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Apple Warns You When Your Display is Using Significant Energy in Latest macOS Beta
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I'm the exact opposite. I love a bright screen... but I only set it there when I'm plugged in. When running off the battery, my screen is always <50%. This isn't new behavior with the new Pro, I've been doing that since my first laptop (a Dell, I didn't switch to Mac until they went Intel) back in the late 90's... and it's ALWAYS gotten me significantly improved battery life. Why is this surprising to people?
They could have taken the coward's way out and made the machine 2mm thicker with larger batteries. It's so nice that Timmy and his band of merry men always choose the courageous route.
75% is insanely bright though. I typically use my 2016 MBP at no more than 50% brightness. Having it at 75% or higher actually hurts my eyes.
They could make it even thinner by leaving the battery out completely. For the few people who actually feel a need to power up the machine they can sell a USB-C connected battery pack as a separate option. $199 for 2 hours, $399 for 4 hours and $799 for 6 hours.
Oh yes! I'd almost forgotten about those apps. IIRC wing commander II was one particular app that went crazy in Turbo mode. You had to switch it off for the animation timing to be correct.
Still. I like my joke. LOL
I used to watch TWiT podcasts where they once in a while mentioned "four hours battery? can we believe that? .. yeah, I agree, usually Apple at least is pretty good at giving proper usage numbers" .. I guess those days are over..
The best battery from any device ever has been the iPad. You have 4% and can still finish a movie on Netflix before it hits 1% Even after a couple of years of daily use. Everything else usually after 1,5 years shows wear/tear of the battery "didn't I just walk out of the house with 60% battery left, why is it already down to 40% now.. few months ago I could easily assume it wouldn't be below 55%'
laptops i've had or used from Apple that had 1 hr left, usually means 20 minutes .. because you USE it.. Premiere , Skype , Facetime, Chrome .. etc. They only say 1 hr left and are like 40 minutes, for the first handful of months.
But with the way Apple has been running Apple in 2016, it isn't really a surprise that 10 hours simply means 5 hours.. And that consumer reports for once did their tests as usual, and came to the same conclusion. Only to 'update' their stuff 'based on new numbers', yeah, .. provided by apple "how about you use these power saving features, dont actually use the device, store it in a fridge, and keep the charger connected.. look: 10 hours! .."
Don't advertise a screen saying it's extra bright, extra this, extra that .. and then say "but if you want to use it, you get 12 minutes of battery power, soooo" .. I can make products like that too.
Buy my car, it will get you around the world on one charge!
If, you put it on the back of a truck.
The best battery from any device ever has been the iPad. You have 4% and can still finish a movie on Netflix before it hits 1% Even after a couple of years of daily use. Everything else usually after 1,5 years shows wear/tear of the battery "didn't I just walk out of the house with 60% battery left, why is it already down to 40% now.. few months ago I could easily assume it wouldn't be below 55%'
laptops i've had or used from Apple that had 1 hr left, usually means 20 minutes .. because you USE it.. Premiere , Skype , Facetime, Chrome .. etc. They only say 1 hr left and are like 40 minutes, for the first handful of months.
But with the way Apple has been running Apple in 2016, it isn't really a surprise that 10 hours simply means 5 hours.. And that consumer reports for once did their tests as usual, and came to the same conclusion. Only to 'update' their stuff 'based on new numbers', yeah, .. provided by apple "how about you use these power saving features, dont actually use the device, store it in a fridge, and keep the charger connected.. look: 10 hours! .."
Don't advertise a screen saying it's extra bright, extra this, extra that .. and then say "but if you want to use it, you get 12 minutes of battery power, soooo" .. I can make products like that too.
Buy my car, it will get you around the world on one charge!
If, you put it on the back of a truck.
Do those of you who run your screen at 100% brightness also complain about the gas your car uses when you drive everywhere with your foot flat to the floor the whole time?
I'm looking at a MacBook screen now and if I turn it up to full it almost blinds me it's so bright. Perhaps you should go see an eye doctor instead of moaning that Apple are wrong.
I'm looking at a MacBook screen now and if I turn it up to full it almost blinds me it's so bright. Perhaps you should go see an eye doctor instead of moaning that Apple are wrong.
1. Nobody said the batteries are flawed.
2. Yes they are efficient and capable of 10h of life.
The problem is that we're not talking about the MacBook, but the MacBook Pro.
I know it doesn't mean anything anymore these days when a product, at least from Apple, is called Pro. (well it does mean a higher price) but this aside, I would like to think that the Pro machine is ready to handle whatever its maximum workload can be for more than what is offered now thanks to Apple's design anorexia.
The batteries are a-ok and efficient in the same way a Fiat Panda is a-ok and efficient. Problem is that the Pro line isn't the same league as the Facebook tabbing machine, its price certainly would lead you to believe it's more than that anyways, much like a truck or pickup is made for a little more work than giving your groceries a lift from Walmart to your driveway.
It's an issue of price and expectations, not whether the battery itself is faulty or not.
