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M1 battery life is terrible, Rosetta to blame?

darkmatter343

darkmatter343

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 18, 2017
348
237
Toronto, Canada
Since receiving my M1 Air, I’ve notice the battery drain is pretty fast and it’s not just in one app. I’m wondering if Rosetta is to blame or if it’ll just take more optimization of the Apple apps as well.

For instance, watching Netflix last night through Safari brought the battery down from 100% to 80% which seems steep. In another case, playing a 3hr movie in VLC (which I assume is using Rosetta) and displaying on my monitor brought the battery down from 70% to 20%. Now obviously in this last example VLC is being emulated but to loose 50% for a 3hr movie even using Rosetta seems extreme.

I’ve also notice just using Safari for web browsing I can loose 10%(ish) per hour.

Anyone else experiencing this? Thanks
 
Gnattu said:
Movie playback is a very CPU intensive workload and that's the reason we have hardware decoders to play videos so that we can offload the workload from CPU. If VLC is not using hardware acceleration, such battery usage is quite normal.
Click to expand...

I guess, I just didn’t think a 3hr movie would drain the battery 50%, even if it was using Rosetta to translate VLC (which is an Intel binary) granted it was also feeding the movie to an external display. I figured at most I’d loose 20-30% which is why I was caught off guard by the big drain.
 
darkmatter343 said:
I guess, I just didn’t think a 3hr movie would drain the battery 50%, even if it was using Rosetta to translate VLC (which is an Intel binary) granted it was also feeding the movie to an external display. I figured at most I’d loose 20-30% which is why I was caught off guard by the big drain.
Click to expand...
I understand that not all encodings are created equal but I never see battery usage with VLC like that.

But I'm not do anything special like watching VLC files encoded in 17k resolution with the latest 142MB isowarez999 .h267 codec.
 
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darkmatter343 said:
Since receiving my M1 Air, I’ve notice the battery drain is pretty fast and it’s not just in one app. I’m wondering if Rosetta is to blame or if it’ll just take more optimization of the Apple apps as well.

For instance, watching Netflix last night through Safari brought the battery down from 100% to 80% which seems steep. In another case, playing a 3hr movie in VLC (which I assume is using Rosetta) and displaying on my monitor brought the battery down from 70% to 20%. Now obviously in this last example VLC is being emulated but to loose 50% for a 3hr movie even using Rosetta seems extreme.

I’ve also notice just using Safari for web browsing I can loose 10%(ish) per hour.

Anyone else experiencing this? Thanks
Click to expand...

how the hell does apple advertise video playback hours at 18hrs when this is actually what happens in the real world ????

do they test with 240p video optimally encoded for mac playback with the screen turned off ?
 
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fourchannel said:
how the hell does apple advertise video playback hours at 18hrs when this is actually what happens in the real world ????

do they test with 240p video optimally encoded for mac playback with the screen turned off ?
Click to expand...

easy, with "fine print" like every other company

13. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2020 using preproduction MacBook Air systems with Apple M1 chip and 8-core GPU, configured with 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. The Apple TV app movie playback test measures battery life by playing back HD 1080p content with display brightness set to 8 clicks from bottom. Battery life varies by use and configuration. See apple.com/batteries for more information.
 
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darkmatter343 said:
Since receiving my M1 Air, I’ve notice the battery drain is pretty fast and it’s not just in one app. I’m wondering if Rosetta is to blame or if it’ll just take more optimization of the Apple apps as well.

For instance, watching Netflix last night through Safari brought the battery down from 100% to 80% which seems steep. In another case, playing a 3hr movie in VLC (which I assume is using Rosetta) and displaying on my monitor brought the battery down from 70% to 20%. Now obviously in this last example VLC is being emulated but to loose 50% for a 3hr movie even using Rosetta seems extreme.

I’ve also notice just using Safari for web browsing I can loose 10%(ish) per hour.

Anyone else experiencing this? Thanks
Click to expand...
How long were you watching Netflix when it went down by 20%?

