MacBook 2011 i7 - not impressed - running hot/poor battery. Normal?

[samcraig]

Just got a new MacBook Pro 2011 i7 at work. Current OS is Lion (with the most recent update.)

With my 2009 model - I was getting 4-5 hours even running VMFusion. On a bad day - maybe 3 hours.

With this new computer - I'm lucky to squeeze off 2 solid hours. It runs very hot without doing much (190F) and unlike the 2009 version, I hear the fans often.

Is this normal?

 

[Adamantoise]

Regardless of whether it's normal or not, if you're unsatisfied with a product then return it.

You shouldn't have to settle just because it was allegedly designed that way. If you're going to pay that much for a laptop then it better be everything you want.

 

[samcraig]

Regardless of whether it's normal or not, if you're unsatisfied with a product then return it.

You shouldn't have to settle just because it was allegedly designed that way. If you're going to pay that much for a laptop then it better be everything you want.

Well as I mentioned - it's a work computer. And since I do video editing as part of my job - the quadcore, additional memory, etc are all specs that I want/need... I also plug in 95 percent of the time. I'm just curious what other people are experiencing...

 

[Adamantoise]

Well for starters it would be nice to know what computer you have.

 

[samcraig]

Well for starters it would be nice to know what computer you have.

Subject line?

2011 MacBook Pro i7 - 8 gigs of ram...
AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB

 

[randomrazr]

anything that kicks in the discrete graphics card will kill your battery.

if ur unhappy with ur macbook, then return it and buy a hp or dell and see if your gonna be any happier with there performance LOL

 

[Adamantoise]

Subject line?

2011 MacBook Pro i7 - 8 gigs of ram...
AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB

Right, because there's only one 2011 Macbook Pro with an i7. 🙄

I was asking for what size of Macbook Pro, as each has a different i7 processor.

In any case, I don't have that model ... You said it's for work, do you own the machine?

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anything that kicks in the discrete graphics card will kill your battery.

if ur unhappy with ur macbook, then return it and buy a hp or dell and see if your gonna be any happier with there performance LOL

He could always return it for another Macbook? Some units do get defective you know.

In any case, I'm pretty sure he'll be happy with the HP Elitebook series ... HP and Dell make budget laptops, but they also make some high end stuff.

 

[sunnyj]

i have a 2011 i7 which i do video editing with and i have no issues with it. yes it runs hot but thats how the chips are designed.

 

[snaky69]

Just got a new MacBook Pro 2011 i7 at work. Current OS is Lion (with the most recent update.)

With my 2009 model - I was getting 4-5 hours even running VMFusion. On a bad day - maybe 3 hours.

With this new computer - I'm lucky to squeeze off 2 solid hours. It runs very hot without doing much (190F) and unlike the 2009 version, I hear the fans often.

Is this normal?

You have 2 more processor cores and and a much more powerful graphics card, you just can't expect this to run cool as a cucumber, you know? Heat is a byproduct of increased performance, there is nothing else to it.

As far as your battery life issues go: could be anything, from spotlight rebuilding the index constantly, to you not having updated to the latest version of flash, to a runaway process eating away at your processor cycles, etc.

Monitor the temps and processor usage, see what's using things up, install gfxcardstatus and force the intel card on battery, I don't know what else to tell you.

 

[T4R06]

if ever you returned it. buy the samsung QX411.

 

[samcraig]

I'm not looking to return it. I use FCP (7 - not X!).

Oh - and it's the 15"

 

[ElToro]

smc reset

have you tried the smc reset?
If not power down and hold shift, control, option and the power button at the same time, for about 10 seconds. Then release all of them at the same time and wait a couple seconds til powering back up. my mbp was getting just over 2 hours and now its at 8 and running cooler.

 

[samcraig]

have you tried the smc reset?
If not power down and hold shift, control, option and the power button at the same time, for about 10 seconds. Then release all of them at the same time and wait a couple seconds til powering back up. my mbp was getting just over 2 hours and now its at 8 and running cooler.

Will try that now - thanks

 

[Mac-key]

I have the base model "15 (see sig) and since installing the gfxcardstatus app my machine runs 15C COOLER than my old 2009 13" MBP. I NEVER use the discrete GPU. This keeps my temps low and gives me 7-8 hours of battery life...

HOWEVER, I also use this machine for video editing using the full Final Cut suite. At that time I clearly use my discrete card. Then, of course, my machine gets warm and gets terrible battery life, but so does any machine when pushing it hard.

just my 2cents

 

[Young Spade]

I have the base model "15 (see sig) and since installing the gfxcardstatus app my machine runs 15C COOLER than my old 2009 13" MBP. I NEVER use the discrete GPU. This keeps my temps low and gives me 7-8 hours of battery life...

just my 2cents

Yes. If you use Google Chrome or any other application that is somewhat GPU intensive, it will turn on the discrete GPU and you'll lose battery power like there's no tomorrow.

I would suggest getting an application or something to restrict the machine to the integrated GPU until you are on a charger and need to get some real work done.

But to show my usage, I have the baseline 2011 MBP and it runs cool, ~65, when browsing and doing whatever but shoots up to the 90s C when playing games.

The CPU and GPU are pretty much the same thing. They also overclock when you're pushing them. You are going to get a lot of heat from these machines.

 

[samcraig]

have you tried the smc reset?
If not power down and hold shift, control, option and the power button at the same time, for about 10 seconds. Then release all of them at the same time and wait a couple seconds til powering back up. my mbp was getting just over 2 hours and now its at 8 and running cooler.

