Battery life for 13" and 15" Macbook Pro

[Apple_Robert]

For those having low battery usage, have any of you tested the battery while in safe mode? That would be a excellent way to test the battery. If the battery is still draining fast in safe mode, that typically means there is a software problem (re: unruly process etc.)

 

[tjleonard]

The SMC reset didn't seem to do as much for me as I initially thought. I still average around 5 to 5.5 hours, although, like I just stated, i've went from 30-75% charge in a little less than 30 minutes. That's pretty good??! yah?!
[doublepost=1479695267][/doublepost]

For those having low battery usage, have any of you tested the battery while in safe mode? That would be a excellent way to test the battery. If the battery is still draining fast in safe mode, that typically means there is a software problem (re: unruly process etc.)

not a bad idea...how do you get to safe mode again? I'll give it a shot and see how it works out.

Although, if it doesn't drain fast in safe mode, wouldn't it mean it's software and point at an app that may be running?

 

[Apple_Robert]

The SMC reset didn't seem to do as much for me as I initially thought. I still average around 5 to 5.5 hours, although, like I just stated, i've went from 30-75% charge in a little less than 30 minutes. That's pretty good??! yah?!
[doublepost=1479695267][/doublepost]

not a bad idea...how do you get to safe mode again? I'll give it a shot and see how it works out.

Although, if it doesn't drain fast in safe mode, wouldn't it mean it's software and point at an app that may be running?

To start up in safe mode:

1. Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key. The white Apple logo appears on your display. If you don't see the Apple logo, learn what to do.
2. Release the shift key when you see the login window. If your startup disk is encrypted with FileVault, you might be asked to log in twice: once to unlock the startup disk, and again to log in to the Finder.

To leave safe mode, restart your Mac without pressing any keys during startup.
[doublepost=1479695596][/doublepost]

The SMC reset didn't seem to do as much for me as I initially thought. I still average around 5 to 5.5 hours, although, like I just stated, i've went from 30-75% charge in a little less than 30 minutes. That's pretty good??! yah?!
[doublepost=1479695267][/doublepost]

not a bad idea...how do you get to safe mode again? I'll give it a shot and see how it works out.

Although, if it doesn't drain fast in safe mode, wouldn't it mean it's software and point at an app that may be running?

You are right. I typed it backwards. lol Sorry about that. Trying to do too much at a time.

 

[tjleonard]

To start up in safe mode:

1. Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key. The white Apple logo appears on your display. If you don't see the Apple logo, learn what to do.
2. Release the shift key when you see the login window. If your startup disk is encrypted with FileVault, you might be asked to log in twice: once to unlock the startup disk, and again to log in to the Finder.

To leave safe mode, restart your Mac without pressing any keys during startup.
[doublepost=1479695596][/doublepost]
You are right. I typed it backwards. lol Sorry about that. Trying to do too much at as time.

I got what you were saying. Just restarted in safe mode...let's see what happens...

 

[unagimiyagi]

Another update. I did a second SMC reset, charged to full, and unplugged. Here's what I'm seeing now:

• Discharging with 3.27 watts with Safari, Fantastical 2, and Coconut Battery open
• Time remaining 17:32!!!

Conclusions:

• Something about power management is screwed up on these tMBPs
• SMC reset has a measurable impact on power consumption, and thus battery life, but appears to be temporary—at least in my case

Has anyone else found that their battery life degraded again after the first SMC reset?

I personally do not believe that it is worth it to continue to fiddle around with
the SMC and so forth. The battery is 1/3 smaller so in anything other than extremely light usage this generation will have worse battery life. There is no flaw. It's just a small battery which no amount of tweaking, whether by you or apple, can overcome. No reviews praise the battery life. Most say it's probably worse than the last generation. Battery life is at the top of the list of user requests and Apple ignored it is the honest truth. I would use it until January and if you find the battery life to be lacking or the value proposition to be unacceptable then I would return the laptop. I think $1800 earns you the right to be a little picky and expect more.

