Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Rocko99991

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 25, 2017
1,574
2,193
Can you guys tell me what you are seeing for web browsing battery life on your 2015 rMBP? I am not getting anywhere near the claimed 10 hours. I am seeing 5-6 max. That is with screen at half brightness, no videos or bluetooth usage. Seems really low.
 
Can you guys tell me what you are seeing for web browsing battery life on your 2015 rMBP? I am not getting anywhere near the claimed 10 hours. I am seeing 5-6 max. That is with screen at half brightness, no videos or bluetooth usage. Seems really low.

There are several different models of "2015 rMBP" which makes it tough to say.

You also don't state which browser you are using.

For me, I had a 13" 2015 rMBP. I could easily get 10+ hours while browsing the web in Safari.

If you use Chrome, it will be 30% or so worse.

If you have a model with dedicated graphics and you use Chrome, it will be even worse.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FilipeTeixeira
Depends on what you're running or not and how you do it. It also depends on what you have running on the background. As for myself I could get 10h or more, but for example I tend to have other stuff for work running on the background which makes it that it lasts a maximum of 5 or 6 hours as well.
 
For what it's worth I once took mine to work and forgot the charger. Ended up working about 14 hours that day, 8 am to 10 pm. My MBP lasted the whole day! I kept the brightness as low as I could. I mostly just used Mail and Safari, with a little bit of Word and Excel. And I wasn't on it non-stop because I stepped away to take a few phone calls, but still... impressive!
 
There are several different models of "2015 rMBP" which makes it tough to say.

You also don't state which browser you are using.

For me, I had a 13" 2015 rMBP. I could easily get 10+ hours while browsing the web in Safari.

If you use Chrome, it will be 30% or so worse.

If you have a model with dedicated graphics and you use Chrome, it will be even worse.
Sorry, 13" 2015 rMBP. I have Firefox and Safari. Firefox seems to eat much more battery than Safari.

Are there any apps or ways to track battery usage while browsing other than just keeping track?
 
When on battery I close down any unnecessary apps, as has been mentioned you can check AM, or the battery indicator will tell you which apps are using 'significant energy'.

Generally speaking, close Chrome. If you're on battery to watch Netflix, then close everything else and fire up Safari. That's if you must maximise battery life however.
 
On my 2015 13" MBP I get at least 8 hours browsing (screen at 2/3s), using Safari probably 90% and Firefox 10%.
My battery health is approx 92%.
You may want to check your battery health as well if you're getting low battery life.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rocko99991
Firefox is a battery hog and so is chrome. I switched to safari a few years ago since it was so much more efficient.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rocko99991
I did look here but it seems to be inaccurate with the time on battery. I was on for 40+ minutes and it showed 13 minutes.

Any battery indicator is a best guesstimate based on current usage. There is no way to accurately say a battery has 10 hours life remaining... So it gauges the energy usage of current applications, and attempts to calculate the consumption against the current remaining charge, and suggests "At the current rate, it should last (Conservatively) 6 more hours". But if you close those apps or open new one's, it might say "Oh you've changed habits, maybe 3 hours". Then reopen them and it'll go "Umm right, 5 hours maybe? If you open those apps again at least ... Oh you haven't opened them, I'm upping it to 6 hours". And so on...

Don't concern yourself with that estimate. If you must know battery life then set a stop watch and count it down. There are steps to maximise battery life that have been suggested here. But you will never get an accurate measurement of remaining battery life as it is physically impossible given current technology. If you've got 3 apps open, and are working all day, and the guess says "8 hours", expect it to last around 7 hours. If however you chop and change what you're doing all day it's never going to be anywhere near accurate.

Best rule of thumb, if you can plug it in then plug it in. If you need to work off battery then work off battery.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.