No, I mean it discharges while being plugged to the wall! Starting from 100% battery, playing a light video game, and the battery drains as the laptop pulls more than 100 Watts, which the power adapter alone cannot provide, so it uses the battery too. This is a major flaw.
Turbo Boost Switcher does help reduce CPU power consumption, and brings the total just under 100 Watts, just enough to stop the battery drain. Of course, that neuters the 8-core Intel i9 I just paid for.
I believe you, but I’m struggling to understand it. It’s astonishing to me that it could see that level of drain (if any) on charge. My gut tells me that something is very wrong with your setup or hardware, and that it’s not at all normal or common.
For example, I’ve played Tropico 5 in Boot Camp on my 16” (with 5500, 8 GB) at the maximum (native) panel resolution and maximum (ultra) quality for hours on end and saw very little if any battery drain. In fact, it seemed easy for the laptop (as you’d hope because I played the game reasonably on my older 2015 15” as well). That game is surely more demanding than AoE2.
You’re right to feel upset and frustrated, but I really don’t think the experience is normal or common. Are you using the Apple USB-C cable that came with the laptop? Which OS and version are you on? Did you try the newer drivers from BootCampDrivers.com?
Is there anything you’d like me to do on mine to test against yours?
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