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Battery life

ryanwarsaw

ryanwarsaw

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 7, 2007
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I have a 1.2 GHz Intel Core m5 Macbook. I have been really happy with it but it seems like the battery is really not that good. With the screen a little over half brightness and only Safari open I was doing a time machine back up of nearly 500 GB. The battery life doing this was 4 hours.

Does this seem right or do people think there is a problem with my battery?
 
Are you using a 2.5" external hard disk doing a time machine back up ?
 
ryanwarsaw said:
2.5 inch Seagate 2TB drive.
Click to expand...
The 2.5" USB driver typical require 2.5-4W power, MacBook 12 only require 4-8W for typical browsing,
in additional time machine will need additional power, 4 hr should normal and accept.
You should use power supply (with PD hub for example Apple digital multi adaptor) for time machine backup.
 
Using it now with just over half brightness and 100% with only Chrome open it is saying 6:16 battery remaining. I guess I can live with it if this is normal but just trying to figure out if this is typical.
[doublepost=1480244010][/doublepost]Okay it says 8:28 minutes with just Chrome open. i guess it is fine.
 
You're right, the battery is crap. Pretty much the only reason why I'm switching back to the MBP
 
Cristim74 said:
rMB 2016, Core M7, 512Gb.
84% battery with Safari open on WiFi; 9:00 hours left.
Click to expand...
rMB 2016, Core 5, 512Gb (<-- edited, mistakenly typed rMBP before edit)
Using
- Firefox with +- 10 tabs open
- Sublime Text
- MAMP Pro
Happy to get 4 hours out of the battery. Less if opening other apps. Much less if I have 1 or more tabs open in Chrome.

I'm sure I could get more if I'd exclusively use Safari, but sadly this is not an option for me.

My MBA with the same workload would get me through the day, easily.
 
Last edited:
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Kajje said:
rMBP 2016, Core 5, 512Gb
Using
- Firefox with +- 10 tabs open
- Sublime Text
- MAMP Pro
Happy to get 4 hours out of the battery. Less if opening other apps. Much less if I have 1 or more tabs open in Chrome.

I'm sure I could get more if I'd exclusively use Safari, but sadly this is not an option for me.

My MBA with the same workload would get me through the day, easily.
Click to expand...
Touch bar version?
 
Kajje said:
You're right, the battery is crap. Pretty much the only reason why I'm switching back to the MBP
Click to expand...

I don't mind that much except for the fact that with the port situation, you would expect higher battery life. This machine should have had two usb-c ports. That would solve the problem. It is a little annoying but I can live with it. In the modern world nobody is far away from a plug anyway. If I still lived in the jungle of Laos using a generator I wouldn't be too amused.

Again you can get a pass through charger but this is a bit of nonsense for something that is ultra portable. I can get over the small CPU and everything else but the battery is a weakling. That being said it is still a great computer, I am just slightly disappointed. Given the price point the battery should be a bit better. Though if you manage it properly it is doable.
[doublepost=1480268902][/doublepost]
Cristim74 said:
rMB 2016, Core M7, 512Gb.
84% battery with Safari open on WiFi; 9:00 hours left.
Click to expand...

Brightness level? I heard Chrome isn't great with MB power wise.
 
I am up to 6 cycles now - have had the computer since the 14th. My battery has been doing just fine.

qqbo6f.png
 
Trixs said:
Touch bar version?
Click to expand...
Sorry my bad. Talking about the rMB but mistakenly put a 'P' behind it. Edited.
So I was talking about the Retina Macbook 12"
A fantastic computer, absolutely no issues whatsoever except the battery life.

Never had the feeling it was slowing down my work - even not the tiniest tiny bit.
The (lack of) ports never bothered me too much - admitted I bought a bunch of new usb-c cables and dongles (about $1 per cable, $5 for a LAN/USB hub, $10 for a USB3+USB-C-Power-PassThrough here in Asia).
Form factor is perfect for me
I just adore the keyboard - yes indeed, after a brief short time hating it / getting used to it.

But eventhough there is indeed abundant amounts of power plugs everywhere, the battery life is killing me. And my productivity. Haven't changed my work environment since many generations of macbooks.

It sadly has to go and make place for a non-touchbar 13". While I'm obviously excited to get my hands on my new rMBP, I don't have the feeling it is a real improvement for me personally.
[doublepost=1480397651][/doublepost]
ryanwarsaw said:
Brightness level? I heard Chrome isn't great with MB power wise.
Click to expand...
I love your understatement. I'm sure people genuinely love your positive view on life :)
I heard people exclusively using Safari get much more battery life out of the rMB.
With Firefox it's much less, but Chrome battery life is... Something Else.

I'm not a great Chrome fan myself, but some applications I need only work using Chrome. While they'd startup with Firefox, they do not remotely work with Safari. It is what it is.
 
It just all depends on what kind of work you do. I have Safari, Citrix, Outlook and some big Excel files open all the time and sometimes do some Photoshopping, but I always get more than 10 hours of actual working time (from 8:30 till 19:00 and still some battery left).
 
I was lucky to see 5-6 hours on my 2015 rMB. The same can be said of my 2016. Usual work load is excel, office, and a browser with 3-4 tabs.
 
Battery is completely fine for this class of computer. It has a 41Whr battery. The 13" tMBP is 50% heavier but only has a 49Whr battery. The rMB has a power efficient CPU, no fans, and an efficient screen. There is no computer at any price level that has awesome battery life if your workload is heavy. If you want to maximize your runtime, install Coconut Battery, and monitor power consumption in real time from the menu bar. Shut down any unused programs that are using more than their share of energy.
 
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