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Anyone who ordered a 15'' 2.6GHz, will you be returning?
- Thread starter Starfyre
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No offense but I think this battery life stuff is a load of crap. Really like to know how many people are away from electricity for over 8 hours in a day. Sure a flight across the world. I get that one but really everyday use.
To me that is the least important factor. Not saying its not important but I base my computer on performance than battery life.
Flame suit on but I just had to say it and if your buying a 15 inch laptop its the least likely device to travel with given there are many Apple products that are much more travel worthy and battery efficient. I travel a lot myself across the US and the most I am ever without power would be 6 hours.
I'm buying a 2.6 loaded because its the best performance laptop Apple sells. If I could buy a 3.0 one I would. LOL
To me that is the least important factor. Not saying its not important but I base my computer on performance than battery life.
Flame suit on but I just had to say it and if your buying a 15 inch laptop its the least likely device to travel with given there are many Apple products that are much more travel worthy and battery efficient. I travel a lot myself across the US and the most I am ever without power would be 6 hours.
I'm buying a 2.6 loaded because its the best performance laptop Apple sells. If I could buy a 3.0 one I would. LOL
Leo Laporte, The tech guy advises the best thing for the battery is to leave your machine plugged in whenever near an outlet and keep it fully charged at all times. When you drain the battery, Even half way, counts as one cycle. When the unit is plugged in and the battery is fully charged, The battery shuts off and the AC power takes over
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I should hope most people who've bought the 2.6GHz machine will at least try it out for themselves and trust their own experience, rather than accepting as gospel the handful (and that's really all it is, a handful) of reports suggesting that the battery life on this model is compromised.
Moreover, I think the majority of Haswell purchasers will be coming from 3+ year old machines, meaning that they are likely to see a significant improvement in battery life from what they are used to, no matter which model they choose.
No offense but I think that anyone who trivializes battery life doesn't understand what "portable" really means. And no... I'm not going to list all the environments where a power outlet is either inconvenient or doesn't exist. (Use your imagination).
You might have all the subjective reasoning based on your own experiences and that's fine but I have Apple's engineering and marketing focus on my side. (i.e., they agree with me).
Then you're using the wrong brand of laptop.
No offense but I think that anyone who trivializes battery life doesn't understand what "portable" really means. And no... I'm not going to list all the environments where a power outlet is either inconvenient or doesn't exist. (Use your imagination).
You might have all the subjective reasoning based on your own experiences and that's fine but I have Apple's engineering and marketing focus on my side. (i.e., they agree with me).
Then you're using the wrong brand of laptop.
No. He's using a desktop replacement.
I ordered the 2.6 CPU and no way am I returning it.
I always have my MBP plugged in so battery life isn't even an issue for me. In the past 5 years of owning my previous MBP, I don't think I've gone for more than an hour without the charger. So it could have a 3 hour battery and I still wouldn't utilize it.
For the quad core CPU, the 2.6 is a huge increase in power over the 2.3 CPU. I know heat is an issue, and obviously being cooler is preferable, but the CPU upgrade is worth it.
My new maxed out 15" rMBP is a beast and there's no way I'd return it.
Not true at all. The 15" rMBP is advertised as a desktop replacement, portability is a big feature but it does not define the laptop. You're thinking of the Macbook air
I always have my MBP plugged in so battery life isn't even an issue for me. In the past 5 years of owning my previous MBP, I don't think I've gone for more than an hour without the charger. So it could have a 3 hour battery and I still wouldn't utilize it.
For the quad core CPU, the 2.6 is a huge increase in power over the 2.3 CPU. I know heat is an issue, and obviously being cooler is preferable, but the CPU upgrade is worth it.
My new maxed out 15" rMBP is a beast and there's no way I'd return it.
Then you're using the wrong brand of laptop.
Not true at all. The 15" rMBP is advertised as a desktop replacement, portability is a big feature but it does not define the laptop. You're thinking of the Macbook air
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Most of my friends that leave their computer plugged in all the time have had their battery go bad before mine. I make sure to never leave it plugged in more than needed and my battery still holds a 5-6 hour charge (was less before on mountain lion) and it has 1300 cycles on it.
