Battery Draining Fast Like Crazy

[A1MB1G]

I have a 2020 13" MacBook Pro and I've been noticing that my batter drains like super fast. For example, 30 minutes ago I had 100% battery, I'm now down to 74% and I literally see like 1% dropping off every 2 minutes or thereabouts. I tried using Safari instead of Chrome but same result.

When I checked which apps are using the battery, it originally showed Chrome and Malware Bytes. I have since uninstalled MalwareBytes and reverted to using Safari but still experiencing the same battery drain issues. In fact, the time it took me to write this message, it went from 74% to 73% which is less than a minute (I'm a fast typer).

Any ideas/suggestions I could try? I've enabled all the power saving features I'm aware of but man, this is way too fast of a battery drain! Could it be VMWare Fusion? It wasn't on the list of battery draining apps but it is now after I stopped using Chrome and MalwareBytes. I dunno, just doesn't seem right to me.

 

[Sanpete]

Doesn't seem normal. What energy impact does Activity Monitor show your processes are using? What's your screen brightness? You can look at About This Mac under the Apple menus and check System report > Power to see more about your battery's condition, including how many times it's been charged, what percentage of design capacity it charges to, and whether it's in normal shape.

 

[asohal]

I have this same behavior on my brand new base 14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro chip. 8Core/16GB Memory. I did a Factory reset last night and re-installed the OS (Monterey - 12.0.1). So far there was no Battery Drain while on Sleep, but while using it with very minimal apps open such as Safari 5-6 tabs open, Remote Desktop App and Activity Monitor it has consumed 25% in the last 3.5 hours of usage. The battery has been set to low power mode, with Slightly dimmed screen while on Battery power, 45-50% Brightness. No Bluetooth devices connected. No external device connected and no External Monitor. Find my Mac is Turned off, almost all notifications are off. Display is manually set to P3-500 nits and 60Hz with Auto Brightness off, True Tone Off. There is no Time Machine configured or any other Backup services. not listening to any music or similar. I'm really starting to think that this is really for Pro users who really needs the power and doesn't really care about battery life. The M2 chips will probably be geared towards people like me. But then again, I was planning to use this for running VM's, Visual Studio, iTerm2, Watching some training videos, Study/Lab materials etc. I'm really hopping that this is just a bug that can be addressed sooner. I really like the 14" and don't want to go to 16" as its a little to big for my preference. Though I have heard that some 16" MBP with M1 Pro Chip having the same issues.

 

[Rich Hughes]

I have this same behavior on my brand new base 14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro chip. 8Core/16GB Memory. I did a Factory reset last night and re-installed the OS (Monterey - 12.0.1). So far there was no Battery Drain while on Sleep, but while using it with very minimal apps open such as Safari 5-6 tabs open, Remote Desktop App and Activity Monitor it has consumed 25% in the last 3.5 hours of usage. The battery has been set to low power mode, with Slightly dimmed screen while on Battery power, 45-50% Brightness. No Bluetooth devices connected. No external device connected and no External Monitor. Find my Mac is Turned off, almost all notifications are off. Display is manually set to P3-500 nits and 60Hz with Auto Brightness off, True Tone Off. There is no Time Machine configured or any other Backup services. not listening to any music or similar. I'm really starting to think that this is really for Pro users who really needs the power and doesn't really care about battery life. The M2 chips will probably be geared towards people like me. But then again, I was planning to use this for running VM's, Visual Studio, iTerm2, Watching some training videos, Study/Lab materials etc. I'm really hopping that this is just a bug that can be addressed sooner. I really like the 14" and don't want to go to 16" as its a little to big for my preference. Though I have heard that some 16" MBP with M1 Pro Chip having the same issues.

My new MacBook Pro is configured the same as yours. I am getting barely more than two hours of battery life while using Word. The battery condition is shown as "Normal" with 100% capacity.

 

[asohal]

My new MacBook Pro is configured the same as yours. I am getting barely more than two hours of battery life while using Word. The battery condition is shown as "Normal" with 100% capacity.

What the Hell? 2Hours? That's horrible. Question, are the Microsoft apps already native on M1 such as Word/Excel? Not really had the chance to check it yet. God. I really hope the new update (12.1) is released soon before my return window is up. Don't want to get stuck with a laptop that cannot last 5-6 hours with barely doing anything.

 

[fa8362]

What the Hell? 2Hours? That's horrible. Question, are the Microsoft apps already native on M1 such as Word/Excel? Not really had the chance to check it yet. God. I really hope the new update (12.1) is released soon before my return window is up. Don't want to get stuck with a laptop that cannot last 5-6 hours with barely doing anything.

My 16" M1 Pro lasts 15+ hours on a single charge.

 

[kvlq]

i have mine for about a month already, and it lasts 8hrs.
brightness at 8 points, and using almost just Safari.
i dont know how others get 10+hrs , i think with the brightness at 1 point...

 

[Wando64]

…while using it with very minimal apps open such as Safari 5-6 tabs open, Remote Desktop App and Activity Monitor it has consumed 25% in the last 3.5 hours of usage.

25% in 3.5 hours = 14 hours battery use from 100% charge.
Sounds pretty good to me. You might need to re-assess your expectations.

 

[MrGunnyPT]

What the Hell? 2Hours? That's horrible. Question, are the Microsoft apps already native on M1 such as Word/Excel? Not really had the chance to check it yet. God. I really hope the new update (12.1) is released soon before my return window is up. Don't want to get stuck with a laptop that cannot last 5-6 hours with barely doing anything.

Are you using Teams by any chance? Any apps like Teams really suck the battery out of it...

 

[asohal]

Are you using Teams by any chance? Any apps like Teams really suck the battery out of it...

No, Im not using Teams.

 

[lgn95]

Just as OP, I have 2020 13" MBP (and with Intel chip).
I bought it having 'this will be my super-duper-laptop for the next 5 years'-ish plans in mind.
Initially, I was very happy to see a non-butterfly 13" MacBook Pro again that would finally be a successor to my 2014 13" MBP.
Now, after 1,5 years, its battery lasts 2-3 hours with just some browsing and typing text documents. Battery health is around 84%, although I try to prevent deep discharge.
And the screen is full of little dust particles that molded in and shades of the keyboard, although I wipe it regularly.
I am quite disappointed.