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7 hours battery life

S

SamtheDrummer

macrumors member
Original poster
May 28, 2009
50
0
How many people have actually got 7 hours battery out of their MBP?


Fully charged I get about 4.5hrs with bluetooth off, which is okay I guess.
Is there any way of getting this magical 7 hours or is it just the marketing of Apple by saying 'up to 7 hours' meaning you might not get anywhere near that?
 
The info you gave was vague.

What is your display brightness? Do you have WiFi on? Are you surfing the web with lots of Flash or HTML content? Are you using intensive programmes such as Photoshop? Are you using the 9400M or 9600M GT graphics?

Apple gets their 7 hour results with the following quote from their website:

"...MacBook Pro units with a Better Battery Life setting. The wireless productivity test measures battery life by wirelessly browsing various websites and editing text in a word processing document with display brightness set to 50%."
 
Sorry,
Display brightness - just below 50%
9400m
No keyboard backlight

Just using the internet - looking at forums
 
I think I have the same 'problem' as you.
My MBP only lasts 4,5 to 5 hours on battery.

And it's only running iTunes, iCal, Mail and Safari and a chat-client.

Brightness at 50% or less.
9400M graphics

Battery health is at 99% and since it's new it has been calibrated only once.

I hope it improves over time...

Or is 5 hours quite normal on a MBP 15" June 09 ?
 
NeoCracer said:
I think I have the same 'problem' as you.
My MBP only lasts 4,5 to 5 hours on battery.

And it's only running iTunes, iCal, Mail and Safari and a chat-client.

Brightness at 50% or less.
9400M graphics

Battery health is at 99% and since it's new it has been calibrated only once.

I hope it improves over time...

Or is 5 hours quite normal on a MBP 15" June 09 ?
Click to expand...

You battery run time will increase if you quit iTunes and set your energy saver preference to allow the hard disc to sleep when possible
 
2 week old 15" MBP 2.53GHz, the wife gets 8 hours or more when just browsing the internet.

Display at 50%, keyboard not illuminated etc. Haven't even considered turning bluetooth off yet. Been calibrated once.
 
A battery calibration will assist in this matter.

I get almost 8 hours on my 15" 2.66 MBP on 9400 m, brightness at 50% surfing forums.
 
I found with my MBA that the battery life seemed to increase after 5 or 6 charge cycles from new, don't know if that applies to the MBP or not but its worth looking for
signature_silverapple.jpg
 
SamtheDrummer said:
Sorry,
Display brightness - just below 50%
9400m
No keyboard backlight

Just using the internet - looking at forums
Click to expand...

I get over 8 hours with bluetooth on (not using it), wireless on (using it), surfing and using Skype. I have the 13" MBP. Okay, your usage seems fairly low, however did you restart the computer so no processes could be running the background. Sometimes processes run in the background even if you're not doing much so a restart is best to test the MBP. Even resetting the PRAM would greatly help for testing.
Multiple tabs open will pull on the battery as well.
 
Your numbers are dead on. 4.5 hours is what I get when actually USING the laptop. LOL. People on this forum will do anything to tell you their laptop is working as intended. The 7 hour statement is true if you use your laptop like a way overpriced netbook. I like to see things on my screen!! Less than 50% brightness??? Come on. Do you guys really live like this?
 
CompanionCube said:
Actually yes, it will.

Battery calibration is essential for proper HARDWARE performance, due to the microprocessor controls.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

Please educate yourself before posting.
Click to expand...
I was always told battery calibration just helps the computer tell you accurately what your battery life is.

That's mostly what Apple says too. There's still the same amount of juice in it, it's just going to tell you otherwise and keep changing its mind until it finally dies.
 
CompanionCube said:
A battery calibration will assist in this matter.

I get almost 8 hours on my 15" 2.66 MBP on 9400 m, brightness at 50% surfing forums.
Click to expand...

Same here... 7-8 hours with
50% brightness
No backlight keyboard
No Bluetooth
Wi-fi on
Safari on - surfing sites with minimal Flash and video content - i.e. no Youtube

If I play Football Manager 09 on 25% brightness and with no wi-fi, I get ~4 hours.
 
Screen brightness around 50% (but at auto dim and it was turning darker and darker, started at 7 pm) I was installing/copying data from external drives while using a wireless mouse and having bluetooth on (didn't know it was). Also used illuminated keyboard for a while. After 5 hours of surfing while installing and all that I had 20% left on my MBP 13", so just surfing would most likely give me well over 7 hours since I also played a game for 40 min during those 5 hours.
 
SamtheDrummer said:
How many people have actually got 7 hours battery out of their MBP?


Fully charged I get about 4.5hrs with bluetooth off, which is okay I guess.
Is there any way of getting this magical 7 hours or is it just the marketing of Apple by saying 'up to 7 hours' meaning you might not get anywhere near that?
Click to expand...

When I use minimum brightness, turn bluetooth off, and just have Safari open, I have gotten 7.5 hrs.:eek: The battery is insane. Period. :)

EDIT: All-time low so far is about 4 hrs: 100% screen & backlight, forgot what stuff I was doing...
 
This has been asked uncountable times. Personally I have got a literal 8:30hrs out of this once, and it usually lasts me about 6:30hrs if I'm doing browsing/word processing.

It can last that long, however it may be caused by many different factors.
 
CompanionCube said:
Actually yes, it will.

Battery calibration is essential for proper HARDWARE performance, due to the microprocessor controls.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

Please educate yourself before posting.
Click to expand...

No, you are simply wrong. It's ok. Please understand what you read on the links you post before acting haughty.

The battery needs to be recalibrated from time to time to keep the onscreen battery time and percent display accurate and to keep the battery operating at maximum efficiency.
Click to expand...

Onscreen battery time and percent display accuracy have nothing to do with the actual battery capacity, a small point you seem to miss. "...keep the battery operating at maximum efficiency" is sufficiently vague as to not even be an argument, unless you care to explain exactly what this means with some authority. I'm assuming you know what you're talking about when you throw around big words like "microprocessor controls." Care to qualify that statement?

Don't feel too bad though- it seems to be a common misconception on these forums and others that battery calibration is the be-all and end-all solution to solving battery problems.
 
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