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Charging/Power issues in 2011 when gaming/high load?

D

Drecca

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 30, 2010
264
116
Anyone else notice this issue when gaming (I play WoW on OSX). Basically what happens is :

When playing a game (battery is fully charged and plugged in), OSX can't decide if it needs to charge up or not. Most of the time, it will just say "calculating".

Once the game is closed, it goes green, or just gives about 20 minutes to charge and the MBP is fine

I've just finished doing a battery cycle (killed battery, let it sit for 5 hours) but it's still happening

Any suggestions?
 
Last edited:
I do not believe this is the first time where the power draw from gaming has exceeded the input from the AC adapter. I know I have been in a thread like this before.
 
Similar behavior observed while running a VM for data warehouse development, and other very intensive workloads.

I smell a firmware revision in the future to address this and the occasional graphics and wake-from-sleep issues.
 
Eidorian said:
I do not believe this is the first time where the power draw from gaming has exceeded the input from the AC adapter. I know I have been in a thread like this before.
Click to expand...



The thing is, the 2010 had no issues. The 2011 does. Would Sandy Bridge and the ATI card really exceed the power the AC can give out? Isn't it rated at 85 watts?
 
Drecca said:
The thing is, the 2010 had no issues. The 2011 does. Would Sandy Bridge and the ATI card really exceed the power the AC can give out? Isn't it rated at 85 watts?
Click to expand...
This was back in 2008/2009. I am sadly not terribly motivated to find that old thread but gaming was so demanding that it would discharge the battery as well. Back when you could easily remove the battery, there was an Apple KB document mentioning that removing the battery while on AC power would force low power states.
 
Drecca said:
Thanks, but completely irrelevant to the thread. The 2011 MBP can't have its battery removed (Well it can, but let's not go there).
Click to expand...
It's completely relevant. While the battery in the new MBPs can't be removed, the fact that the MBP can require more power than AC alone provides still applies. That's why under extreme load, such as gaming, the battery may not charge and may also deplete, even when plugged in.
 
Drecca said:
Thanks, but completely irrelevant to the thread. The 2011 MBP can't have its battery removed (Well it can, but let's not go there).
Click to expand...

It's relevant, the same effect still applies, the system can demand more power than AC adaptor can give, especially as the CPU is 10watts TDP more than any previous cpu apple have used in an intel laptop.
 
My apologies. So then going back to the AC not providing enough power, it's a hardware problem that didn't exist in the 2010's due to lower power requirements.

Now that the 2011 can't run the same application without the battery being used, is it possible it can be fixed with a firmware update, even though the limitation is physical?
 
Drecca said:
My apologies. So then going back to the AC not providing enough power, it's a hardware problem that didn't exist in the 2010's due to lower power requirements.

Now that the 2011 can't run the same application without the battery being used, is it possible it can be fixed with a firmware update, even though the limitation is physical?
Click to expand...
It's not a hardware problem. It's working as designed, drawing power from both AC and battery when power demands require it.
 
Drecca said:
Now that the 2011 can't run the same application without the battery being used, is it possible it can be fixed with a firmware update, even though the limitation is physical?
Click to expand...
Forcing the lower power states for the CPU and GPU would be a solution but you would get lower performance.
 
And could someone please tell my why a company like Apple sells my a too weak psu for my 2500 € laptop? I do not want my battery to discharge while PLUGGED in. Seriously, this is ridiculous. I do a lot of heavy duty stuff...

Any way to buy a stronger Psu then?
 
LukaStellwag said:
And could someone please tell my why a company like Apple sells my a too weak psu for my 2500 € laptop? I do not want my battery to discharge while PLUGGED in. Seriously, this is ridiculous. I do a lot of heavy duty stuff...

Any way to buy a stronger Psu then?
Click to expand...

Before you look into that, I assume you are using an 85 watt charger right?
Not a 65 or 45?
 
Drecca said:
My apologies. So then going back to the AC not providing enough power, it's a hardware problem that didn't exist in the 2010's due to lower power requirements.

Now that the 2011 can't run the same application without the battery being used, is it possible it can be fixed with a firmware update, even though the limitation is physical?
Click to expand...

Probably Apple will underclock the CPU/GPU to fix this.
 
mark28 said:
Probably Apple will underclock the CPU/GPU to fix this.
Click to expand...

sadly this is far too true, most likely the graphics card, their notorious for doing that.

