Battery Left Time Showing in Activity Monitor ?

[augustya]

Apple had said earlier that the estimated time showing near the battery percentage was not a correct, true estimate of the batter left and subsequently also removed it in MacOs Sierra 10.12.2. My question is now in Activity Monitor in the energy tab it shows estimated battery left is that a correct estimate or even that is wron according to Apple ? I saw in a new 2016 15" rMBP it showed an astonishing 10:50 hours !! was quite pleased to see it !!

 

[0388279]

Hi Augutya,

The time left in the Activity app is identical to that formerly displayed in battery indicator and that found in Battery Health. The time left calculation is an average of use over some, as yet to be determined, period of time.

Donald Barar

 

[augustya]

Hi Augutya,

The time left in the Activity app is identical to that formerly displayed in battery indicator and that found in Battery Health. The time left calculation is an average of use over some, as yet to be determined, period of time.

Donald Barar

So the estimated time battery time showing in Activity Monitor is reliable or not ? If it says 10 hours left does it mean I will get 10 hours !

 

[0388279]

I own a late 2016 MBP15 (2.9 GHz, 1TB, 460) and have attempted to determine what is going on with battery life indicator and battery life in general.

The best I can tell you is that the time left is based on your average usage for some non-published time period. If your power consumption rate becomes greater than your average, then you will have less time indicated. If your power consumption rate is less than your average then the time remaining will go up.

I would say the time remaining indicator is accurate provided nothing changes with your usage.

Does this help?

Donald Barar


BTW. The biggest issue that I see is that this computer gets stuck in a high energy usage state when it should be using very little. Because of this I am still debating whether-or-not this computer needs to be returned. I have until January 07 to make my decision.

 

[augustya]

I own a late 2016 MBP15 (2.9 GHz, 1TB, 460) and have attempted to determine what is going on with battery life indicator and battery life in general.

The best I can tell you is that the time left is based on your average usage for some non-published time period. If your power consumption rate becomes greater than your average, then you will have less time indicated. If your power consumption rate is less than your average then the time remaining will go up.

I would say the time remaining indicator is accurate provided nothing changes with your usage.

Does this help?

Donald Barar

My question is Apple dismissed, removed the battery indicator from 10.12.2 near the battery percentage area saying it was not correctly estimating remaining battery time ! Now is that also the case with the battery time left showing in Activity Monitor ?

 

[deany]

My question is Apple dismissed, removed the battery indicator from 10.12.2 near the battery percentage area saying it was not correctly estimating remaining battery time ! Now is that also the case with the battery time left showing in Activity Monitor ?

Post 2 answers that
"The time left in the Activity app is identical to that formerly displayed in battery indicator and that found in Battery Health."
I find the activity monitor 'time remaining' helpful.
I keep activity monitor in the dock so just a couple of clicks.

 

[augustya]

Apple has dismissed and removed the earlier battery estimation indicator on the Desktop saying it was not correctly estimating battery time left ! Does that make battery estimation indicator on the Activity Monitor also obsolete is what I am asking ?

 

[DeltaMac]

I'm guessing that the estimate was removed from the icon because the estimate with the newer hardware is even less reliable than it used to be.
But, I suppose your real question is: Why didn't Apple remove all traces of estimated battery life?
All we can do here is guess.

You may choose to ignore the estimate, if you wish. Remember that the % remaining still appears, despite the fact that the numerical time remaining has been removed. It's not like you have no indication of battery life.

 

[augustya]

Remember that the % remaining still appears, despite the fact that the numerical time remaining has been removed. It's not like you have no indication of battery life.

But is that Reliable and Accurate ? The one that is in Activity Monitor ?

 

[DeltaMac]

Hmm....
What exactly is your question again? I am hoping that after you have asked the same question 5 times, in 5 posts, that you will realize that figure - time remaining - is as accurate as you expect it to be.

The only way you can find out how accurate for you, is to actually use on battery until you run out to low battery.
If you like that amount of time, then it works for you, and works well.
If, OTOH, you don't get the time that you expect, then no, not too accurate.

So, bottom line, regardless of where you look, the time remaining accuracy reflects YOUR usage of your Mac, and no one else.
If you find the time remaining in the activity monitor helpful to you (as deany does a few posts up), then that's a Good Thing™.

