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Does Your New i5 i7 Battery Life Suck? Upset and Pissed?I Have a Solution(A real one)

What Kind Of Battery Life Does Your i5 / i7 get? (Assuming auto brightness, BT off)

  • Around what Apple has said, 8 - 9 hours, doing medium load type of stuff

    Votes: 17 20.2%

  • 5 - 6 medium load stuff

    Votes: 41 48.8%

  • 4 or less, WTF

    Votes: 26 31.0%
  • Total voters
    84
rmbrown09

rmbrown09

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 25, 2010
949
1
USA
So, like many of you, I was somewhat disappointed at my battery life on the "7-8 hour" batteries.

I was getting around 4 or less. (calculated, maybe over time it would have lasted longer)

So I did some simple reading and found that you are supposed to completely drain your battery (once a month) and then charge it again!

I did this and now look at me!

no more impotent battery.

Screenshot2010-05-10at103701AM.png




++++++++

Right now I am running a legit battery test, doing a mix of forum watching, YouTube viewing, etc (medium light stuff)

Settings for this test
Backlight is set to max
Backlit keys are at max
The 330m has not been engaged once

I unplugged my lappy at 1:00, and am going to see what kind of life I truly get. See if maybe the calculations are just cutting it short.
Update later

This is my status an hour and a half later (1:00 - 2:30)
Screenshot2010-05-10at22743PM.png


After 2 hours now
(1:00 - 3:00)

Screenshot2010-05-10at25924PM.png
 
though the information is very public and known to many, for many others, it is not.

This thread is simply;

1. Alerting those who didn't know

2. Proving it works

3. To Piss off Bill Gates
 
rmbrown09 said:
So, like many of you, I was somewhat disappointed at my battery life on the "7-8 hour" batteries.

I was getting around 4 or less. (calculated, maybe over time it would have lasted longer)

So I did some simple reading and found that you are supposed to completely drain your battery (once a month) and then charge it again!

I did this and now look at me!

no more impotent battery.
Click to expand...

Hey, glad it worked for you. I've done this religiously since getting my MBP a year ago, and I can still get 7+ hours if I need to. Nothing worse than people complaining about batteries when they're not taking care of them!

Disregard Bill Gates' response; given some of the threads around here lately, you're absolutely right in assuming many don't know about this. I'd wager it was they who were a little slow on the uptake, in that regard, if they'd somehow missed the 'zomg my battery doesn't last 8 hours' threads. ;)
 
That and I think a lot of people leave their brightness turned up with WiFi and Bluetooth on while using the CPU a lot.

Conversely I think manufacturers should have to list battery life under a worse case scenario. As in CPU and GPU at max usage, WiFi and Bluetooth on, USB and Firewire powering devices to their full capability, hard drive writing, DVD drive burning a disc and screen brightness at maximum. Then they can also list moderate and light usage battery life with detailed explanations of each.

Edit: I get the full stated time on my batteries. Though the only time I really can test it is on a plane. In which case I am playing movies with screen brightness on one bar and the movies are DVD's ripped to VideoTS folders (which I think the OS can handle with less CPU usage than heavily compressed video).
 
velocityg4 said:
That and I think a lot of people leave their brightness turned up with WiFi and Bluetooth on while using the CPU a lot.

Conversely I think manufacturers should have to list battery life under a worse case scenario. As in CPU and GPU at max usage, WiFi and Bluetooth on, USB and Firewire powering devices to their full capability, hard drive writing, DVD drive burning a disc and screen brightness at maximum. Then they can also list moderate and light usage battery life with detailed explanations of each.
Click to expand...

If that was the case most PC computers would be rated in minutes than hours...
:rolleyes:
 
velocityg4 said:
That and I think a lot of people leave their brightness turned up with WiFi and Bluetooth on while using the CPU a lot.

Conversely I think manufacturers should have to list battery life under a worse case scenario. As in CPU and GPU at max usage, WiFi and Bluetooth on, USB and Firewire powering devices to their full capability, hard drive writing, DVD drive burning a disc and screen brightness at maximum. Then they can also list moderate and light usage battery life with detailed explanations of each.
Click to expand...

Why should they? A tiny percentage of users use their computers, on a regular basis, on DC power, like that.
 
battery

i am very pleased with the results i am getting. i have the 15" i7 with the 7200 hd. i have been getting around 6 hrs on a charge and that is while running photoshop, after effects, premiere and an external usb drive. Screen brightness is one dot under full.
this kills any PC laptop.
WOW i love this new machine well worth the wait.
Stop finding fault and enjoy it or take it back and buy a PC (piece of Crap) :D
 
i hope you guys realize that this "technique" is not specific to macbooks, or even laptops...

Pretty much any newer rechargeable battery powered device can be helped with this.
 
Does this deep discharge really improve battery life? I understand that it helps to "calibrate" the battery gauge, but is there a real benefit in run time?
 
I posted another thread but no one is responding. I'm guessing my battery is defective because on a full charge with brightness at 50%, keyboard light off, bluetooth off and non-flash web browsing my computer reads at about 5:15.I'm really bummed because even on idle I don't even see 8 hours. I have a battery replacement waiting at the Applestore and I'm hoping it will fix it. I was hoping someone could confirm they had the same problem and a replacement fixed it.
 
nconnella said:
I posted another thread but no one is responding. I'm guessing my battery is defective because on a full charge with brightness at 50%, keyboard light off, bluetooth off and non-flash web browsing my computer reads at about 5:15.I'm really bummed because even on idle I don't even see 8 hours. I have a battery replacement waiting at the Applestore and I'm hoping it will fix it. I was hoping someone could confirm they had the same problem and a replacement fixed it.
Click to expand...

You arent the only one, Im on my third i7 replacement and theyve all been the same. Most people around seem to be getting the same.
 
i just unplugged. im at 6:14 remaining at 94%.

Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 6795
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 6995
Health Information:
Cycle count: 10
Condition: Normal
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1355
Voltage (mV): 12242

screen brightness is 4 bars below max, bluetooth off. 15" Hi Res Glossy / i7 / 7200rpm
 
I get ~7 hrs, while:

-Web Browsing with Safari + watching some videos.
-IM with Adium
-Playing music with iTunes.
-Using Pixelmator, just for a while, it triggers the 330m.
-Backlight keyboard at minimum.
-Screen brightness at 33%.

In conclusion, I am very happy with the Battery Life.
 
Today I got exactly 5:35 before it went into sleep mode. I am now calibrating mine. Today watched several youtube clips. Decoded a video, browsed and ripped several cd's into itunes. Never had the display shut off automatically. Bluetooth off and screen brightness right under 50%. Hopefully I'll get a little longer now that I have calibrated it.
 
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