 

[tjleonard]

I personally do not believe that it is worth it to continue to fiddle around with
the SMC and so forth. The battery is 1/3 smaller so in anything other than extremely light usage this generation will have worse battery life. There is no flaw. It's just a small battery which no amount of tweaking, whether by you or apple, can overcome. No reviews praise the battery life. Most say it's probably worse than the last generation. Battery life is at the top of the list of user requests and Apple ignored it is the honest truth.

But there are reviews that say they got 8-9 hours...and if I can only get 5 hours with ONLY safari, what am I doing differently? The difference from 5 hours to 8 hours is worth trying to figure out.
[doublepost=1479696118][/doublepost]For the record, it looks like i'm pulling 11.5 watts in safe mode...at 80% battery, estimated 2h42m left.

 

[unagimiyagi]

But there are reviews that say they got 8-9 hours...and if I can only get 5 hours with ONLY safari, what am I doing differently? The difference from 5 hours to 8 hours is worth trying to figure out.
[doublepost=1479696118][/doublepost]For the record, it looks like i'm pulling 11.5 watts in safe mode...at 80% battery, estimated 2h42m left.

I guess you could try to duplicate their tests. Run an h264 video at half brightness all day and see how long it lasts. Or use only safari and block flash and write in Microsoft word on at most half brightness. See how long you get.
If not 8-9 hours then return your laptop. Then run the test again. If the second laptop performs identically poorly the battery life really is that bad then on these new MBP.

just so you know most of these tests are run in unrealistic scenarios. If they say 10 I would say 6.5 for most people is normal. That's not my beef because all manufacturers stretch the truth. My beef is that the battery life by 90% of what I have read is a regression from last year's models.

 

[tjleonard]

I guess you could try to duplicate their tests. Run an h264 video at half brightness all day and see how long it lasts. Or use only safari and block flash and write in Microsoft word on at most half brightness. See how long you get.
If not 8-9 hours then return your laptop. Then run the test again. If the second laptop performs identically poorly the battery life really is that bad then on these new MBP.

That's true...

I was thinking of giving it a few days...if it doesn't speed up, I'll just order another and once I get it, setup a return for this one. I do like the size, weight, screen is beautiful. I'm not really sure about the touch bar yet...I actually keep forgetting it's up there. I do like the finger print reader though, even though that's so 2006...

I guess, at the end of the day, you're right though. Worst case, I have to choose if the battery is sufficient or not.

 

[BBD90]

The pursuit of thinness and lightness has really blinded Apple in recent times. Literally all they had to do was update the internals, use the P3 display, offer a new color, maybe remove 1 USB 3 port and throw in the thunderbolt 3 port and they would have universal praise and longer battery life because of all the power efficient components. Like with all these power efficient parts on a large battery like 2015 MacBook 15" would probably keep that thing going on battery for 12 hours or so.

 

[skids929]

I guess you could try to duplicate their tests. Run an h264 video at half brightness all day and see how long it lasts. Or use only safari and block flash and write in Microsoft word on at most half brightness. See how long you get.
If not 8-9 hours then return your laptop. Then run the test again. If the second laptop performs identically poorly the battery life really is that bad then on these new MBP.

just so you know most of these tests are run in unrealistic scenarios. If they say 10 I would say 6.5 for most people is normal. That's not my beef because all manufacturers stretch the truth. My beef is that the battery life by 90% of what I have read is a regression from last year's models.

I have had two, a 15 and this 13, both TB, and both have had unimpressive battery life. I am considering ordering a 15 non TB just to cover all the bases. If there isn't a huge diff between the two I would stay with the TB if there is I would consider leaving TB. Although I love the Touch ID.

 

[friedkimchi]

Curious, is the battery manufacturer the same as the previous rMBP?

 

[tjleonard]

Curious, is the battery manufacturer the same as the previous rMBP?

Doesn't look like it...2015 MBP is DP model bq20z451; 2016 13" TB is Simplo but the same model...

 

[wicked271]

First day at work with my new 13" MacBook Pro TB and I am at 27% after 2 hours. Using the same setup (Parallels) like my old MacBook Air...

That's ridiculous!!!!

