Battery Issue in new MacBook Pro's

[Jonze]

Just wondering if anyone else is having any trouble with the battery on the new 15" MacBook Pro 2.2GHz? I've looked into it and people seem to suggest its because of the Graphic's Card. I downloaded gfxCardStatus and set it to only run on integrated but surely you shouldn't need to do that. Apple advertises upto 7 hours battery but you cant get it because of the GFX card.

Any ideas?

(Updated time, meant 7 not 10 )

 

[miles01110]

They actually advertise up to 7 hours.

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I presume you don't get the fully advertised battery time?

Or can you be specific what your battery issue is?

Also have a look at Activity Monitor (Applications / Utilities /) and select All Processes and sort by CPU to see what the culprit may be.

image below uses sorting by CPU as an example

 

[suckatcomputers]

You won't get 10 nor 7 hours if your Airport is on and using internet the whole time along with whatever else you're doing. You have nothing to worry about.

 

[Jonze]

O'right fair enough, thanks

 

[Lantti]

I am not getting even close to 7 hours with my 15" (2.2 GHz). When I am web browsing (I have disabled flash) I am getting about 4.5 hours and with video playback (DVD quality video) I am getting about 4 hours.

I have disabled lights on keyboard and screen brightness is about 50%...

 

[Mal]

You won't get 10 nor 7 hours if your Airport is on and using internet the whole time along with whatever else you're doing. You have nothing to worry about.

Apple's new battery tests are done with Airport on and running web browsing (IIRC, even including Flash), in order to get accurate real-world usage times. So yes, anyone with a new MBP should get the advertised 7 hours battery while using Airport and browsing the web. Other activities may drop that time, however.

jW

 

[darkeartg]

I'm not sure why but my 2.3 quad core i7 came with a freak of a battery compared to my last 2.8 i7. It says on the battery timer that i'll be be getting 9 hours of battery life when I was just surfing the net using safari.

 

[suckatcomputers]

I am not getting even close to 7 hours with my 15" (2.2 GHz). When I am web browsing (I have disabled flash) I am getting about 4.5 hours and with video playback (DVD quality video) I am getting about 4 hours.

I have disabled lights on keyboard and screen brightness is about 50%...

My brightness is a little less than 50% and I get the same on my 13".

Apple's new battery tests are done with Airport on and running web browsing (IIRC, even including Flash), in order to get accurate real-world usage times. So yes, anyone with a new MBP should get the advertised 7 hours battery while using Airport and browsing the web. Other activities may drop that time, however.

jW

Yes, that is what the Apple guy told me. Everybody I know that has the 2011 and using internet w/ airport on have yet to get 5 hours out of the battery.

Anybody getting 6 or 7 hours w/ internet browsing w/ Airport on?

 

[bcaslis]

My brightness is a little less than 50% and I get the same on my 13".



Yes, that is what the Apple guy told me. Everybody I know that has the 2011 and using internet w/ airport on have yet to get 5 hours out of the battery.

Anybody getting 6 or 7 hours w/ internet browsing w/ Airport on?

Yes, I am. Note also you should condition the battery by fully charging, fully draining it, and recharging. Also note that it may take a couple of cycles of usage before the battery gets to full strength. That's what I've seen.

 

[sbbluewater]

Battery Times

I have the 2011 2.0 with the 6490 card. I started this morning at 7:00 and so far I have 5-1/2 hours and my gauge says I have 1-1/2 hours left to go. I have been browsing the WEB, downloading I-Tunes artwork for albums, transferring pictures from a back-up drive to the MBP. I think I will end up getting close to 7 hours of battery life so I am very happy. Maybe the higher end graphics card pulls more juice but I would not think that card would come into use for the types of activities I listed above.

 

[soooren]

i think ive read on these forums that chrome makes the ATI graphics card kick in no matter what, so you might want to switch browser if you need the battery life?

 

[Cantisama]

I think only if you do the bare minimum (i.e. surf text-based sites) can you get 7hrs out of the new mbp. I get about 3.5-4.5, depending how much I work (which requires a lot of programs running) and game (which causes the amd card to kick in).

 

[UTclassof89]

yep--I too have never come close to the 7 hour claim, while wirelessly browsing, w/o keyboard lights and 50% screen brightness.

I get maybe 4 hours. Open another program along with my browser and it drops to 2.5 or 3.

 

[axu539]

I am not getting even close to 7 hours with my 15" (2.2 GHz). When I am web browsing (I have disabled flash) I am getting about 4.5 hours and with video playback (DVD quality video) I am getting about 4 hours.

I have disabled lights on keyboard and screen brightness is about 50%...

If you're actually using the DVD player, it'll definitely be shorter. Otherwise, have you calibrated your battery yet?

 

[4everZero]

This isn't exactly related to the specifics of this thread, but still battery related. I got my MBP 2011 last monday, and my battery health reads 96% on iStat and 95% on coconut battery. It's been through 6 charge cycles already because I've carried it around quite a bit. I'm guessing this is fine? From all the searches I've done (the threads and info were really really old, so I'm not sure if they still apply), it seems having a 95 or 96% battery life only after 1 week of purchase is nothing to worry about. Is my guess accurate?

Thanks!

 

[Lantti]

I am not getting even close to 7 hours with my 15" (2.2 GHz). When I am web browsing (I have disabled flash) I am getting about 4.5 hours and with video playback (DVD quality video) I am getting about 4 hours.

I have disabled lights on keyboard and screen brightness is about 50%...

Chrome and VLC were reason for my battery issues. Both applications desided to use discrete graphics card and not Intel's... With Firefox and QuickTime player I am getting 6-7 hours battery life.

gfxCardStatus is a great application to monitor which graphic card is in use.

 

[GGJstudios]

Yes, I am. Note also you should condition the battery by fully charging, fully draining it, and recharging. Also note that it may take a couple of cycles of usage before the battery gets to full strength. That's what I've seen.

There's more to the calibration process than that. See the exact instructions in the link below.

... my battery health reads 96% on iStat and 95% on coconut battery. It's been through 6 charge cycles already because I've carried it around quite a bit. I'm guessing this is fine? From all the searches I've done (the threads and info were really really old, so I'm not sure if they still apply), it seems having a 95 or 96% battery life only after 1 week of purchase is nothing to worry about. Is my guess accurate?

Yes, your battery health will fluctuate up and down over time. It's perfectly normal. Be sure to properly calibrate your battery to ensure accurate readings. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[SuprUsrStan]

You won't get 10 nor 7 hours if your Airport is on and using internet the whole time along with whatever else you're doing. You have nothing to worry about.

That's just not true, I get anywhere from 7-8 hours easy with half brightness wifi browsing. If you check coconut battery, you should be pulling ~8.5 to 9.5 watts. That way your battery usage should be around 8 hours. Just make sure that firefox or Chorme or Skype doesn't force your video card to turn on.

EDIT: I have a 15 inch 2011 MPB
2.2QM with a 6750M 500G 7200RPM

The screenshot was taken under half brightness airport on with firefox running and gfxstatus in battery > integrated mode
oh and keyboard light on too.