What’s your screen brightness at?

I keep mine at about 25% (any more and the brightness hurts my eyes) and seem to burn at most 5% battery per hour
 
acousticbiker said:
How long were you watching Netflix when it went down by 20%?

What’s your screen brightness at?

I keep mine at about 25% (any more and the brightness hurts my eyes) and seem to burn at most 5% battery per hour
Click to expand...

I watched a little over an hr of Netflix, which brought the battery down 20% and again this was using Safari. Screen Brightness is usually at 30-50% depending on the time of day.

Obviously the advertised 18hr estimate is provided from specific tests optimized by Apple, I get that, but I just can't seem to get more then 6-8hrs of mixed usage. Many of the apps I use were made for Intel Mac's so that's why I'm wondering if Rosetta is causing excessive battery drain translating the Intel x86 programs. I know things should improve as more developers port native versions of their software, but I almost regret being an early adopter as battery life on my Intel MBP was hours better.
 
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darkmatter343 said:
Since receiving my M1 Air, I’ve notice the battery drain is pretty fast and it’s not just in one app. I’m wondering if Rosetta is to blame or if it’ll just take more optimization of the Apple apps as well.
Click to expand...
Starting clean? Or did you migrate from backup?

Looked at activity monitor? Is anything spinning out?

Suspect you have something running in the background, chewing up battery.
 
mwidjaya said:
Starting clean? Or did you migrate from backup?

Looked at activity monitor? Is anything spinning out?

Suspect you have something running in the background, chewing up battery.
Click to expand...
I always start clean, and then install what I need. Nothing is running in the background, I'm usually pretty careful with that, making sure I don't keep unnecessary tabs open, or software open that isn't required.
 
Seems unusual. I watch TV on a TV, but with daily usage and zoom calls and YouTube videos etc, I’m seeing power sipping, not gulping.

Energy in activity monitor should show you any abusers.
 
darkmatter343 said:
In another case, playing a 3hr movie in VLC (which I assume is using Rosetta) and displaying on my monitor brought the battery down from 70% to 20%. Now obviously in this last example VLC is being emulated but to loose 50% for a 3hr movie even using Rosetta seems extreme.
Click to expand...
I’m losing ~10% an hour on VLC playing 4K Blu-Ray ISO. (play super smoothly by the way)
 
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I just tried to build VLC for Apple Silicon but I don't understand the build environment well enough. It seems to download all of its own tools instead of just using existing libraries. It'll take more investigation.
 
Zazoh said:
Seems unusual. I watch TV on a TV, but with daily usage and zoom calls and YouTube videos etc, I’m seeing power sipping, not gulping.

Energy in activity monitor should show you any abusers.
Click to expand...
I agree. This seems very rapid. I usually get around 10-12h sot with around 3-4h zoom calls.
 
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darkmatter343 said:
I watched a little over an hr of Netflix, which brought the battery down 20% and again this was using Safari. Screen Brightness is usually at 30-50% depending on the time of day.

Obviously the advertised 18hr estimate is provided from specific tests optimized by Apple, I get that, but I just can't seem to get more then 6-8hrs of mixed usage. Many of the apps I use were made for Intel Mac's so that's why I'm wondering if Rosetta is causing excessive battery drain translating the Intel x86 programs. I know things should improve as more developers port native versions of their software, but I almost regret being an early adopter as battery life on my Intel MBP was hours better.
Click to expand...
Hmm, wow, I haven’t fully drained my base MBA yet but I don’t have trouble envisioning 18 hours using a iMac of Rosetta and native M1 apps. As others have suggested, energy monitor may help you isolate the culprit(s).

I seemed to have the opposite issue - I never got close to the rated battery life with Intel Macs
 
darkmatter343 said:
I always start clean, and then install what I need. Nothing is running in the background, I'm usually pretty careful with that, making sure I don't keep unnecessary tabs open, or software open that isn't required.
Click to expand...
Try IINA instead of VLC for the exact same movie with the exact same brightness and other apps open etc. and see if that changes the amount of battery used.
 
darkmatter343 said:
Since receiving my M1 Air, I’ve notice the battery drain is pretty fast and it’s not just in one app. I’m wondering if Rosetta is to blame or if it’ll just take more optimization of the Apple apps as well.