Do you have a lot of apps installed in your windows - parallels? What windows do you use?

What MBA do you have? I have a MBA 13" 2012 and can only get about 30 minutes battery life, so 2 hours is already good with parallels 😀

Has anyone tried with vmware?

I've ordered a mbp tb13 but it won't arrive til January 🙁 but it gives me time to read the reviews and user experiences so thanks guys!

 

[marcel500]

Do you have a lot of apps installed in your windows - parallels? What windows do you use?

What MBA do you have? I have a MBA 13" 2012 and can only get about 30 minutes battery life, so 2 hours is already good with parallels 😀

Has anyone tried with vmware?

I've ordered a mbp tb13 but it won't arrive til January 🙁 but it gives me time to read the reviews and user experiences so thanks guys!

I only use outlook and Cisco vpn inside the VM. It's windows 8.1.

 

[Karnicopia]

Okay so this seems significant, I turned off the auto brightness and I have the screen and keyboard at about 75% and I set my email to check every 5 min and I'm getting significant better battery life. I've been going through more photos for 20 min and I'm still at 100% and it went from predicting 11 hours to 9. It was at like 4 hours before when doing the same so I would have lost almost 10% in a half hour and seemed fairly accurate. We'll see how it goes but looking much better than I've ever seen it and I'm totally fine with these settings.

 

[Westbrook0]

I charged today and started a timer. Using chrome and safari + excel/word and video watching and 2 hours later, at 78%. Much better.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Please continue to post your results. I've now done two SMC resets, and each time they seemed to help—at least initially. But in the end I still don't get more than 7 hours of battery life per cycle. As you'll see a few posts back, after my second SMC reset the MBP was drawing only 3 watts. But as soon as I started using a few more applications (nothing intensive, just Polymail, Calendar, Slack), and then watched a movie, I'm down to 75.9% with 5:48 estimated remaining. That's a projection of around 7.5 hours. Definitely better than 6-6.5 hours I was getting before, but still lackluster.

 

[macdkus]

Same battery issue on MBP 13/TB getting at max 6.5 hours with light browsing and email. Apple supports says to replace my laptop, I fear the new one will have the exact same issue. I expected more for $1800

 

[Karnicopia]

So I've been on an hour and a half and I'm at 85% 7.2 hours left and I was doing about half/half pictures and browsing. That's about 2x as much battery life as I was getting before so that's good to see. Probably get to bed but we'll see how it looks tomorrow.

 

[unagimiyagi]

The pursuit of thinness and lightness has really blinded Apple in recent times. Literally all they had to do was update the internals, use the P3 display, offer a new color, maybe remove 1 USB 3 port and throw in the thunderbolt 3 port and they would have universal praise and longer battery life because of all the power efficient components. Like with all these power efficient parts on a large battery like 2015 MacBook 15" would probably keep that thing going on battery for 12 hours or so.

Yeah, Apple is overthinking these days . Had they done all that you said there would have been criticism for sure. But they could rest on the truth that the boring design but updated internals mbp are actually better with even longer battery over the competition, etc. In the long run substance wins over style. All windows makers need to do is craft a better touchpad and for me it's a done deal.

 

[yillbs]

To reset SMC...

1. Shutdown your MacBook Air / MacBook Pro
2. Connect the power adapter to the Mac
3. On the MacBook / Pro’s keyboard, hold down the Shift+Control+Option keys and the Power button at the same time
4. Release all keys and the power button at the same time – the little light on the MagSafe adapter may change colors briefly to indicate the SMC has reset
5. Boot your Mac as usual

To reset PVRAM...

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Find Command (⌘), Option, P, and R on your keyboard.
3. Turn on your Mac.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys immediately after you turn on your Mac.
5. Hold these keys down for at least 20 seconds to ensure that your Mac completes the process correctly.
6. Release the keys.

No one seems to have mentioned this, but when you do the SMC reset, for one, if you shut down the new Mac, then plug it in, it will auto boot ( so that's kinda dated ), for two, if you press down option + control + power, then release them all at the same time, it will auto reboot...

