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fedecape

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 23, 2011
414
32
Miami, FL
2013 11 inch MBA i7. Full charge = 4-5 hours (it used to be around 8)

I'm sure I'm not the only one experiencing bad battery life. It used to be much better with ML. I've switched to Safari from Chrome, and I've reseted the SMC but had no luck.

Has anybody found a way to fix it?

Downgrading is not really an option, I like Mavericks and I want to be updated.

Thank you
 

Booji

macrumors 6502a
Nov 17, 2011
793
519
Tokyo
Mavericks added one hour to my 2013 11" i5. I can easily get 11 hours, but then again I'm careful to manage it - shut down unused applications, screen at 50%
 

iterva

macrumors 6502
Jun 16, 2013
397
289
Sweden
That was the reason i went back to ML. I got ~4hrs with Mavericks.. Not acceptable for me when getting easy ~11 hrs on ML in my usage.

So for me that was an easy decision to revert back.

That said, when i had this issue i found no "fixes" for the batterylife. Found some posts suggesting a clean install solved this for some, for others it did no improvement what so ever. Might be something to try if not done already?

I'm now waiting for a few .x updates for Mavericks to get bugs sorted out before giving it another go.

Best of luck!
 

robvas

macrumors 68040
Mar 29, 2009
3,240
630
USA
Clean install. Likely there is some software that has an issue with Mavericks that you have installed.
 

Robyr

macrumors regular
Feb 21, 2010
226
0
Please verify that, after sleep, PID0/kernel_task uses 100% of a single core?

Clean install, tweak, etc... none of it has solved this bug for me. It is instantly reproducible, regardless of the apologists in this forum. It has affected 3/3 2013 Macbook Air's that I have been able to test, and it IS an issue. The only fix, thus far, is installing Mountain Lion again.
 

fedecape

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 23, 2011
414
32
Miami, FL
Thanks everybody. I made an appointment with Apple, will see what the genius thinks.

Please verify that, after sleep, PID0/kernel_task uses 100% of a single core?

Clean install, tweak, etc... none of it has solved this bug for me. It is instantly reproducible, regardless of the apologists in this forum. It has affected 3/3 2013 Macbook Air's that I have been able to test, and it IS an issue. The only fix, thus far, is installing Mountain Lion again.

Just checked and yes, it uses 100% but for a few seconds. It then idles
 

Spytap

macrumors regular
Oct 8, 2010
135
93
Anyone else stuck on "Collecting Power Usage Information" that never resolves?
 

Jaranson

macrumors member
Dec 7, 2013
53
0
how does one do a "clean install" of Mavericks?

I already updated my 2-day-old MBA to Mavericks.
 

stayley

macrumors member
Oct 1, 2013
79
0
Clean install is when you first format the drive and then install the OS.

To be honest, if anything Mavericks extended my battery life from 12 to 15 hours. Still, given the amount of inexcusable faults that my MBA (and the one I sent back for replacement), I can easily see it happening. Take it back to the store.
 

Spytap

macrumors regular
Oct 8, 2010
135
93
You probably already tried SMC reset..? Seen several ppl with this and SMC reset seems to have solved it for them.

Yeah, already gave that a shot. It's been this way for several weeks now - I've mostly just accepted that for now I'll be getting 5-7 hours of battery life and won't know why.
 

Jaranson

macrumors member
Dec 7, 2013
53
0
Yeah, already gave that a shot. It's been this way for several weeks now - I've mostly just accepted that for now I'll be getting 5-7 hours of battery life and won't know why.

wow... if a couple of $20 bills go missing from you wallet every night, wouldn't you want to find out ASAP what the cause is? :D
 

Robyr

macrumors regular
Feb 21, 2010
226
0
wow... if a couple of $20 bills go missing from you wallet every night, wouldn't you want to find out ASAP what the cause is? :D

Well, unfortunately, there is really nothing we can do. We don't have the kernel source, and Apple deliberately obfuscates the monitoring and logging.

We are stuck, for now, and the only choice is to revert to Mountain Lion at this moment, or stick it out and keep rebooting to clear the issue while we wait for (hopefully) 10.9.1 to fix the issues.

I am less than hopeful, though, as I have been running the 10.9.1 Betas, both 13B27 and 13B35, and have seen no change. Maybe the 13B40 build has a fix, but I won't hold my breath.
 

Spytap

macrumors regular
Oct 8, 2010
135
93
wow... if a couple of $20 bills go missing from you wallet every night, wouldn't you want to find out ASAP what the cause is? :D

Normally it's the kind of thing that'd set me off, but I just started a new company, am about to launch a new product, and with the Holidays (and the travel/shopping/family obligations therein) just have too much other **** stressing me out to let something I have zero control over do the same.

