MacBook Pro Users Express Concerns About Limited Battery Life

[dantroline]

Thank God they didn't put 32 gigs of ram on those babies. Like they said, 16 is for our own good and great battery life...

I read that users (actual users) of the new Dell XPS 13 inch are getting "up to" 14 hours normal usage from it, probably owing to the new generation processor on it. That laptop goes up to 16GB too. Waiting on the 15 inch version to upgrade its processor then I'm jumping for it I think. My friends who bought the MacBook pro 15 in also experienced short battery life in some circumstances that didn't seem to be a problem earlier.

Put it this way. I don't expect batteries to last long if I am doing intensive work, but when on a long trip I want to get a good 10 hours of usage with light browsing in an airport etc. That should be reasonable to expect of a 'pro' device.

 

[d0nK]

No surprise.
More profits = less features, less functionality, less quality control, less value.
Are the Apple shareholder fanboys still happy even now?
I LOVE my late 2011 15" mbp! I just wanted the same again but with retina and upgraded specs! I've been waiting for an adequate replacement for years and this new mbp has taken a massive drop off a "good product" cliff. It's so pathetic and it makes me very sad.

 

[Johnny907]

They won't increase their cost, because that would prevent them from staying in the game. The camera market is struggling at the moment.

Point and shoot maybe. The DSLR market is doing gangbusters right now.

 

[elvislives]

You forgot a few:
-Keyboard is worse than previous generation
-Soldered components (cannot upgrade)
-three-finger drag issues on track pad
-Higher cost
-Gimmicky touch-bar
-Loss of mag-safe
-Loss of useful ports

Agree on a few of these but worth considering a few things here-

- Keyboard better / worse, thats a personal pref, I think they are better...
- Soldered components -This increases reliability, just max out you macbook now and your never need to upgrade anyway.
- touch bar is bit gimmicky at mo but it needs software RnD time to develop.
- Loss of mag-safe, not a massive issue these days as batt life is way better (hehe)

 

[Berwtmans]

It wont be long before Timmy has us connecting the Mac to the outlet permanently and make it razor thin

The day that happens I might actually store my Macbook in the bathroom next to my razor.
Wait a minute... it all starts to make sense to me now!

 

[Gilligan's last elephant]

Understood and agree. I just wish they could have solved the issue by now. I didn't say they have I'm not a videographer or photographer as a profession but I have some experience in that arena.

It seems that normal SD may top out at about 100 MB/sec. There's a faster version that requires more pins that tops out around 312 MB/s - https://www.sdcard.org/developers/overview/bus_speed/

Apple's SSD in the MBP 2016 comes in around 1,400 MB/s or (4.5x) - http://www.computerworld.com/articl...e-new-macbook-literally-is-twice-as-fast.html

USB 3.1 gen 2 manages 1.25 GB/s (10 Gb/s) which is 4x the maximum possible speed of the SD interface. Thunderbolt 3 manages about 5GB/s (or 40 Gbps) which is 4x faster than that. Why not switch the tech over to USB-C instead of the SD interface? It's more compact and has more headroom for future speed enhancements assuming that storage technology can keep up in a smaller form factor.

If cameras went to fast USB then large SSD memory would need to replace the low cost SD slot. That's a big price hike on mid range cameras.

 

[mkeeley]

Agree on a few of these but worth considering a few things here-

- Keyboard better / worse, thats a personal pref, I think they are better...
- Soldered components -This increases reliability, just max out you macbook now and your never need to upgrade anyway.
- touch bar is bit gimmicky at mo but it needs software RnD time to develop.
- Loss of mag-safe, not a massive issue these days as batt life is way better (hehe)

I tripped over my cable the other week, laptop on arm of sofa, magsafe saved my laptop and the floor. Not something I have a habit of doing but think it has saved me twice. There's a kickstarter doing quite a nice looking but slightly bulky magsafe style add-on (Snapnator). I'm sure Apple could have come up with an even lower profile implementation if they could have been bothered.

 

[Basic75]

Using an external monitor is sure to keep the discrete GPU powered, in that situation I would expect people to connect the charger at all times. True mobile use is a different question.

 

[maflynn]

I know you're trying to make a tough business model work where you need clicks for the advertisers, so I get it that the more controversial the headline, the better for clicks, and negativity sells as well, but just like the election coverage, the endless trolling here gets old, and these negative hit pieces without any context are like honey to flies.

I don't work for MacRumors, I'm a volunteer, and this is not only my opinion what I've seen.

Engadget

• Rated battery life is shorter this year

The Verge

It turns out, however, that the bigger issue with these machines isn’t the performance, but the battery life. Apple promises 10 hours, but our tests fell far short of that.

So we have people here complaining about battery life and we have a bunch of reviewers doing the same.

 

[harami]

Yes.
I was actually bummmed out. The brand new 2016 MacBook Pro 15inch, fully charged displays 6hours with "zero apps" running. Turn safari on- don't use it, drops to 3 hours.
Use Any app- down to less than 2 hours. Really!

 

[jaymie1983]

Seriously, what's going on at Apple? I've been a devoted user for more than 15 years, but now I'm really pissed off by the direction this company has taken.

I fear the glory days are over

 

[Workerbee Redux]

Just like all the R&D Google spends on optimizing for Safari, right?

So pray tell, on which Google OS does Safari run?