 

[0388279]

But is that Reliable and Accurate ? The one that is in Activity Monitor ?

It is accurate provided your average energy consumption rate does not change.

Let's say that you were browsing the web and had Mail open. These are relatively low energy consumption activities. And, let say the Activity app time left on battery was 10:36. Now, lets say that you start an app like Premier Pro CC--a much higher energy consumption app. It will take awhile (since the time left is an average of what you done) before the Activity app catches up and reflects what is the amount of time left on the battery.

Does this make sense?

Donald Barar

 

[augustya]

Hmm....
What exactly is your question again? I am hoping that after you have asked the same question 5 times, in 5 posts, that you will realize that figure - time remaining - is as accurate as you expect it to be.

The only way you can find out how accurate for you, is to actually use on battery until you run out to low battery.
If you like that amount of time, then it works for you, and works well.
If, OTOH, you don't get the time that you expect, then no, not too accurate.

So, bottom line, regardless of where you look, the time remaining accuracy reflects YOUR usage of your Mac, and no one else.
If you find the time remaining in the activity monitor helpful to you (as deany does a few posts up), then that's a Good Thing™.

But earlier Apple had accepted that the Battery Time Left in the Desktop area was flawed so my question is pertaining to that of that is taken into consideration even the Time Left in Activity Monitor is flawed ? That is what I am asking ?

 

[DeltaMac]

Activity Monitor would get the time remaining data from the same process that has displayed that info in the menubar icon.
So, your question is this:
Should I accept that the report of battery time remaining is, somehow, real (something that I can accept as reality?)
What do YOU think?
Does YOUR MacBook Pro get good battery life - or not?
If the information, as presented in your Activity Monitor is not useful to you, then you have my permission to ignore it.

If you still want an answer, here is one, which is just my opinion: Yes.

 

[bhayes444]

But earlier Apple had accepted that the Battery Time Left in the Desktop area was flawed so my question is pertaining to that of that is taken into consideration even the Time Left in Activity Monitor is flawed ? That is what I am asking ?

This was answered in post 2. dgbarar said that the battery life remaining, in activity monitor, is identical to what was displayed in the status bar. If the status bar time remaining was deemed unreliable, then the one in activity monitor would be as well; since they are identical.

 

[augustya]

This was answered in post 2. dgbarar said that the battery life remaining, in activity monitor, is identical to what was displayed in the status bar. If the status bar time remaining was deemed unreliable, then the one in activity monitor would be as well; since they are identical.

Some one said before on one another thread that the time remaining shown in Activity Monitor is more accurate and reliable then that of Status Bar on the Desktop of Mac.

 

[hans1972]

Apple had said earlier that the estimated time showing near the battery percentage was not a correct, true estimate of the batter left and subsequently also removed it in MacOs Sierra 10.12.2.

To my knowledge, Apple has said nothing. They have just removed the time remaining-indicator without any explanation.

 

[augustya]

To my knowledge, Apple has said nothing. They have just removed the time remaining-indicator without any explanation.

Apple's statement on this was covered by Macrumors !!

 

[miamialley]

Some one said before on one another thread that the time remaining shown in Activity Monitor is more accurate and reliable then that of Status Bar on the Desktop of Mac.

They are identical. Average users could just easily see the time remaining where it was placed before they removed it. It is an estimate, as others have described above.

 

[TheRealAlex]

Apple had said earlier that the estimated time showing near the battery percentage was not a correct, true estimate of the batter left and subsequently also removed it in MacOs Sierra 10.12.2. My question is now in Activity Monitor in the energy tab it shows estimated battery left is that a correct estimate or even that is wron according to Apple ? I saw in a new 2016 15" rMBP it showed an astonishing 10:50 hours !! was quite pleased to see it !!

Just to fill in Apple said was a cover. It's for legal reason because even after Extensive Testing by Consumer Reports it's now exposed that the Touch pear MacBook Pro are not getting the Claimed 10 hour battery life.

So far Upcomming legal reasons what does Apple do. Remove any potential evidence by removing the Battery Life Time Remaining Idicator.

It's to cover their own butts legally It was their lawyer who had them remove it.

 

[matram]

To my understanding the data comes from the battery. You can use pmset -g rawlog to get the raw data from the embedded battery controllet chip.

Remaining time is simple the battery capacity (mAh) divided by current current drawn (mA). Hence it is an instantenous value. The same value seems to be used by all utilities.

