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dapork

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 1, 2016
184
19
Greece
I found this handy video. I think I may do it to my new MBP when I receive (if it has the newer version of MAC OS without the battery time indicator. Do you guys think it's a bad idea to tamper with the system files in this case?

 

bizack

macrumors 6502a
Apr 21, 2009
611
399
I found this handy video. I think I may do it to my new MBP when I receive (if it has the newer version of MAC OS without the battery time indicator. Do you guys think it's a bad idea to tamper with the system files in this case?

I did this recently - it works perfectly.
 
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bizack

macrumors 6502a
Apr 21, 2009
611
399
I never like hacks. You can't be 100% certain there will not be an impact, and they usually only work for a patch or two.
It's not a hack - you're just replacing the Battery.menu Extra. And it's super easy to revert back.
 
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D.T.

macrumors G4
Sep 15, 2011
11,050
12,467
Vilano Beach, FL
I just use a 3rd party battery menu indicator (they're usually more feature rich, and they use the same source for the battery life).
 

Zazoh

macrumors 68000
Jan 4, 2009
1,515
1,121
San Antonio, Texas
It's not a hack - you're just replacing the Battery.menu Extra. And it's super easy to revert back.

It requires you to add a file back from a previous version. It's not part of 10.12.2. Thus, you are adding code back to a version that doesn't come with it. If that isn't a hack, I don't know what is.

Yes, it is probably innocuous in this instance.
 

steve62388

macrumors 68040
Apr 23, 2013
3,098
1,962
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mikzn

macrumors 68040
Sep 2, 2013
3,005
2,293
North Vancouver
Another option is Coconut Battery gives you a lot of other info (battery status, cycle count) as well as displaying the time remaining - percentage remaining etc.

Also good for connected iOS devices, battery charge and quality status / cycle count / etc.
 
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AngerDanger

Graphics
Staff member
Dec 9, 2008
5,452
29,005
Do you guys think it's a bad idea to tamper with the system files in this case?

Not at all! I did it weeks ago, and it works perfectly. It's not like you're adding potential malware or anything; you're replacing Apple's battery* menu with… Apple's battery** menu.

*new
**old
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,244
5,551
ny somewhere
just, again, mentioning slimbatterymonitor; i keep it to the very-far right of my menu bar, without an icon. i click there, and get this window (without, of course, the arrow). so, unobtrusive, and informative. and free...

battery.png
 

bizack

macrumors 6502a
Apr 21, 2009
611
399
In modern computing terminology, a kludge (or often a "hack") is a solution to a problem, doing a task, or fixing a system that is inefficient, inelegant or even unfathomable, but which nevertheless (more or less) works.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kludge#Computer_science

Yeah, I have a MS in Comp Sci. I know what a hack is, I've written many, many of them. This is 'replace the current version of an app with a previous version of the app.' This is neither inefficient, inelegant or unfathomable.
 

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
He mustache looks like something out of a really good movie.

But i like the video... "how to Fix something, warns you of the dangers, them links to your what any malware site would do" lol .... Perfect video. Good trust combination

Apple has this integraty protection for a reason,,, and this guy wants u to disable it with the purpose of grabbing a file from some link u have no idea..
 

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
I still run iStat 4.9.2 on MacOS.... but the problem with these tools is is never gonna be as accurate all the time as Apple's default..

That is, when it DID work before they stuffed it up. Some people just like knowing in the battery status bar... and i think i'll just continue using iStat... The feeling of downloading someting to bypass an Apple thing makes my blood boil over.
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,244
5,551
ny somewhere
I still run iStat 4.9.2 on MacOS.... but the problem with these tools is is never gonna be as accurate all the time as Apple's default..

That is, when it DID work before they stuffed it up. Some people just like knowing in the battery status bar... and i think i'll just continue using iStat... The feeling of downloading someting to bypass an Apple thing makes my blood boil over.

that's certainly...dramatic. using coconut battery, or slimbatterymonitor... is just using an app that does something useful. not a big deal (one way or another).
 

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
that's certainly...dramatic. using coconut battery, or slimbatterymonitor... is just using an app that does something useful. not a big deal (one way or another).

I don't think so.
 

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fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,244
5,551
ny somewhere
I don't think so.

not sure what you're pointing out; that you're using istat menu instead of another app? but that using that one isn't 'bypassing an apple thing"? all these apps get their info from the same source (the OS), it's their presentation that differs. meanwhile, watch out for blood boiling....
 

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
not sure what you're pointing out; that you're using istat menu instead of another app? but that using that one isn't 'bypassing an apple thing"? all these apps get their info from the same source (the OS), it's their presentation that differs. meanwhile, watch out for blood boiling....

I'm pointing out the inaccuracy in battery. 6 seconds difference may not sound like much, but that screenshot is only the minimum i've seen, not the maximum difference which can vary quite a lot.

For that reason i favor defaults (battery time remaining or Activity monitor) rather than rely on anything else... but i use istat Pro not for other stuff.... and i tend to just ignorebattery read out it gives.
 
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fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,244
5,551
ny somewhere
whatever works. for me, slimbatterymonitor is great. completely unobtrusive, and informative when i need it. and since i never let my battery run down completely, am not worried about seconds (or even minutes) of possible differences. because the workload is constantly in flux, there's no perfect readout anywhere of battery time... but i get what i need.

again, whatever works for you.
 
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