How to get the most battery life possible

[Brendan Del]

I just ordered the new MBP 15inch 2.2ghz and my previous MBP has a horrid battery life now after having it for 3 years. I was wondering if there is something i could do from the very beginning to allow the battery have its full potential throughout its life. ie. charge it to the full before boot or let it die then power to full then let it die again etc.

I have heard of both of these techniques but I would like to know if anyone had some experience with something of this sort

- Brendan

 

[gorskiegangsta]

As far as battery life goes:
Install gfxCardStatus
Install FlashBlock extension (or FlashFrozen from the Mac App Store)
Disable Bluetooth if not needed.
Don't rush to upgrade to Lion if your new MBP comes with SL. I noticed a significant drop in battery life after upgrading to Lion.
Safari is the most battery efficient Browser for OS X, from my experience, at least.

As far as battery longevity goes:
As far as taking care of battery goes, it is better to only charge it once the battery level is low. I, personally, hold to this rule (fully charge - allow it to die - fully charge - allow it to die...) with all my electronic devices. The result is that I still have my heavily used 5 yo PSP and 6 yo iPod Mini whose batteries are still useable

 

[yusukeaoki]

Also dont leave it connected for a long period of time.
Calibrate it or atleast unplug it and use it like how you would if you take it out in the public.

 

[Brendan Del]

As far as battery longevity goes:
As far as taking care of battery goes, it is better to only charge it once the battery level is low. I, personally, hold to this rule (fully charge - allow it to die - fully charge - allow it to die...) with all my electronic devices.

With this do you mean right when i open my MBP i should charge it to the full then let it die because the battery is only half when you first receive a new MBP i beleive. Or should i let it die when i first get it then charge it to full etc.

Thanks for the advice

 

[Macsavvytech]

Also dont leave it connected for a long period of time.

My MacBook Pro has been used as a desktop replacement for longer then I thought it would be.... It still has brilliant battery life because I calibrate it, this fixes any temporary issues caused by having it plugged in for extended periods of time.

 

[snaky69]

As far as battery life goes:
Install gfxCardStatus
Install FlashBlock extension (or FlashFrozen from the Mac App Store)
Disable Bluetooth if not needed.
Don't rush to upgrade to Lion if your new MBP comes with SL. I noticed a significant drop in battery life after upgrading to Lion.
Safari is the most battery efficient Browser for OS X, from my experience, at least.

As far as battery longevity goes:
As far as taking care of battery goes, it is better to only charge it once the battery level is low. I, personally, hold to this rule (fully charge - allow it to die - fully charge - allow it to die...) with all my electronic devices. The result is that I still have my heavily used 5 yo PSP and 6 yo iPod Mini whose batteries are still useable

The second point is no longer true with lithium polymer batteries found in the macbook pros, I can't believe people are still saying this.

A lithium polymer battery has no memory effect, and doesn't mind being charged anyway you like to. What it doesn't like are deep discharge and recharge cycles such as draining the battery past what is needed for calibration then charging back up. That or being left unused for extended periods of time(like keeping it plugged all the time for months on end).

Use your battery without thinking about it, you'll be fine.

 

[adrian1480]

1.) Install gfxCardStatus and have it automatically switch to the integrated graphics when under battery power.

2.) Be sure to shut down apps like web browsers and graphics-dependent apps and re-open them. Why? Even if the computer is running on integrated graphics, those apps don't make a proper transition and instead keep the discrete GPU engaged for as long as they are on. Closing them releases the discrete GPU from usage. Re-opening them assigns them to the integrated GPU. The difference in battery lie can be massive. Don't forget this step. It's rarely talked about but the importance of closing any apps that may be using the dedicated card cannot be understated.

 

[oplix]

Like the other guy said, stick with Snow Leopard if possible. I too, noticed a significant drop in battery life when I upgraded my 2010 13' mbp to lion. Now that I downgraded, battery life is back to normal.

 

[bb426]

Straight from the big guy himself.

Batteries in general

Macbook batteries

Good luck Brendan. Not too many people who have the same spelling of my name haha.