Just did this. I'll have to monitor usage/etc - but already the battery looks +45 minutes (now reading 2:50 min) than what it was with VMware Fusion running..

 

[Column]

have you tried the smc reset?
If not power down and hold shift, control, option and the power button at the same time, for about 10 seconds. Then release all of them at the same time and wait a couple seconds til powering back up. my mbp was getting just over 2 hours and now its at 8 and running cooler.

I have the same machine as the OP and I can confirm that after resetting the SMC (after upgrading to Lion), it calmed my fans down, and runs silently (until rendering vids, playing games, etc.). I get around 3-4 hours battery life if just surfing or watching a movie. Doing something more substantive shortens that. My palm rest temp usually hovers around 90 degrees.

 

[Young Spade]

Just did this. I'll have to monitor usage/etc - but already the battery looks +45 minutes (now reading 2:50 min) than what it was with VMware Fusion running..

What are you doing right now while getting under 3 hours?

 

[samcraig]

What are you doing right now while getting under 3 hours?

I was getting 2 hours max. Running VMware Fusion 3 - and have outlook open and a word/excel doc from time to time.

On the Mac side - using firefox and have gmail open and this site (for example).

That's when on battery only and 2 hours or less.

Like I said - I'm almost always plugged in - so battery life isn't "that" important (although I'd like to have the option of not always being plugged in or worrying about not having juice while in a longer-than-usual meeting.

The heat/fans when not doing anything processor intensive was a bit of concern... but I guess some websites can provoke it...

 

[clutchm3]

Subject line?

2011 MacBook Pro i7 - 8 gigs of ram...
AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB

I'm not looking to return it. I use FCP (7 - not X!).

Oh - and it's the 15"

I was getting 2 hours max. Running VMware Fusion 3 - and have outlook open and a word/excel doc from time to time.

On the Mac side - using firefox and have gmail open and this site (for example).

That's when on battery only and 2 hours or less.

Like I said - I'm almost always plugged in - so battery life isn't "that" important (although I'd like to have the option of not always being plugged in or worrying about not having juice while in a longer-than-usual meeting.

The heat/fans when not doing anything processor intensive was a bit of concern... but I guess some websites can provoke it...

If you are and editor...what RPM hardrive are you using? I cant imagine the 5400 RPM drive being worthy for rendering and whatnot. Slap an SSD in there

 

[Young Spade]

Just did this. I'll have to monitor usage/etc - but already the battery looks +45 minutes (now reading 2:50 min) than what it was with VMware Fusion running..

I was getting 2 hours max. Running VMware Fusion 3 - and have outlook open and a word/excel doc from time to time.

On the Mac side - using firefox and have gmail open and this site (for example).

That's when on battery only and 2 hours or less.

Like I said - I'm almost always plugged in - so battery life isn't "that" important (although I'd like to have the option of not always being plugged in or worrying about not having juice while in a longer-than-usual meeting.

The heat/fans when not doing anything processor intensive was a bit of concern... but I guess some websites can provoke it...

Yea you should definitely be getting much more time out of it than that.

Question, are you on Lion? And if so, did you do a clean install or an upgrade? Reason I'm asking is that, I'm sure you've read by now, people who did an upgrade are having problems of shorter battery life and high heat; some attribute it to indexing but if you don't have anything eating the CPU in Activity Monitor, something else might be the problem.

You could try turning off some of the new UI things Lion has though; the scrollbars coming and going when you scroll uses up CPU; it's just one big graphical leech. (The graphics in Lion)

 

[samcraig]

If you are and editor...what RPM hardrive are you using? I cant imagine the 5400 RPM drive being worthy for rendering and whatnot. Slap an SSD in there

I have a 7200rpm drive in there... and external 7200 as well...

No issues with editing/rendering speeds or use...

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Yea you should definitely be getting much more time out of it than that.

Question, are you on Lion? And if so, did you do a clean install or an upgrade? Reason I'm asking is that, I'm sure you've read by now, people who did an upgrade are having problems of shorter battery life and high heat; some attribute it to indexing but if you don't have anything eating the CPU in Activity Monitor, something else might be the problem.

You could try turning off some of the new UI things Lion has though; the scrollbars coming and going when you scroll uses up CPU; it's just one big graphical leech. (The graphics in Lion)

Good point... This laptop came with Lion already installed. And while I might get flamed for this - I would have preferred Snow Leopard 🙂

 

[clutchm3]

I have a 7200rpm drive in there... and external 7200 as well...

No issues with editing/rendering speeds or use...

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Good point... This laptop came with Lion already installed. And while I might get flamed for this - I would have preferred Snow Leopard 🙂

Haha no one would flame you. People would agree with you 😛

 

[Mac-key]

Haha no one would flame you. People would agree with you 😛

I agree! This is exactly why I ordered mine from the refurb store a couple weeks ago - so I would be guaranteed to get a machine with SL pre-installed

 

[Sankersizzle]

I was getting 2 hours max. Running VMware Fusion 3 - and have outlook open and a word/excel doc from time to time.

On the Mac side - using firefox and have gmail open and this site (for example).

That's when on battery only and 2 hours or less.

Like I said - I'm almost always plugged in - so battery life isn't "that" important (although I'd like to have the option of not always being plugged in or worrying about not having juice while in a longer-than-usual meeting.

The heat/fans when not doing anything processor intensive was a bit of concern... but I guess some websites can provoke it...

Wow, 2 hours under normal use seems pretty terrible. It could be Lion, though. I used to get 9-10 hours from a single charge (17" i5) and now I get under 3 doing the same stuff.