 

[miamialley]

Just to fill in Apple said was a cover. It's for legal reason because even after Extensive Testing by Consumer Reports it's now exposed that the Touch pear MacBook Pro are not getting the Claimed 10 hour battery life.

So far Upcomming legal reasons what does Apple do. Remove any potential evidence by removing the Battery Life Time Remaining Idicator.

It's to cover their own butts legally It was their lawyer who had them remove it.

Just not true. The battery estimate is easily available via a variety of methods by an user, therefore, Apple is covering nothing by removing it from the toolbar. If there is bad battery life, it is just as easily discovered now as it was before. The AVERAGE user will just no longer have the data easily in front of them.

 

[0388279]

Remaining time is simple the battery capacity (mAh) divided by current current drawn (mA). Hence it is an instantenous value. The same value seems to be used by all utilities.

I agree. Time remaining is the battery capacity divided by the current draw. However, it is not based on the instantaneous current draw. Rather it is the average current draw over some unknown time period. I say this because that for any displayed rate of power consumption their can be wide range of time remaining on battery reported. The only explanation of this is that time remaining is based on average rate of current draw.

Watch what happens on your favorite battery monitor application. The power consumption rate can drop rather significantly, but it can take a fairly long time for the reduction in power consumption to be reflected in the battery time remaining. Try it some time. You will see what I mean.

Donald Barar

 

[matram]

What I could see with pmset is that remaining time reported each minute is exactly the qoutient of capacity and current drawn as reported by pmset.

The remaining time from pmset seems to be identical to what coconut battery reports.

When running a mixed load of Office an Adobe CC apps, current draw could vary a factor 2x between consecutive minutes as would then the remainnng time, hence I doubt this is a long-term average.

Please note that these observations are for a 13" 2014 MBP run 10.12.3. I ordered my 15" maxed out MBP the day after the keynote from a local reseller and I am still waiting. ☹️

 

[0388279]

What I could see with pmset is that remaining time reported each minute is exactly the qoutient of capacity and current drawn as reported by pmset.

The remaining time from pmset seems to be identical to what coconut battery reports.

When running a mixed load of Office an Adobe CC apps, current draw could vary a factor 2x between consecutive minutes as would then the remainnng time, hence I doubt this is a long-term average.

Please note that these observations are for a 13" 2014 MBP run 10.12.3. I ordered my 15" maxed out MBP the day after the keynote from a local reseller and I am still waiting. ☹️

Hi M,

Thanks for info. Let me try again and see if this revises my opinion.

Happy New Year,

Don
[doublepost=1483219563][/doublepost]Hi M,

Just ran a test with Battery Health 2.0, Activity App, and pmset -g rawlog. I took a screen shot just as pmset updated. See attached--last log item. In summary, I got the following results:

pmset: Charge Remaining = 6772 mA, Draw = 362 mA, Time Remaining = 18:42
Battery Health: Charge Remaining = 6772 mA, Draw = 313 mA, Time Remaining = 11:34
Activity App: Charge Remaining = N/A, Draw = N/A, Time Remaining = 11:24

From this information I would agree that pmset is an instantaneous result. However, what is displayed by Battery Heath and the Activity App is something different. My impression is that is average of something. Most likely results from pmset over some unspecified time period.

Great find. I was unaware of pmset.

Cheers,

Don

 

[augustya]

Hi M,

Thanks for info. Let me try again and see if this revises my opinion.

Happy New Year,

Don
[doublepost=1483219563][/doublepost]Hi M,

Just ran a test with Battery Health 1.3, Activity App, and pmset -g rawlog. I took a screen shot just as pmset updated. See attached--last log item. In summary, I got the following results:

pmset: Charge Remaining = 6772 mA, Draw = 362 mA, Time Remaining = 18:42
Battery Health: Charge Remaining = 6772 mA, Draw = 313 mA, Time Remaining = 11:34
Activity App: Charge Remaining = N/A, Draw = N/A, Time Remaining = 11:24

From this information I would agree that pmset is an instantaneous result. However, what is displayed by Battery Heath and the Activity App is something different. My impression is that is average of something. Most likely results from pmset over some unspecified time period.

Great find. I was unaware of pmset.

Cheers,

Don

What is the Green APP showing in your post ?