Can I change it? No? Then it's not worth worrying about for now. When I have extra energy to get stressed/pissed/vocal about things that I don't have control over, I may readdress the issue. But for now, just accepting it and moving on.
 

Robyr

macrumors regular
Feb 21, 2010
226
0
For what its worth, 10.9.1 will likely solve this issue. I have been running 13B40 and no longer does the kernel eat a core of CPU after waking from sleep. Finally.
 

Jaranson

macrumors member
Dec 7, 2013
53
0
after several days of extensive usage with my new MBA 11.6" 256GB running on Mavericks, the longest battery life I've seen was a little over 6 hours. Brightness always at less than 50%. Is this normal? 6 hours seems kind of short to me.
 

Robyr

macrumors regular
Feb 21, 2010
226
0
after several days of extensive usage with my new MBA 11.6" 256GB running on Mavericks, the longest battery life I've seen was a little over 6 hours. Brightness always at less than 50%. Is this normal? 6 hours seems kind of short to me.

No, it is not normal. Please read this thread.
 

mpantone

macrumors 6502
Mar 20, 2009
450
1
after several days of extensive usage with my new MBA 11.6" 256GB running on Mavericks, the longest battery life I've seen was a little over 6 hours. Brightness always at less than 50%. Is this normal? 6 hours seems kind of short to me.
It depends on what you are doing with your system.

Apple's battery life estimates are based on a mixed suite of tasks and uses that are arguably representative of a typical user's behavior. The estimate is generalized and cannot be interpreted as a guarantee of battery life for every user.

Unfortunately, you don't mention how you are using your device. If you are running CPU benchmarks and Handbrake DVD rips 24x7, no, this is not typical usage. Since you don't provide any information on what you're doing with your system, it's impossible for anyone here to understand your usage.

In the end, the battery life specs are largely irrelevant for a new owner like you. If you don't like your ownership experience, take back the unit for a full refund under the customer satisfaction policy from the seller.

Good luck.
 

Jaranson

macrumors member
Dec 7, 2013
53
0
It depends on what you are doing with your system.

Apple's battery life estimates are based on a mixed suite of tasks and uses that are arguably representative of a typical user's behavior. The estimate is generalized and cannot be interpreted as a guarantee of battery life for every user.

Unfortunately, you don't mention how you are using your device. If you are running CPU benchmarks and Handbrake DVD rips 24x7, no, this is not typical usage. Since you don't provide any information on what you're doing with your system, it's impossible for anyone here to understand your usage.

In the end, the battery life specs are largely irrelevant for a new owner like you. If you don't like your ownership experience, take back the unit for a full refund under the customer satisfaction policy from the seller.

Good luck.

The only things I've been using the Macbook Air for are web browsing(Safari) and checking emails.
 

mpantone

macrumors 6502
Mar 20, 2009
450
1
Well, now that you have provided sufficient information (it's about time), I'd say that your MacBook Air is not performing to the manufacturer's claims of nine hours.

You should exchange your unit for a new one.

Good luck.
 

Jaranson

macrumors member
Dec 7, 2013
53
0
No, it is not normal. Please read this thread.

so it's not going to improve with time? :( my new MBA has only been fully charged 4 times since I received it a few days ago. (plugging in the charger only after the MBA turns itself off when the battery is almost completely dead)
 

Robyr

macrumors regular
Feb 21, 2010
226
0
so it's not going to improve with time? :( my new MBA has only been fully charged 4 times since I received it a few days ago. (plugging in the charger only after the MBA turns itself off when the battery is almost completely dead)

No, stop. READ THE THREAD. Seriously. Mavericks has a BAD bug that causes the kernel to use 100% of the CPU after sleep, killing your battery life. In Mountain Lion this is not an issue, and I see 10+ hours on my 11. Now, with the new beta updates, Apple has made good on their 10 hour promise by fixing this bug.

Reading comprehension, people. It's a truly important piece of understanding...
 

Windowsrefugee

macrumors regular
Mar 14, 2011
161
7
Microsoft Land
No, stop. READ THE THREAD. Seriously. Mavericks has a BAD bug that causes the kernel to use 100% of the CPU after sleep, killing your battery life. In Mountain Lion this is not an issue, and I see 10+ hours on my 11. Now, with the new beta updates, Apple has made good on their 10 hour promise by fixing this bug.

Reading comprehension, people. It's a truly important piece of understanding...

Great news. Any idea when Apple will push out the update with the bug fix? Battery life is the main reason (+ need for larger SSD) I would update my 2011 MBA and/or move to Mavericks.
 
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