Help Requested: MBA Battery Issue

[bbjonathan]

Hi everyone - I just purchased a brand new 2012 MBA (13", i5, 8GB, 256GB) and I've been having issues with its battery life. I've only been able to get about 2-2.5 hours of battery out of it, which obviously is quite low for the MBA.

I don't think it's a hardware issue, because when I reboot OS X in Safe Mode, the battery estimates are in the 5-6 hour range. Therefore, it must be a software problem with background processes. I migrated all of my data from my previous MBP, so all the same processes and applications were running from that one. I've uninstalled several third-party applications, but I'm not sure what exactly is causing the issue.

Below are all the processes that run on my computer without any other applications open (I've replaced my user name with asterisks for privacy). Anyone recognize any of these processes as ones that kill battery life?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Active Memory: 796.7 MB
Free Memory: 6.12 GB
Wired Memory: 804.3 MB
Used Memory: 1.88 GB
Inactive Memory: 323.2 MB
Total VM: 171.17 GB
Number of processes: 69

PID Process Name User CPU Real Mem Virtual Mem
0 kernel_task root 3.1 566.7 MB 6.07 GB
1 launchd root 0.0 2.7 MB 2.36 GB
10 kextd root 0.0 9.9 MB 2.39 GB
11 UserEventAgent root 0.0 22.0 MB 2.50 GB
12 notifyd root 0.0 2.0 MB 2.35 GB
13 diskarbitrationd root 0.0 5.2 MB 2.37 GB
14 configd root 0.4 12.3 MB 2.42 GB
15 syslogd root 0.0 1.8 MB 2.36 GB
16 opendirectoryd root 0.0 27.3 MB 2.53 GB
17 distnoted root 0.0 4.0 MB 2.36 GB
18 powerd root 0.2 5.8 MB 2.39 GB
19 fseventsd root 0.0 6.5 MB 2.38 GB
20 blued root 0.0 10.4 MB 2.42 GB
23 securityd root 0.0 12.2 MB 2.39 GB
26 coreservicesd root 0.1 24.0 MB 2.43 GB
46 ntpd root 0.0 4.3 MB 2.34 GB
47 cupsd root 0.0 15.8 MB 2.44 GB
50 usbmuxd _usbmuxd 0.0 8.2 MB 2.40 GB
52 SystemStarter root 0.0 4.3 MB 2.37 GB
54 stackshot root 0.0 4.1 MB 2.36 GB
57 revisiond root 0.0 9.4 MB 2.40 GB
61 netbiosd _netbios 0.0 8.7 MB 2.40 GB
62 mtmfs root 0.0 12.9 MB 2.44 GB
63 mtmd root 0.0 12.4 MB 2.43 GB
64 mds root 0.1 102.0 MB 2.68 GB
65 mDNSResponder _mdnsrespo 0.0 9.3 MB 2.40 GB
67 loginwindow ***** 0.1 38.5 MB 2.57 GB
69 KernelEventAgent root 0.0 3.6 MB 2.36 GB
71 hidd root 1.6 5.1 MB 2.37 GB
73 dynamic_pager root 0.0 3.1 MB 2.33 GB
78 autofsd root 0.0 7.1 MB 2.39 GB
80 applepushserviced root 0.0 22.5 MB 2.50 GB
81 taskgated root 0.0 9.7 MB 2.40 GB
109 WindowServer _windowser 32.6 58.3 MB 2.94 GB
110 CVMServer root 0.0 3.3 MB 2.34 GB
115 logind root 0.0 7.1 MB 2.38 GB
128 coreaudiod _coreaudio 0.0 10.2 MB 2.41 GB
129 launchd ***** 0.0 2.4 MB 2.36 GB
132 UserEventAgent ***** 0.0 25.6 MB 2.51 GB
134 distnoted ***** 0.0 6.3 MB 2.37 GB
139 Dock ***** 83.4 65.0 MB 2.59 GB
140 talagent ***** 0.0 33.3 MB 2.58 GB
141 SystemUIServer ***** 0.9 81.8 MB 2.73 GB
142 Finder ***** 0.0 72.7 MB 2.70 GB
145 pboard ***** 0.0 3.2 MB 2.34 GB
147 fontd ***** 0.1 15.3 MB 2.44 GB
153 com.apple.dock.extra ***** 0.0 37.0 MB 2.59 GB
158 imagent ***** 0.0 24.7 MB 2.50 GB
159 cookied ***** 0.0 7.2 MB 2.37 GB
161 ocspd root 0.0 8.1 MB 2.39 GB
162 warmd_agent ***** 0.0 7.2 MB 2.39 GB
170 AirPort Base Station Agen ***** 0.0 9.4 MB 2.42 GB
175 Folder Actions Dispatcher ***** 0.0 24.1 MB 2.52 GB
193 mdworker ***** 0.0 27.8 MB 2.46 GB
238 mdwrite ***** 0.0 13.2 MB 2.45 GB
241 AppleSpell.service ***** 0.0 17.4 MB 2.42 GB
244 Activity Monitor ***** 27.3 61.4 MB 2.65 GB
246 activitymonitord root 12.8 4.4 MB 2.35 GB
310 CVMCompiler ***** 0.0 29.6 MB 2.37 GB
314 xpchelper ***** 0.0 21.9 MB 2.50 GB
318 automountd root 0.0 7.8 MB 2.40 GB
322 filecoordinationd root 0.0 8.0 MB 2.39 GB
329 lsboxd ***** 0.0 10.3 MB 2.41 GB
341 launchd _spotlight 0.0 1.7 MB 2.36 GB
343 mdworker _spotlight 0.0 14.1 MB 2.45 GB
344 distnoted _spotlight 0.0 3.4 MB 2.36 GB
345 xpchelper _spotlight 0.0 18.9 MB 2.48 GB
354 Quick Look Helper ***** 0.0 35.3 MB 3.05 GB
361 QTKitServer-(354) Quick L ***** 0.0 28.0 MB 892.8 MB

 

[GGJstudios]

Hi everyone - I just purchased a brand new 2012 MBA (13", i5, 8GB, 256GB) and I've been having issues with its battery life. I've only been able to get about 2-2.5 hours of battery out of it, which obviously is quite low for the MBA.

There are many factors that impact your battery life. See the BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE section of the following link for details, including tips on how to maximize your battery life.

This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[bbjonathan]

There are many factors that impact your battery life. See the BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE section of the following link for details, including tips on how to maximize your battery life.

This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

Thanks, but I've already done basically everything suggested in that FAQ. I'm wondering specifically if anyone notices any processes in my list of processes that may be causing this battery issue. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks, but I've already done basically everything suggested in that FAQ. I'm wondering specifically if anyone notices any processes in my list of processes that may be causing this battery issue. Any help would be appreciated!

It would be easier to read if you follow these instructions:

1. Launch Activity Monitor
2. Change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes"
3. Click on the CPU column heading once or twice, so the arrow points downward (highest values on top).
4. Click on the System Memory tab at the bottom.
5. Take a screen shot of the whole Activity Monitor window, then scroll down to see the rest of the list, take another screen shot
6. Post your screenshots.

 

[mixman]

139 Dock ***** 83.4 65.0 MB 2.59 GB

There's your problem. https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/15094100/

 

[bbjonathan]

139 Dock ***** 83.4 65.0 MB 2.59 GB

There's your problem. https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/15094100/

That's probably it! I'll try that when I get home tonight. Thank you!