Battery Issue

[Alphachronic]

Hey guys,

I recently bought a rMBP 13" 2015 model and it's been going great...except for the battery. Just for the past hour all I've been doing is web browsing, checking a few emails, watched around 3 YouTube videos and went around Facebook. 25% of battery was drained. 25%. That's a lot for just 1 hour by doing some light work. The screen brightness was around 4 bars too. I know that Chrome is a battery hog and I still use it because I don't like Apple's built-in offering, but that's about it.

That being said, this is my 3rd day using the rMBP and I've only charged it twice. I've heard from a post a very long time ago that battery life for the first few days are kinda crappy. Can anyone confirm this for me? Also what charging routine should I follow? The sales guy at the Apple Store said to fully drain the battery then charge it back up to 100%, should I continue this?

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

 

[Voca]

Yes, continue that. If the issues continues, go back to the Apple store.

 

[T5BRICK]

I know that Chrome is a battery hog and I still use it because I don't like Apple's built-in offering, but that's about it.

Chrome is a resource hog in general, but it shouldn't cause that big of a hit in terms of battery life.

Were you viewing a lot of flash content?

I've heard from a post a very long time ago that battery life for the first few days are kinda crappy.

I'd say that's mostly not true. I mean, it might be reduced by an hour or two, but that's really it.

Can anyone confirm this for me? Also what charging routine should I follow? The sales guy at the Apple Store said to fully drain the battery then charge it back up to 100%, should I continue this?

Charge your laptop when you can, run it off the battery when you need to. There is no need to drain and charge it as the guy at the Apple Store suggested. Thats actually just going to add additional cycles to the battery and reduce the useful life.

 

[Dark Void]

I suggest running Safari and to mimic that same general usage, and see what you come up with, which will allow you to determine if Chrome is the culprit. I wouldn't jump to conclusions after an hour or so - try a few different sessions while keeping your usage similar in order to get a mostly accurate idea.

I agree with T5BRICK regarding the rest of your post. That post regarding the battery is misinformation, and I would also like to reiterate not to stress out about your battery. Just use the laptop as you need to in terms of charging it and running on battery. There is no harm in leaving it plugged in for an extended period or time or from not letting it run down in any sort of pattern.

It's good to monitor it just to make sure there are no obvious issues like you could have here, but try not to obsess or feel the need to follow any sort of regiment.

I hope this helps.

 

[Alphachronic]

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm just going to see how the battery holds up for a few more days before making a decision. But so far the battery life hasn't change much.

 

[yjchua95]

I know that Chrome is a battery hog and I still use it because I don't like Apple's built-in offering, but that's about it.

Then you'll have to suck it up and live with it, because Chrome is really that much of a resource hog.

 

[Clausewitz]

Hey guys,

I recently bought a rMBP 13" 2015 model and it's been going great...except for the battery. Just for the past hour all I've been doing is web browsing, checking a few emails, watched around 3 YouTube videos and went around Facebook. 25% of battery was drained. 25%. That's a lot for just 1 hour by doing some light work. The screen brightness was around 4 bars too. I know that Chrome is a battery hog and I still use it because I don't like Apple's built-in offering, but that's about it.

That being said, this is my 3rd day using the rMBP and I've only charged it twice. I've heard from a post a very long time ago that battery life for the first few days are kinda crappy. Can anyone confirm this for me? Also what charging routine should I follow? The sales guy at the Apple Store said to fully drain the battery then charge it back up to 100%, should I continue this?

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

I have a rMBP 13" 2015 as well & the battery has had worried me time to time, including right now. I used to get around 6 hours battery life (as per the battery bar) until I dimmed the brightness from 100% to 60%. The battery status bar then began suggesting I have around 12 to 15 hours. But since past few days I am getting around 8 hours battery life (as per the status bar) even with 60% brightness. I just performed a PRAM & SMC reset, which has brought battery status bar to suggest I may have around 13 to 15 hours battery time.

To be honest no matter what the Apple, the battery status bar, &/or the reviewers say I do not see MBPs getting more then 5 hours battery time. After the 100th% falls the battery goes down by the minutes. This happens to me when all that I am using is MS Word & Safari.

Anyway I am pretty much a layman to Macs, even though I have been using them for 3 years now, but you can try doing the following:

1. Drain the battery & recharge (as Apple people told you).

2. Reset PRAM & SMC.

3. Dim the brightness (which I believe you have). People here have suggested me that 60% to 70% can provide better battery performance.

4. Use backlit in situations where keyboard visibility is low, & adjust according to requirement.

5. Check the Force Quit to see if any app is having trouble quitting the normal way. Apple's iWorks, especially PAGES doesn't really quit if you close it from the red-x exit button. You need to properly quit it.

6. Check your activity monitor to see if any app is draining the battery.

 

[Alphachronic]

To reset the SMC do I press Shift-Control-Option-Power Button for 5 seconds when the macbook is off then turn it back on?

 

[T5BRICK]

1. Drain the battery & recharge (as Apple people told you).

This is not necessary and just plain bad advice. The only thing that draining and recharging the battery is going to do is add an unnecessary cycle. Apple has not officially suggested this since they switched from replaceable batteries. The Apple employee was misinformed.

 

[Clausewitz]

To reset the SMC do I press Shift-Control-Option-Power Button for 5 seconds when the macbook is off then turn it back on?

Yes. Make sure to connect the charger & look keep an eye on its light. When the light changes colour for a second it means SMC has been reset.

 

[Alphachronic]

OH I didn't know the colour had to change haha oh well I'll try again. Thanks

 

[Queen6]

Try Chrome Canary, if you want the Google experience, it`s a lot more optimised for OS X

Q-6

 

[Queen6]

OH I didn't know the colour had to change haha oh well I'll try again. Thanks

You won't see the charging light cycle unless it`s actually charging then it will cycle Red, Green, Red.

Q-6

 

[Alphachronic]

How do I reset the pram? Every time I tried it goes into grey screen then disk utility mode or something.

Also isn't chrome canary really buggy?

 

[Queen6]

Try it and see, you have nothing to loose

Q-6

 

[Martin81]

Have you checked the battery health with programs like "coconut battery"?