal. Your number is way out of line.

[Steelgrave]

You likely have something running in the background that consuming the power. My 2012 11" will lose ~1% overnight with nothing running. However if I leave my Windows 8 VM running I'll lose close to 40% overnight.

Must just be another reason why the new windows sucks lol.

[daonesteven]

Are apps that you had running before you close your lid and let your mba go to sleep, affect the battery life while it's asleep? I had no idea...

So if I had Chrome open with flash running and stuff and let it sleep, it would actually drain more battery life than if I had fully quit Chrome and let it sleep?

[WilliamLondon]

I don't close any apps, I just shut the lid and I lose less than 1% each night.

[yinz]

From reading this thread, it seems that I may have a problem also....

[chrfr]

Originally Posted by daonesteven

Are apps that you had running before you close your lid and let your mba go to sleep, affect the battery life while it's asleep? I had no idea...

So if I had Chrome open with flash running and stuff and let it sleep, it would actually drain more battery life than if I had fully quit Chrome and let it sleep?

No, that isn't the case. The computer is dormant when it's asleep but it sounds like it's not actually staying asleep. My 2012 11" Air will hold a full charge for a long time when it's asleep. Do you have it set to wake for network access?
Also, the first version of the supplemental update for 10.8.2 caused the computer to go into an endless wake/sleep cycle. What build of OS is on yours? (Go to About this Mac and click on the version number.)

[Steelgrave]

Originally Posted by daonesteven

Are apps that you had running before you close your lid and let your mba go to sleep, affect the battery life while it's asleep? I had no idea...

So if I had Chrome open with flash running and stuff and let it sleep, it would actually drain more battery life than if I had fully quit Chrome and let it sleep?

If it's app that can force it to wake while the lid is closed then yea I believe it can. Windows VM's in Fusion are the only things I've seen on mine that will do it. Outside of Fusion I can leave anything else going (and regularly do) and it doesn't drain hardly at all. I'm not sure why Fusion and/or Windows VM's do it, haven't cared enough to try and figure it out honestly, I rarely run a VM on my MBA heh.

Chrfr above mentioned Wake on LAN, which can cause it as well. Also yes ensure you have all the latest updates.

[GGJstudios]

For sleep issues, you may find some useful ideas here:

• Determine why your Mac wakes up from sleep
• OS X Mountain Lion: If your Mac won’t go to or stay in sleep
• Mac OS X: Why your Mac might not sleep or stay in sleep mode
• One sleep problem caused by printers - solved ... and another
• If your Mac isn't sleeping properly and you have gfxCardStatus installed, try uninstalling it.

[daonesteven]

I get like a ~7% drain on my battery overnight. I'm assuming this is normal?

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by daonesteven

I get like a ~7% drain on my battery overnight. I'm assuming this is normal?

Yes, roughly 1% drain per hour of sleep is normal.

[chrfr]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

Yes, roughly 1% drain per hour of sleep is normal.

The Macbook Airs seem to have a more efficient sleep. My 2012 11" will go 8 hours and not lose more than 1-2%, if that.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by chrfr

The Macbook Airs seem to have a more efficient sleep. My 2012 11" will go 8 hours and not lose more than 1-2%, if that.

Yes, MBAs and rMBPs may enter standby mode after about an hour of sleep, provided certain requirements are met. Standby mode should last about 30 days on a full charge. While this thread is in the MBA forum, daonesteven didn't specify what model Mac they have. If they do have an MBA, 8 hours sleep should use about 1% for the first hour, then a fraction of that for the next 7, assuming it stays in sleep/standby mode.

[daonesteven]

hm mine is the 2011 11" with ML

[tigres]

My 2012 MBA is at the genius bar for this exact reason. Loosing 15% overnight nothing open.

My previous MBA lost about 1% overnight. They are telling me normal behavior.

How exactly is this normal, and how am I to get 30 days standby at this rate?

Is this hardware or software? I have the maxed out I7 13".

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by tigres

My 2012 MBA is at the genius bar for this exact reason. Loosing 15% overnight nothing open.

My previous MBA lost about 1% overnight. They are telling me normal behavior.

