Macbook Pro 15 Battery life NOT 8 hours.. more like 4.5 hours

[deeesea]

I can get through a full days use on battery,
two 50 minute lectures, and then a 3 hour lecture afterwards, and I still have around 40% battery remaining.

But to be fair the first 50 minute lecture was with no airport.
During the first two lectures it's mostly just Word and Preview running. when it's the 3 hour lecture where i have Jalopnik/gizmodo/engadget and etc running in tabs on chrome + preview + word.

 

[sydenham]

i get the same with my 15 i7 266. Usually 4 to 5 hours. Thats with gfx on Intel and surfing the net. On a 2009 15 2.53 I was getting about 6.5 hours. I was very very impressed with that.

 

[icehockey77]

it's like epa estimated fuel mileage. read the fine print, 35mpg at 55mph on the highway. if you're actually doing stuff, the computer works more, and the battery life is less. it's still pretty remarkable.

 

[revelated]

it's like epa estimated fuel mileage. read the fine print, 35mpg at 55mph on the highway. if you're actually doing stuff, the computer works more, and the battery life is less. it's still pretty remarkable.

Apple should really disable the "time remaining" indicator. It just confuses people who don't understand about estimates. Just have the percentage and be done with it.

OP:

Newer cars have a mileage readout that will tell you how many more miles you can drive before you run out of gas. Guess what? It's always wrong - ALWAYS. Why? Because there are too many variables:

1. There's a little gasoline in reserve even when your tank goes empty;
2. There's the small bit of fuel currently headed towards the engine and/or in the injector assembly;
3. Distance remaining vs. speed traveling (in other words, if you are 5 miles away from your destination and you're going 10MPH, you're burning more gas than if you are going 60MPH, because first gear burns more than the others);
4. Tire pressure which leads to resistance on road impact which burns more gas;
5. Fuel grade and quality;
6. Clogged injectors; and
7. Aerodynamics.

Those are the main ones, there are plenty more. For example, I had to go down near the Mexican border on a client site visit from North County. On the way back the readout said I had 66 miles to go - that's a 40 mile drive, BTW. Got home and the readout said 53 miles. Why? Because the 66 was an estimate, NOT something to be held to the fire.

If you bought the MacBook believing you'd get anywhere near the estimated hours just because it was marketed as up to that amount, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[deeesea]

Apple should really disable the "time remaining" indicator. It just confuses people who don't understand about estimates. Just have the percentage and be done with it.

OP:

Newer cars have a mileage readout that will tell you how many more miles you can drive before you run out of gas. Guess what? It's always wrong - ALWAYS. Why? Because there are too many variables:

1. There's a little gasoline in reserve even when your tank goes empty;
2. There's the small bit of fuel currently headed towards the engine and/or in the injector assembly;
3. Distance remaining vs. speed traveling (in other words, if you are 5 miles away from your destination and you're going 10MPH, you're burning more gas than if you are going 60MPH, because first gear burns more than the others);
4. Tire pressure which leads to resistance on road impact which burns more gas;
5. Fuel grade and quality;
6. Clogged injectors; and
7. Aerodynamics.

Those are the main ones, there are plenty more. For example, I had to go down near the Mexican border on a client site visit from North County. On the way back the readout said I had 66 miles to go - that's a 40 mile drive, BTW. Got home and the readout said 53 miles. Why? Because the 66 was an estimate, NOT something to be held to the fire.

If you bought the MacBook believing you'd get anywhere near the estimated hours just because it was marketed as up to that amount, I don't know what to tell you.

+eleventybillion.

Couldn't have put it any better.

 

[marshallbedsaul]

my late 2008 macbook pro
battery after calibration will say 6:50 hrs. of battery life, but once I start using the system drops to about 4 hours. I believe its normal with your mac. Maybe switch your system to better battery life.

 

[GGJstudios]

Because the 66 was an estimate, NOT something to be held to the fire.

If you bought the MacBook believing you'd get anywhere near the estimated hours just because it was marketed as up to that amount, I don't know what to tell you.

So true! Add to the mix that you could have 2 people driving the same year and model car, with the same options, same engine, etc.

• One car is dirtier, creating more wind resistance.
• One car has heavier drivers or more passengers or more junk in the trunk, making it heavier
• One changes oil every 3,000 miles while the other does every 5,000 miles
• One uses regular unleaded, the other uses premium (even different brands)
• One has a heavier foot, accelerating faster than the other
• One sits in traffic more, clogging injectors, etc.
• Etc., etc., etc.

Back to MacBook Pros, differences that could exist between 2 same-model MBPs:

• Number and type of apps running
• Number, type and size of documents open
• Number and type of background processes running
• Number and type of widgets running
• Screen brightness
• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• Flash on websites
• System modifications or customizations
• Amount of RAM installed (paging)
• Type of hard drive or SSD and free space available (paging)
• Frequency of mail checking or other scheduled processes
• Etc., etc., etc.

Without deliberate effort, you'll rarely find two identical MBPs with identical workload.

Truly, "your mileage may vary".... or "your mileage WILL vary".

 

[hawse771]

It is very easy for me to get 8+ hours on my 13". I turned BT off (this made a good difference and I never use it) and turned screen brightness down to anywhere from the 1st-3rd bar depending on the environment. I think the screen is wayyyyy too bright all the way up and the max i use it at even plugged in is 50%.

I do pretty much only web browsing/MS Word (used for school/taking notes) and using an ebook reader program (nook study).

I do not have time machine on either if that helps.

 

[Fubar1977]

I quite regularly see 7 hours or so out of a full charge with reduced brightness <50% and power-hungry apps closed down.
In fact, out of my last few laptops, this is the only one thats been capable of going much beyond 2 hours so I`m very happy with it.

Comparing battery life on a netbook vs a full fledged i5 laptop is pointless, however it`s quite impressive that the MBP is anywhere near to netbook battery life.

My mother in law has a brand new compaq running an i7 and that won`t go beyond 90 mins regardless of what you do.
Manufacturer claims for battery life never reflect real world use, same as the MPG figures car manufacturers quote which are basically impossible to achieve in the real world.

I find the "time remaining" to be fairly accurate for me, keeping the battery calibrated helps a lot with this but it can vary wildly from minute to minute depending on what you do but when I get down into the last hour it seems to settle down.

 

[greythorne]

I quite regularly see 7 hours or so out of a full charge with reduced brightness <50% and power-hungry apps closed down.
In fact, out of my last few laptops, this is the only one thats been capable of going much beyond 2 hours so I`m very happy with it.

Comparing battery life on a netbook vs a full fledged i5 laptop is pointless, however it`s quite impressive that the MBP is anywhere near to netbook battery life.

My mother in law has a brand new compaq running an i7 and that won`t go beyond 90 mins regardless of what you do.
Manufacturer claims for battery life never reflect real world use, same as the MPG figures car manufacturers quote which are basically impossible to achieve in the real world.

I find the "time remaining" to be fairly accurate for me, keeping the battery calibrated helps a lot with this but it can vary wildly from minute to minute depending on what you do but when I get down into the last hour it seems to settle down.

True. During the last few hours the battery fairly keep to an accurate timing!

I never got the "advertised" of 10 hours at most it will be 7hours.....