 

[GGJstudios]

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

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[bb426]

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

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

Ahh I forgot about those

 

[ArmanUV]

1.) Install gfxCardStatus and have it automatically switch to the integrated graphics when under battery power.

2.) Be sure to shut down apps like web browsers and graphics-dependent apps and re-open them. Why? Even if the computer is running on integrated graphics, those apps don't make a proper transition and instead keep the discrete GPU engaged for as long as they are on. Closing them releases the discrete GPU from usage. Re-opening them assigns them to the integrated GPU. The difference in battery lie can be massive. Don't forget this step. It's rarely talked about but the importance of closing any apps that may be using the dedicated card cannot be understated.

Are you sure about this? Let's say I force the integrated graphics after I open an app that's been using the dedicated graphics. Is the dedicated going to stay engaged?

 

[GuitarG20]

Are you sure about this? Let's say I force the integrated graphics after I open an app that's been using the dedicated graphics. Is the dedicated going to stay engaged?

it shouldn't. if you think it will, you can always watch temps to make sure that it's not...

 

[ArmanUV]

it shouldn't. if you think it will, you can always watch temps to make sure that it's not...

That's exactly what I think. Otherwise gfxcardstatus would be almost useless.

 

[Twenty1TEN]

Turn your laptop off and put it in the freezer

 

[treestar]

I was very obsessive about prolonging my battery life so I

• turn off bluetooth
• removed the optical drive
• replaced the HDD with a low power SSD
• always quit apps I'm not using
• disabled Dashboard
• reduce brightness
• installed ClickToFlash

Disabling background processes, quitting apps, and blocking Flash along with everything else can give me battery statistics of up to 14 hours. I rarely take my charger with me anywhere now.

 

[Twenty1TEN]

Disabling background processes, quitting apps, and blocking Flash along with everything else can give me battery statistics of up to 14 hours. I rarely take my charger with me anywhere now.

14 hours....really

 

[treestar]

14 hours....really

But you have to make your desktop background black to cut the power even more.

 

[appleguy123]

Image

But you have to make your desktop background black to cut the power even more.

It actually stays like this? Mine sometimes says some crazy time like that after waking from sleep, then goes to a more reasonable time.

 

[Twenty1TEN]

Image

But you have to make your desktop background black to cut the power even more.

Well that all well and good.... unless of cause you actually want to use your laptop...=/

Plus correct me if I'm wrong but how would a black background save power? The led backlight is still on the pixels are just blocking it...

 

[treestar]

Plus correct me if I'm wrong but how would a black background save power? The led backlight is still on the pixels are just blocking it...

That was just a joke. I have a black background because I use my MBP during concerts and I don't want the screen brightness to be a distraction.

Obviously, I don't get 20 hours. I do get over 10 consistently, everyday, with web browsing. The OP wanted to know what he/she could do to optimize the battery performance. I wondered the same thing and was detailed about the changes I made to my computer. Quitting background apps when they are not in use is simple. Getting an SSD and removing the optical drive can also make improvements. ClickToFlash is absolutely fantastic. My MBPs run cold and quiet daily. Yes, watching 720p movies is taxing. Streaming Flash videos is taxing. When I do have things to do, like running Photoshop or Logic Pro, I have a little more juice than most people.

I do one very battery intensive thing which is why I made all these tweaks. I record concerts with a very sophisticated bus powered FireWire microphone preamp. It is absolutely crucial that I can run this peripheral, an RME Fireface 400, off the internal MacBook battery. Running my preamp and recording in Logic Pro at 192 kHz, I can go for around 3 hours. This is all with an 18 month old C2D MBP.

 

[Twenty1TEN]

Haha ok treestar

Does anyone know if there is a good click to flash equivalent for google chrome?

 

[TSE]

If you honestly want to save battery life, do not use Google Chrome. Period.

 

[GuitarG20]

If you honestly want to save battery life, do not use Google Chrome. Period.

Why? it hasn't negatively affected my battery life...

 

[treestar]

I believe some people tested different browsers and found Safari was at least more efficient with the battery. I don't have any proof of that. Chrome is tantalizing but I believe Safari is still the better browser of OS X.