How exactly is this normal, and how am I to get 30 days standby at this rate?

Is this hardware or software? I have the maxed out I7 13".

It's not normal behavior. Read the "standby mode" link in my post just two before yours. Also check the links in my earlier post. Another alternative is to leave the MBA charging overnight, which is a good idea anyway if AC power is available.

[tigres]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

It's not normal behavior. Read the "standby mode" link in my post just two before yours. Also check the links in my earlier post. Another alternative is to leave the MBA charging overnight, which is a good idea anyway if AC power is available.

Thanks for the post.
Let me explain a little further: (read all of your links btw)

I use the MBA in clamshell mode all day at work. BT keyboard and mouse; hdmi external display- pluged in.

I leave work, put in my bag and go home.

Upon arriving at work the next am; I have 83-85% battery life.
Now- if there are 720 hours in a month- how does one achieve this 30 day standby apple claims if 1% per hour is normal. That equals basically 100 hours no?

Also; my previous MBA was on SL and was a 2010 machine. Same exact habits accounted for 1-2% drain under same conditions.

Now- the only thing I can remotely think of (and dread) is that I did set up (2 times) from a TM backup. I did it twice with the same battery result.

Why would a setup as new fix this or would it?
Lastly- I close down every program before I disconnect it from the monitor, including VMware. I do not have power nap enabled, nor is ther any sd card or hd attached.

I have cycle counts adding up if I don't shut down for 8-10 hours.

Going to pick up this afternoon and will post feedback at that point. I fear that when they kept it and told me this is normal and they have never had this complaint has me fearing the typical nothing wrong.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by tigres

I use the MBA in clamshell mode all day at work. BT keyboard and mouse; hdmi external display- pluged in.

I leave work, put in my bag and go home.

So you just unplug the display and put the MBA in your bag? You might try opening it, turning off Bluetooth, then closing it again to sleep. You shouldn't have to shut down apps that are running.

Originally Posted by tigres

Now- if there are 720 hours in a month- how does one achieve this 30 day standby apple claims if 1% per hour is normal. That equals basically 100 hours no?

The 1% per hour refers to sleep mode, not standby mode. In standby, it takes roughly 30 days to deplete a fully charged battery, which is much less than 1% per hour. It works out to something around 1% every 7 hours in standby mode. The problem is it doesn't sound like your MBA is entering or staying in sleep/standby mode.

[KPOM]

Do you have anything plugged into the USB ports? If so, that will prevent it from going into deep sleep. If not, try restarting. Sometimes OS X "thinks" something is plugged into the USB port even when there isn't.

[tigres]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

So you just unplug the display and put the MBA in your bag? You might try opening it, turning off Bluetooth, then closing it again to sleep. You shouldn't have to shut down apps that are running.

The 1% per hour refers to sleep mode, not standby mode. In standby, it takes roughly 30 days to deplete a fully charged battery, which is much less than 1% per hour. It works out to something around 1% every 7 hours in standby mode. The problem is it doesn't sound like your MBA is entering or staying in sleep/standby mode.

I am going to try this tomorrow. But turning off BT is a pain because I usually just lay it on the shelf on my desk, plug in the monitor, power, and USB cable to charge my phone and I am going.

Appointment and service yielded the typical wait for the next ML update. Or, wipe my drive and try again, no hardware issues during testing.

Fk'g frustrating as all get out.
Gone are the days of just works on 10.7 and 10.8. They even said- well ML has a lot more "going on than SL did, with iCloud and all".

Really to me I am lost on what could drain my battery with the lid closed; apparently so is the Genius Bar. They sent a note to engineering- but I don't see the point.

I will try to disconnect tomorrow; open the lid up, and turn off BT, and select sleep mode this time and close the lid.

2200, and it can't hold a charge- go figure.
If it keeps it up I am going to demand a replacement- as it's been doing it since I bought it in June.

Originally Posted by KPOM

Do you have anything plugged into the USB ports? If so, that will prevent it from going into deep sleep. If not, try restarting. Sometimes OS X "thinks" something is plugged into the USB port even when there isn't.

Nothing plugged in.