Brand new macbook pro can't last more than 3-4 hours

MathiasLa · Nov 18, 2011, 12:36 PM

Hallo. I've just gotten my brand new 15'' macbook pro. When fully charged, it says that it can't last more than about 3 hours. Shouldn't it be around 7 hours?

miker2209 · Nov 18, 2011, 12:44 PM

Defective battery perhaps? try SMC reset and see how it goes.

MathiasLa · Nov 18, 2011, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miker2209

Defective battery perhaps? try SMC reset and see how it goes.

SMC? How?

TheJing · Nov 18, 2011, 12:51 PM

What are you doing on it when it says it has 3 hours left?

MathiasLa · Nov 18, 2011, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheJing

What are you doing on it when it says it has 3 hours left?

Just browsing Facebook really.

aristobrat · Nov 18, 2011, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathiasLa

Hallo. I've just gotten my brand new 15'' macbook pro. When fully charged, it says that it can't last more than about 3 hours. Shouldn't it be around 7 hours?

Two thoughts.

If you haven't done the battery calibration, the estimate that your Mac is giving you could be wrong. (i.e. it may last for more than 3 hours, even though it's only saying 3).

Depending on what you're doing, you get less battery life. Apple's tests, IMO, aren't very realistic, and I don't think I've seen anyone that gets the amount of battery life that they claim. Having said that, I'd expect that you get more than 3!

miker2209 · Nov 18, 2011, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathiasLa

SMC? How?

Google Search: SMC reset, very easy.

XandeR803 · Nov 18, 2011, 01:16 PM

What browser are you using? Firefox and Chrome suck a lot more juice with the discrete GPU than safari does.

TSE · Nov 18, 2011, 01:16 PM

1. Flash will kill it. Use safari and install Flashblock
2. Install GFXCardstatus and set it to integrated only.
3. Calibrate your battery.
4. Any video, games, etc. will kill your battery.

7 hours is attainable with Microsoft Office and basic web browsing with Safari w/ no flash at 50% brightness running Snow Leopard. That's how it is for me

MathiasLa · Nov 20, 2011, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XandeR803

What browser are you using? Firefox and Chrome suck a lot more juice with the discrete GPU than safari does.

Safari.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSE

1. Flash will kill it. Use safari and install Flashblock
2. Install GFXCardstatus and set it to integrated only.
3. Calibrate your battery.
4. Any video, games, etc. will kill your battery.

7 hours is attainable with Microsoft Office and basic web browsing with Safari w/ no flash at 50% brightness running Snow Leopard. That's how it is for me

Im doing the calibration now. When I charged it up to full, I happened to pull out the charger for a sec. Will that make a difference in calibration?

MathiasLa · Nov 20, 2011, 06:52 AM

Ok so I did the calibration, also tried SMC reset (don't know if I did it right though, nothing happened). It jumps from 3 to 5 hours in estimated time now. Its at 95% atm. What concerns me the most is how fast it goes from like 100% to what I'm on know (95%). It was like 2 mins or something. Isn't this weird?

MathiasLa · Nov 20, 2011, 11:19 AM

Anyone?

psykick5 · Nov 20, 2011, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathiasLa

Anyone?

Don't worry about it.

GuitarG20 · Nov 20, 2011, 11:48 AM

what browser do you use? Because if you use chrome, you're engaging the dedicated graphics card, which is probably what's killing your battery life. Try installing gfxCardStatus and setting it to integrated only.

MathiasLa · Nov 20, 2011, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psykick5

Don't worry about it.

What do you mean?

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuitarG20

what browser do you use? Because if you use chrome, you're engaging the dedicated graphics card, which is probably what's killing your battery life. Try installing gfxCardStatus and setting it to integrated only.

Haha, I already answered that I use safari, and someone said the gfxcardstatus thing as well.

thundersteele · Nov 20, 2011, 12:37 PM

Download coconut battery.

- check the capacity (should be close to 6900 mAh)
- check the power usage. If you are somewhere between 10-15 Watt, you should be in for 6-7 hours of battery life. If you're more between 25-30, you are looking at 3-4 hours max.

The sandy bridge quad cores are super fast, but very needy. Whenever you put load on your system, e.g. copying large files, compiling code, flash videos, it will start sucking your power.

Right now I'm on safari, keyboard light turned off, display 4 bars under full brightness, and using 10.2 Watt. Battery is 71% full and says 5:45 remaining.

MathiasLa · 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thundersteele

Download coconut battery.

- check the capacity (should be close to 6900 mAh)
- check the power usage. If you are somewhere between 10-15 Watt, you should be in for 6-7 hours of battery life. If you're more between 25-30, you are looking at 3-4 hours max.

The sandy bridge quad cores are super fast, but very needy. Whenever you put load on your system, e.g. copying large files, compiling code, flash videos, it will start sucking your power.

Right now I'm on safari, keyboard light turned off, display 4 bars under full brightness, and using 10.2 Watt. Battery is 71% full and says 5:45 remaining.

Im over 30 atm. Why is that?

Edit: Wow. Literally just jumped too 34.3 watts. Now over 40. Wtf?

TheJing · Nov 20, 2011, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathiasLa

Im over 30 atm. Why is that?

Edit: Wow. Literally just jumped too 34.3 watts.

What exactly are you doing atm? Check your activity monitor what's using the power.

