Battery Life on a 13" Macbook (Mac OS vs. Windows 7)

[Mikhailov]

I average about 3-6 hours in Mac OS X based on what I'm doing and how much time the computer goes into sleep mode. Not really the 10 hour advertised limit but much higher than I'm used to. The computer does not stay on the charger until I get home.

I only average 2-3 hours if I'm using Windows 7 via Boot Camp.

The computer under Mac OS X likes to jump around when calculating battery life. It will go from 3 hours to 7 hours to 4 hours to 2 hours. Generally, I'll get a maximum of 6. I thought I calibrated it, but how do I get it to display more accurately?

 

[fabian9]

I average about 3-6 hours in Mac OS X based on what I'm doing and how much time the computer goes into sleep mode. Not really the 10 hour advertised limit but much higher than I'm used to. The computer does not stay on the charger until I get home.

I only average 2-3 hours if I'm using Windows 7 via Boot Camp.

The computer under Mac OS X likes to jump around when calculating battery life. It will go from 3 hours to 7 hours to 4 hours to 2 hours. Generally, I'll get a maximum of 6. I thought I calibrated it, but how do I get it to display more accurately?

Apple does a lot of work on not only making sure that their hardware is energy efficient, but also heavily tunes Mac OS X to get you the longest battery life that's possible. Windows 7 is designed to run on any given hardware configuration - so it's much harder for microsoft to tune their OS for a specific combination of hardware and make sure it gives you a long battery life. That's part of the reason why you're seeing differences between OS X and Windows 7 in terms of battery life.

The battery meter in OS X will fluctuate depending on current battery usage. If you're running a CPU intensive application, watching videos, etc, it'll show you a much lower value than if the computer is idle.

I suppose if this is confusing you, one way or more accurately monitoring the battery level is to switch from "time" to "percentage" - but this will only give you an indication as to how much battery charge is left, not how much longer you've got left.

Hope this helps,

Fabian

 

[name00]

I average about 3-6 hours in Mac OS X based on what I'm doing and how much time the computer goes into sleep mode. Not really the 10 hour advertised limit but much higher than I'm used to. The computer does not stay on the charger until I get home.

I only average 2-3 hours if I'm using Windows 7 via Boot Camp.

The computer under Mac OS X likes to jump around when calculating battery life. It will go from 3 hours to 7 hours to 4 hours to 2 hours. Generally, I'll get a maximum of 6. I thought I calibrated it, but how do I get it to display more accurately?

that exactly how mine is, but since i calibrated it the battery displays a lil more accurate

 

[Mikhailov]

It's exactly like that. If I web browse the battery use goes down, but if it sits idle or I'm word processing, it goes up. If I'm running multiple applications, I see a decline, too.

I am pleased I can get through the school day without plugging it in. The heaviest usage the MacBook pro sees is when I'm running Star Trek Online under Windows 7. I plug it in then.

 

[alust2013]

Win 7 always uses battery faster than OSX, and I have noticed in iStat Pro, that my battery health usually decreases by a percent or so when I use windows on battery, then increases again when I switch back to OSX, so I avoid using windows on battery as much as possible. After a year, I am still at 95% health, so I really don't have any complaints there.