For instance, watching Netflix last night through Safari brought the battery down from 100% to 80% which seems steep. In another case, playing a 3hr movie in VLC (which I assume is using Rosetta) and displaying on my monitor brought the battery down from 70% to 20%. Now obviously in this last example VLC is being emulated but to loose 50% for a 3hr movie even using Rosetta seems extreme.

I’ve also notice just using Safari for web browsing I can loose 10%(ish) per hour.

Anyone else experiencing this? Thanks
Click to expand...
I have had a similar issue, which I have already described on the forum.

My computer would only last around 6-7 hours top on the single charge - using only Safari, with less than half brightness. I have contacted apple and went through the whole diagnostic process, eventually was advised to replace my machine - which I did.

Now the second machine only lasts 10 hours (maximum), but it's a great improvement nevertheless. I have done a regular drain test yesterday - normal usage, web browsing, YouTube music etc - managed to get just radon 10 hours.

Today I will be reducing brightness and trying to see how far I can get it on the regular usage as well.

Seeing posts from other guys being able to clock 16 hours is mind-blowing...

What is the discharge rate of your computer per hour? I have noticed that my computer dropping 1% exactly every 7 minutes - doesn't matter what I do. I could run a benchmark or game and it would still drain at that speed. I don't think this is how it should work? My previous computer dropped a 1% every 4 minutes.

Thanks
 
Zazoh said:
Seems unusual. I watch TV on a TV, but with daily usage and zoom calls and YouTube videos etc, I’m seeing power sipping, not gulping.

Energy in activity monitor should show you any abusers.
Click to expand...
I'll check that today and see what happens from a full drain. I'll leave it running. Any apps to monitor wattage drain?

macnmac said:
so watching 3 hr movies is the norm now?
Click to expand...
Tenet. 2hrs 40 minutes. 😁
alexzz123 said:
Do you have an adblocker installed?
Click to expand...
No, don't use those. On Mac's I use Safari and only Safari with whatever default stuff they use to protect you (if anything 😅 )
 
Ok, battery at 100%. I'm runnng a 1.5hr movie (9.5GB in size) on VLC full screen right now, since this is the Intel binary it'll use Rosetta, so once it's done I'll check the battery drain and post back. I have Safari also in the background with 3 tabss open, but according to battery/power monitor it's using next to no drain. I set the brightness to 4bars, whatever that equates to... 20-30%. Will post results back after.
 
inc0gnito said:
I have had a similar issue, which I have already described on the forum.

My computer would only last around 6-7 hours top on the single charge - using only Safari, with less than half brightness. I have contacted apple and went through the whole diagnostic process, eventually was advised to replace my machine - which I did.

Now the second machine only lasts 10 hours (maximum), but it's a great improvement nevertheless. I have done a regular drain test yesterday - normal usage, web browsing, YouTube music etc - managed to get just radon 10 hours.

Today I will be reducing brightness and trying to see how far I can get it on the regular usage as well.

Seeing posts from other guys being able to clock 16 hours is mind-blowing...

What is the discharge rate of your computer per hour? I have noticed that my computer dropping 1% exactly every 7 minutes - doesn't matter what I do. I could run a benchmark or game and it would still drain at that speed. I don't think this is how it should work? My previous computer dropped a 1% every 4 minutes.

Thanks
Click to expand...
If I'm really light on it (YouTube / Music / Office / Netflix), I'm around 12/14h on batteyr.

It seems that my work now includes 3h of Zoom/Meet every day.

To day I did watched 5hr of TV while doing other things and slept. The woke up and did some work and went some YouTube with my daughter and did 3h of Zoom/meet.

Total Screen on Time is right around 11.5h before hitting the red (10%).
 
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