Glassed Silver:mac
The batteries aren't flawed, but they are too tiny for the task. All in the name of too thin a machine and too high margins.
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Some of us use our computers in places other than our parents' darkened basements and for tasks that aren't best done in the dark.
Once your eyes are used to a little daylight things will be different for you.
Not everybody sits inside their basement at 4am watching imgur .
Some people sit in properly lit offices, or use it as a production laptop outside, Because it is (spoiler) mobile!
You can't drive your car like you suggested due to laws and common sense. Apple has it as an advertised feature. Right there, on their purchase page, first thing they basically mention.
So complaining that those who spent an extra $1000 to get a fantastic beast of a machine, with 10 hours, 67 % brighter monitor so they can do their hobbies and work properly on it .. and then being told, but those ten hours only count if you dim your screen by 67% ..
common .. i think it's fair that some of us go 'welp, sigh' .. Show me someone who's excited about that disappointing discovery?
So will the next version of macOS warn me that I'm just doing too much work?
Seriously, this is becoming comical.
Build and spec a machine that will take the pro workload or don't call it/market is as Pro.
Seriously, this is becoming comical.
Build and spec a machine that will take the pro workload or don't call it/market is as Pro.
Apple advertises that the latest MacBook Pro models provide up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge for web browsing and iTunes movie playback, but a user's mileage may vary based upon factors such as display brightness, which apps are running, and external devices connected.
For this reason, Apple lists apps using a significant amount of energy under the battery menu in the macOS menu bar. The feature enables users to monitor which apps are drawing a lot of power and impacting battery life, whether it be the built-in Spotlight tool or a power-hungry web browser with several tabs open.
Now, Apple has gone one step further and expanded the feature to include display brightness. On the latest macOS Sierra beta, when a Mac's display is set above 75% brightness--or at least 13 out of 16 notches--a new item called "Display Brightness" is listed under the battery menu.
Clicking on "Display Brightness" lowers the Mac's brightness to 75%. Likewise, when we updated a new MacBook Pro to the fourth beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.3, the display's brightness was automatically lowered to 75%. This is the same brightness level as Apple used during its latest MacBook Pro battery tests.
New: "Display Brightness" is now listed and "Apps" has been dropped from the title
Battery life on the latest MacBook Pro models has been a controversial topic since the notebooks launched in October. A subset of users have reported getting as little as three to six hours of battery life on a single charge, sometimes even with only basic web browsing and other non-intensive tasks.
Apple has consistently stood by its advertised battery life for the latest MacBook Pro. It did, however, remove the "time remaining" battery life indicator on macOS Sierra 10.12.2, noting the estimates "couldn't accurately keep up with what users were doing" because of the "dynamic ways" people use their Macs.
Consumer Reports initially failed to recommend the latest MacBook Pro because of battery life inconsistencies, but it later worked with Apple and learned that a Safari bug triggered by its own testing configuration was to blame for the mixed results. Apple fixed that bug in macOS 10.12.3, and Consumer Reports has since reversed course and now recommends the latest MacBook Pro after retesting.
The new feature is currently limited to beta testers. It will be widely available when macOS 10.12.3 is officially released over the coming days.
Article Link: Apple Warns You When Your Display is Using Significant Energy in Latest macOS Beta
Not the case with my new MBP but your mileage may vary.
You do realize this is how all laptop makers rate performance, just as phone makers do the same? The time quoted is with light internet use. It's not streaming 4k video while rendering in the background and playing music at full blast. In the same way, car mileage is rated. It's never flooring the gas or hard braking
Next update It will turn the screen off if Apple feels you are using it too much....
Yes, you did say nothing. Mission accomplished.
Why don't they slow the processor down so you can't get much done on it? That'll save a lot of power.
I actually had to do this! I had a really old (maybe even original?) version of Wing Commander that was completely CPU frequency dependent. On my original 386 25 MHz, it ran fine. Once I got my 486 66, as soon as you started the game, everything whizzed by and you dead in about 2 seconds without ever getting to fire a shot. Once I turned off the Turbo, it was better, but still noticeably faster than it was on my 386 which made it a challenge.
A useful feature. For quick visual confirmation, I actually wouldn't mind the option to show the current percentage right in the menu bar.
There is just no way I can use 100% brightness on my 15in MBP. I don't want to be blinded.
I use around 30%. Far better on my eyes.
A very reasonable move, but why is this trivial change on the front page? I don't remember things like Xsan 5 or Deap Learning OS X APIs being featured this prominently 
P.S. The MBP on 70% brightness is still brighter than almost any other laptop on the market at 100%
P.S. The MBP on 70% brightness is still brighter than almost any other laptop on the market at 100%
Has the median IQ of Apple customers dropped so significantly that it needs to be pointed out that maximum brightness is going to use more energy?
Or is Apple so desperate to validate their battery duration claims that they need to itemize every element that is using energy as an excuse?
Up next the "energy-usage-per-keypress" note.
Or is Apple so desperate to validate their battery duration claims that they need to itemize every element that is using energy as an excuse?
Up next the "energy-usage-per-keypress" note.