MathiasLa · Nov 20, 2011, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheJing

What exactly are you doing atm? Check your activity monitor what's using the power.

Im watching a video on my external screen.

TheJing · Nov 20, 2011, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathiasLa

Im watching a video on my external screen.

No wonder it's using a lot of power then.

MathiasLa · Nov 20, 2011, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheJing

No wonder it's using a lot of power then.

It isn't really "unchanging" more than it was before i plugged it into the external screen really

MathiasLa · Nov 20, 2011, 01:22 PM

But what could course it to use so much more than it should?

Spencer Reynen · Nov 20, 2011, 01:37 PM

If you're concerned about your battery, MBP batteries are very cheap. If you don't feel like replacing the machine altogether because you think it's a defect with your laptop, I would just buy a new battery, or see what's eating it up like that and decide if you need a new one.

MathiasLa · Nov 20, 2011, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spencer Reynen

If you're concerned about your battery, MBP batteries are very cheap. If you don't feel like replacing the machine altogether because you think it's a defect with your laptop, I would just buy a new battery, or see what's eating it up like that and decide if you need a new one.

If somethings wrong with the machine or the battery, I would get it replaced by Apple, wouldn't I? I just bought it the 8th this month.

TheIguana · Nov 20, 2011, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathiasLa

It isn't really "unchanging" more than it was before i plugged it into the external screen really

I believe the point was that playing video uses a lot more processing power than word processing.

The MBP battery life times are not based on watching 7 hours of video, rather they are based on minimal use situations such as word processing.

Nov 18, 2011, 12:36 PM	#1
MathiasLa macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2011	Brand new macbook pro can't last more than 3-4 hours Hallo. I've just gotten my brand new 15'' macbook pro. When fully charged, it says that it can't last more than about 3 hours. Shouldn't it be around 7 hours?
	0

Nov 18, 2011, 12:44 PM	#2
miker2209 macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2010	Defective battery perhaps? try SMC reset and see how it goes. __________________ 13" MacbookPro (Early 2011), 2.3GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB Crucial M4 SSD + 320GB Optibay HDD
	0

Nov 18, 2011, 01:16 PM	#9
TSE macrumors 68020 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: St. Paul, Minnesota	1. Flash will kill it. Use safari and install Flashblock 2. Install GFXCardstatus and set it to integrated only. 3. Calibrate your battery. 4. Any video, games, etc. will kill your battery. 7 hours is attainable with Microsoft Office and basic web browsing with Safari w/ no flash at 50% brightness running Snow Leopard. That's how it is for me __________________ MacBook Pro, 2.2ghz Quad-Core i7 Processor, 15" 1680x1050 Anti-Glare LCD, 8gbs of RAM, 750gb, 5400rpm HD, AMD Radeon 6750M HD, Mac OS X + Windows 7 Ultimate
	1

Nov 20, 2011, 11:48 AM	#14
GuitarG20 macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jun 2011	what browser do you use? Because if you use chrome, you're engaging the dedicated graphics card, which is probably what's killing your battery life. Try installing gfxCardStatus and setting it to integrated only. __________________ MBP 8,3 (17")\|\| HTC One X (LTE) \|\| iPhone 3GS \|\| iPod Classic \|\| iPod Video \|\| iPod Shuffle
	0

Nov 20, 2011, 01:37 PM	#23
Spencer Reynen macrumors member Join Date: Apr 2011	If you're concerned about your battery, MBP batteries are very cheap. If you don't feel like replacing the machine altogether because you think it's a defect with your laptop, I would just buy a new battery, or see what's eating it up like that and decide if you need a new one.
	-2

Nov 18, 2011, 12:51 PM	#4
TheJing Banned Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Somewhere in Europe	What are you doing on it when it says it has 3 hours left?
	0

Nov 18, 2011, 01:16 PM	#8
XandeR803 macrumors member Join Date: Jul 2008	What browser are you using? Firefox and Chrome suck a lot more juice with the discrete GPU than safari does.
	2

Nov 20, 2011, 06:52 AM	#11
MathiasLa Thread Starter macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2011	Ok so I did the calibration, also tried SMC reset (don't know if I did it right though, nothing happened). It jumps from 3 to 5 hours in estimated time now. Its at 95% atm. What concerns me the most is how fast it goes from like 100% to what I'm on know (95%). It was like 2 mins or something. Isn't this weird?
	0

Nov 20, 2011, 11:19 AM	#12
MathiasLa Thread Starter macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2011	Anyone?
	0

Nov 20, 2011, 12:37 PM	#16
thundersteele macrumors 68020 Join Date: Oct 2011	Download coconut battery. - check the capacity (should be close to 6900 mAh) - check the power usage. If you are somewhere between 10-15 Watt, you should be in for 6-7 hours of battery life. If you're more between 25-30, you are looking at 3-4 hours max. The sandy bridge quad cores are super fast, but very needy. Whenever you put load on your system, e.g. copying large files, compiling code, flash videos, it will start sucking your power. Right now I'm on safari, keyboard light turned off, display 4 bars under full brightness, and using 10.2 Watt. Battery is 71% full and says 5:45 remaining.
	0

Nov 20, 2011, 01:22 PM	#22
MathiasLa Thread Starter macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2011	But what could course it to use so much more than it should?
	0

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