Does an 8% increase in power for the CPU really qualify as "huge" though--I mean, all other factors (GPU, SSD, etc.) being equal?
As most of us are. Sure its a replacement but Im on the road a lot as well. The difference between a hour after 8 hours was more my point. I would never give up performance to gain the 9th hour of battery. I like battery life as much as the next person but the threads obsessing over it are really silly to return a 2.6 to get much less performance and save a extra hour on a 2.0 machine. Im after horsepower more than anything. They do sell iPads with 10 hour battery life that I depend on for web and movies and such and much easier to lug around. Buying a 15 inch laptop is not the ideal travel companion and if power is primary than why buy the highest performance unit than return it.
Obviously you can argue this one all day long but thinking of your NEEDS first is primary on buying anything. If battery life is key than obviously a performance model is not the answer.
By who, Apple? What utter nonsense. If so then why do they keep getting thinner and lighter... because desks are getting weaker?
Somebody needs to tell Apple their iMacs are not needed anymore.
Heck NO! I just received my 15"/2.6/16/512 today and I'm at 70% with 6:52 minutes remaining. More than enough for me! 
By who, Apple? What utter nonsense. If so then why do they keep getting thinner and lighter... because desks are getting weaker?
Somebody needs to tell Apple their iMacs are not needed anymore.
Just because they can make them lighter doesn't mean they aren't desktop replacements. I've read 3 reviews today by reputable sites such as CNET that say they are top of the line desktop replacements.
The 15" is thinner and lighter but it is still not super portable, it's pretty big. Try bringing it on a plane and it won't feel as portable.
The base model (iGPU) is built around energy efficiency/battery life, with the high-end (dGPU) being made for graphics intensity. The high-end MBP lends itself to worse battery life. That extra power doesn't just magically appear with no costs.
You should've done more research, or waited for impressions and reviews before making a purchase/impulse buy.
You should've done more research, or waited for impressions and reviews before making a purchase/impulse buy.
Heck NO! I just received my 15"/2.6/16/512 today and I'm at 70% with 6:52 minutes remaining. More than enough for me!
What were you doing when it said 6:52?
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The top 15" has the same iGPU as the low 15" so they should get the same battery life when both on their iGPUs.
I don't know what he's been doing with his MBP, but I'd assume with considerably less battery life that the GPU is being utilized.
I often don't plug in the laptop even if there is an outlet, simply because of convenience. When at home, I would move it between kitchen/sofa/study all the time. The more battery time I have the more convenient it is for me. Yes, I go through like two cycles per day. Who cares? I am still getting effectively half a day out of it and it will be good to go for the next year. And battery replacement is cheaper then an annual service on my motorcycle.
What do you mean?
The top 15" should have the same battery life as the low 15". The top 15" just has an extra gear (which would obviously use more power), but they should be the same when doing something simple like browsing the web.
This doesn't make any sense. Why would going from 2.3 to 2.6 decrease it by THAT much? I've got the 2.3ghz and it's battery is great. Do you guys think there's something wrong with the estimator on those models? I keep seeing people posting their estimates, but is anyone ACTUALLY only getting 4-5 hours real world?
I'm not saying that you're wrong, but I just don't get the logic of why it would make battery life go down so much? Unless I'm missing something obvious? If that were the case, wouldn't the 2.0ghz baseline model get 12+ hours minimum?
I'm not saying that you're wrong, but I just don't get the logic of why it would make battery life go down so much? Unless I'm missing something obvious? If that were the case, wouldn't the 2.0ghz baseline model get 12+ hours minimum?
Agreed. Also, that extra CPU power is only going to be used when you are doing something that requires that much power. Just like when you boot up a game, your GPU wakes up and you can hear the fans and your system gets hot, but when you are just browsing the web, the macbook is pretty much silent. Same with the CPU. If you aren't using that power, your battery isn't being wasted that way. Now there may be a little bit of more power to generally power the CPU, but .3ghz will be minimal.
I totally agree! We really need a bigger sample size so we can put this (hopefully a myth) to rest.