Eidorian said:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4205/the-macbook-pro-review-13-and-15-inch-2011-brings-sandy-bridge/14

~93 watts at full tilt.
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I know a guy who runs a business that makes transformers, i seriously thought about asking him to make me a 110W power supply for my mac. - Maybe some company will start making them, ahem hypermac
 
This problem shouldn't exist. Apple should just make a PSU that can supply enough power with some headroom. They only make 4 models, they shouldn't be running into these kinds of problems.
 
I called AC and they said this is not normal, and set me a genius visit.

Mine stops charging with Parallels (game), 1080P video and PS.
 
mgartner0622 said:
Before you look into that, I assume you are using an 85 watt charger right?
Not a 65 or 45?
Click to expand...

they are all 85 watt chargers. the MBP has been shown to draw and use a full 93-100 watts while under heavy load. This does 2 things that could potentially be dangerous. Number 1, this stresses and overheats the battery, because its drawing more than its rated capacity, and could potentially cause it to expand, overheat, catch fire, or at worst explode. number 2, this overworks the charger, and could possible cause either the charging port to burn, or overheat, or could cause the charger or wall outlet to catch fire, because the laptop is trying to draw more than the unit is rated for, which is unsafe. For all those having this issue, from a safety perspective, until apple makes a fix, I would not stress your laptops to cause this, as its unsafe, and since apple makes fixes and admits problems at glacially slow paces, it may be awhile.

I just wanted to point out, iMacdragon, but TDP is the amount of heat that the CPU could possible produce, NOT the amount of power it will draw, and to GGJstudios: NO, this is not working as intended. the AC inverter should be able to power the entire unit, under all circumstances without assistance from the battery. this shows poor testing and planning on apples part.
 
Chubbysumo said:
they are all 85 watt chargers. the MBP has been shown to draw and use a full 93-100 watts while under heavy load. This does 2 things that could potentially be dangerous. Number 1, this stresses and overheats the battery, because its drawing more than its rated capacity, and could potentially cause it to expand, overheat, catch fire, or at worst explode. number 2, this overworks the charger, and could possible cause either the charging port to burn, or overheat, or could cause the charger or wall outlet to catch fire, because the laptop is trying to draw more than the unit is rated for, which is unsafe. For all those having this issue, from a safety perspective, until apple makes a fix, I would not stress your laptops to cause this, as its unsafe, and since apple makes fixes and admits problems at glacially slow paces, it may be awhile.
Click to expand...
Complete nonsense. Macs are designed to properly handle such workloads. It is not dangerous, does not overheat the battery or overwork the charger, and will not cause fires or explosions. You have a vivid, yet completely uninformed, imagination.
Chubbysumo said:
t and to GGJstudios: NO, this is not working as intended.
Click to expand...
It obviously IS working as intended, or Apple wouldn't have stated what they did:
If the battery is removed from a MacBook or MacBook Pro, the computer will automatically reduce the processor speed. This prevents the computer from shutting down if it demands more power than the A/C adaptor alone can provide.
Click to expand...
Get some facts, then come back and try again.
 
GGJstudios said:
Complete nonsense. Macs are designed to properly handle such workloads. It is not dangerous, does not overheat the battery or overwork the charger, and will not cause fires or explosions. You have a vivid, yet completely uninformed, imagination.

It obviously IS working as intended, or Apple wouldn't have stated what they did:

Get some facts, then come back and try again.
Click to expand...

are you THAT blinded by fanboyism. I have had MANY laptops over the last many years, and a few Apple laptops as well, and NOT A SINGLE ONE ever did that. If the AC adapter cannot power the laptop on its own, then there is something wrong, and since apple has not stated this is how its supposed to be(in fact, they have been totally silent on the issue altogether, which means that something is NOT working as intended), its not working properly. What if you were to use it under heavy load for 10 hours? the battery would deplete, and the laptop would shut off. This isnt normal, and since the laptop can draw more than the inverter can make, this can potentially damage the charger by overvoltaging it(drawing too much, or trying too), and is a fire hazard, and isnt even in spec with the UL testing done(which rated it to power a max of 85 watts, and anything more than that, and its unsafe). maybe you should become more informed and look up some of this stuff for yourself. Get out from behind the fanboy blinders for once, and quit spreading potentially dangerous information. You do know, that if anyones house starts on fire because of your bad advice, you can be held liable, right? do some fact checking before you post.
 
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