Fun fact: Safari and Chrome used to share the same code base until 2 or 3 years ago. Then Apple started to drag their feet, let the code idle and not implement the latest HTML5/CSS/JS features. Then Google cut the ties to develop their code faster.

Safari is the Internet Explorer 6 of our age.

 

[roksraka]

THIS! This is so true!

We all now that hating on the new macbook pro is pretty fashionable right now but let's keep the facts straight. Using an external display will decrease your battery life. It is known that Chrome is also really bad on the battery life on macs. So, let's get one thing straight: higher workload = shorter battery life. It's not rocket science guys.

If you consider running an external monitor and a browser a 'heavy workload', then I don't know how to call my workload when I have an external monitor, youtube playing, as well as working in Photoshop and InDesign, while a complex 3D model is rendering in the background. In such cases a shorter battery life is to be expected. But if you're just browsing the web on an external screen, I consider this to be almost idling...

 

[MarsViolet]

So you think camera manufacturers should increase there costs to suit a small percentage of computer users without removable media slots?

Don’t mischaracterize his argument to make it easier to attack. It’s one of the most common logical fallacies, and trivial to spot.

Also, “there” should be “their”.

The reason cameras still use flash cards is because they can transfer huge amounts of data many times faster than is currently possible wirelessly. If you’re a photographer who captures huge raw files, speed matters more than going wireless for the sake of convenience or defending Apple’s honor for the MacBook Pro’s lack of an SD card reader.

 

[sofila]

Is anyone else beginning to strongly dislike Phil Schiller?

No, I'm not beginning, I'm an early disliker for him. Although he's very good in his job

 

[robeddie]

I don't work for MacRumors, I'm a volunteer, and this is not only my opinion what I've seen.

Engadget


The Verge


So we have people here complaining about battery life and we have a bunch of reviewers doing the same.

Thank you for responding to him. Some of these Apple fanboys are in such denial they think this criticism is all made up.
But I'm still not sure the facts will put a dent in their delusions.

 

[Bacillus]

Thank God they didn't put 32 gigs of ram on those babies. Like they said, 16 is for our own good and great battery life...

https://******.com/?q=Memory+purging

 

[i'mnewhere]

And? I don't care what previous versions were like - I'm a forward thinker. Duh

Well... in your case it seems ignorance is definetly bliss.

Why do you think so many 2012-2015 owners are not going to upgrade to this model even though they got cash in the pocket?

 

[ImaxGuy]

With USB-A ports that are nearly 20 years old while the industry is moving to faster and more robust USB-C? No thanks.

No, the fix is to update the firmware addressing the bug causing the dGPU kicking in when it shouldn't.

Looking forward to owning one. Superior I/O, much better screen, less weight, faster SSD, and a modern keyboard that promotes faster and more accurate typing. The touch bar is icing on the cake.

For those wanting to stay with USB-A, I totally understand. And no worries, there'll be dongles available to interface to USB-C peripherals as they're introduced over the next year or two.

I'm pretty happy with my new 15", apart from the RP460 kicking in when it seemingly shouldn't, reducing my battery runtime to something consistently under 5 hours - or much less. Fortunately, I use this machine plugged in 99% of the time and it runs 10-20° cooler and much quieter than my 2013 15" rMBP.

 

[Bacillus]

Is anyone else beginning to strongly dislike Phil Schiller?

Well, you don't need a complete set of ignorant, supercapitalist, egocentric, senseless pranks to kill a healthy CPU business, to let down your loyal customers and betray your visionary company founder.
But it certainly helps...

 

[TallManNY]

The refurbished ones have sold out for days now. Never seen that before.
Wonder why.

That 13" MBP 2015 refurb for $1,099 was the best deal on the Apple site. I'm not really in the market as I think I'm going to stretch my 2011 iMac until the next iMacs come out. But that is a great computer and the "last" one with legacy ports I'd guess.

 

[ImaxGuy]

I'm 62 and have been using Apple products since the early 90's. You can praise them all you want but I'm pissed off at the direction this is going in.

I'm 10 years younger & bought my first mac (SE) in 1991. I depend on these machines and Apple's eco system for my living. If Apple is going to sell non upgradable computer appliances, the least they could do is price them accordingly and update them regularly.

 

[TallManNY]

I'm pretty happy with my new 15", apart from the RP460 kicking in when it seemingly shouldn't, reducing my battery runtime to something consistently under 5 hours - or much less. Fortunately, I use this machine plugged in 99% of the time and it runs 10-20° cooler and much quieter than my 2013 15" rMBP.

The real cool thing is that this is almost certainly a software issue that will be largely fixed with an OS update. Heck, even Google will eventually have to fix Chrome one would think.

 

[truthertech]

I hope that these machines sell so bad that Apple is forced to move direction. Going thinner sells life style machines, a profesional laptop would rather go bigger (17" anyone?).

Though I would have liked the Touchbar, the new display and the great Trackpad, I'm quite happy with the "old" 15 Retina I just bought…

Klaus

Sorry, they've already set sales records. Now what? See how the toxic stew of negativity on MR is impacting you? You were quite happy with the great MacBook Apple just sold you, but are still here fantasizing about something negative happening that is already impossible to happen.

 

[AxiomaticRubric]

Is there anything Apple can actually do to solve this or are we all just SOL?

Software and/or firmware updates should have this sorted out soon enough.