 

[lobo1978]

After second day with non-Touch version 13" I must admit that battery life stabilise. I'm very happy with it.

Quick note to everybody freaking out here -- expect +10 hrs of normal use. Don't expect it when you are using external drives (or anything connected) or doing anything requiring power (computation, VM, compiling etc.).

+ Bear in mind that non-Touch MacBook is the actually successor to MacBook Air - it should deliver solid 12hrs IMO. MacBook Touch version will deliver up to 10hrs - it is using 28W CPU and it will use more energy if you push it (almost x2) - don't expect 10 hrs at full power.

13" noTouch MacBook has 4790 mAh battery, to reach 12 hours it must average 400 mAh. Check your reading with either coconutbattery or battery health (available at Appstore) -then you can judge if you 'get a lemon' 😛. If screen is not at full blast and you are just browsing internet, checking emails you should get +14 hrs easily with 13" noTouch version or we should rather call it late 2016 MacBook Air Retina.

BTW - can somebody share battery capacity in mAh for 13 MacBook TouchBar??


My final test will be on Monday - In the morning I have a 3 hours lecture running through VGA projector. Every week (5 in row) with my current retina 2015 after 3 hours I had ca. 70-72% left (running from full charge).

If I can replicate it and get even better results it will be the final (real life usage) test. I could conclude and finally have a closure on this subject 😉

I will post results on Monday.

See ya!

Ok, I have very good news folks. I used new nonTouch MacBook Pro (base model) through my usual Monday routine. MacBook managed to deliver awesome result! Usually at the end (with 2015 rMBP) I had 70-72% left of battery capacity - today 80%! That's really impressive result.

For me it is indirect proof that there is nothing wrong with battery life of Touchbar version - it will deliver the same as 2015 Pro.

But battery life for non-Touch is outstanding (taking into account reduced battery capacity). I'm very tempted to stick with this bad boy but it is a little to underpowered for my needs. You can feel it is just 15W CPU (like in MacBook Air) when you push it.

I hope this real-life example will help those that OCD over battery life. Trust me there is nothing wrong - and I have my doubts at the beginning too.

 

[Nik]

Ok, I have very good news folks. I used new nonTouch MacBook Pro (base model) through my usual Monday routine. ....
I hope this real-life example will help those that OCD over battery life. Trust me there is nothing wrong - and I have my doubts at the beginning too.

Then you missed the point of this thread! People complain about the Touchbar models having bad batterylife because those have higher wattage processors.

 

[Ma2k5]

Ok, I have very good news folks. I used new nonTouch MacBook Pro (base model) through my usual Monday routine. MacBook managed to deliver awesome result! Usually at the end (with 2015 rMBP) I had 70-72% left of battery capacity - today 80%! That's really impressive result.

For me it is indirect proof that there is nothing wrong with battery life of Touchbar version - it will deliver the same as 2015 Pro.

But battery life for non-Touch is outstanding (taking into account reduced battery capacity). I'm very tempted to stick with this bad boy but it is a little to underpowered for my needs. You can feel it is just 15W CPU (like in MacBook Air) when you push it.

I hope this real-life example will help those that OCD over battery life. Trust me there is nothing wrong - and I have my doubts at the beginning too.

Considering max clock speeds of the 15w and 28w are pretty much the same - and the 15w has not shown to throttle under load unless you also utilised the GPU, I am intrigued that you felt you could feel the slowness. Was you using a graphics intensive app out of curiosity?

Thanks 🙂

 

[David58117]

Considering max clock speeds of the 15w and 28w are pretty much the same - and the 15w has not shown to throttle under load unless you also utilised the GPU, I am intrigued that you felt you could feel the slowness. Was you using a graphics intensive app out of curiosity?

Thanks 🙂

I'm also curious about this.

I just spent over an hour using Logic Pro X and a few (5) native instrument VSTis without issue. I spent another hour just browsing here and reddit before that, and the battery is at 82% right now, and saying I have 13:29 left.

The 13" non-TB is proving to be a pretty capable machine. My 15" has been sitting there unused since getting it.