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It would be nice if someone in the forum had the nerve to do a little research. Apple does clearly publish their scenario for testing. Brightness is 12 clicks to the right - out of the total of 16 so 3/4 brightness. They have the system signed into iCloud and cycle through ten popular website. Or.. they watch play iTunes movies which gets the video playback number. I'm trying to remember this from the top of my head but I think that's right.

Cute reply guess you had the NERVE. :p I'd be willing to guess that the people with battery issues are NOT basing there usage on Apples testing procedures. In the end they'll update there OS and it will and will NOT fix the problems for everyone.
 
Probably because they backed down performance of the laptop even more lol. How else would they save power?

UPDATE 12-6-16
Can report macOS Sierra update 10.12.2 Beta (16C60b) has differently improved battery life. MacBook on since this morning and battery at 31%. This will be good news for owners of 2016 MacBook Pro w/ Touch Screen when the update released to the public.
 
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Keep my old one. Will wait a year and re-evaluate then. Testing Windows 10 now and then. If Apple becomes more expensive and worse, I want to look somewhere else to see where I stand. A month ago I would have never considered looking at Windows. Times change.

The only language Apple understands is loss in revenue. So I sent it back and told them exactly what I did not like. I suggest you do the same because otherwise nothing will change.
that's exactly how i feel!!!
 
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UPDATE 12-6-16
Can report macOS Sierra update 10.12.2 Beta (16C60b) has differently improved battery life. MacBook on since this morning and battery at 31%. This will be good news for owners of 2016 MacBook Pro w/ Touch Screen when the update released to the public.

Could you confirm how long the battery last after the update ?
I ordert the same Macbook pro "13 3,3 GHz i7 16 ram and iam worried that this battery issue will effect build to order macbook pro with higer cpu and ram even harder ?

Thanks
 
UPDATE 12-6-16
Can report macOS Sierra update 10.12.2 Beta (16C60b) has differently improved battery life. MacBook on since this morning and battery at 31%. This will be good news for owners of 2016 MacBook Pro w/ Touch Screen when the update released to the public.
It did a little for me, but not a huge improvement. I also did another SMC reset so not sure which had a bigger effect. I am getting estimates of 5-7 hours now, but if I start using Safari heavily, that drops pretty quickly. Outlook is also quite a battery hog at the moment, especially when I do a search for emails within it (I have a massive Exchange account though, so sorting through 80k emails is probably not that much fun for Spotlight).
 
The sheer vitriol from users regarding all of these issues with the new MBPs would have been so much less if they were priced fairly. $1799 for the 13" is such a goddamn disgrace.

Nah. I'd rather pay a bit more for a computer I can use. I've no use for a machine that runs out of juice every two hours no matter what it costs. Now they picked the worst option in both - ultra expensive machine with mediocre battery life. Makes my $299 FHD Dell Chromebook look like a bargain with it's real life 14-15h battery life.
[doublepost=1481133197][/doublepost]
Wow, hold the front page! Laptop battery lasts less time when using power hungry apps!

To quote Apple. "UP TO 10 hours battery life".

3 hours is "up to" 10 hours.
Use better designed apps.

Or just let the computer idle on the coffee table as a decoration. That's all it's good for. They guarantee you'll get 10 hours of battery life.
 
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Wow MacRumors is really on a crusade to crap all over these new MBPs.

I just tried one at a local store. I had to see it to believe it. It seems to be very little machine for a whole lotta money. They're probably great for kids and small people with smallish hands. But they're not really a comfortable computer for a grown man. Thumbs-together-to-pinkies, my hands are wider than the (full-size + with numeric entry) aluminum keyboard. It's an extremely expensive Macbook. But it is thin. The touch bar did not work.

Unfortunate.
 
I just tried one at a local store. I had to see it to believe it. It seems to be very little machine for a whole lotta money. They're probably great for kids and small people with smallish hands. But they're not really a comfortable computer for a grown man. Thumbs-together-to-pinkies, my hands are wider than the (full-size + with numeric entry) aluminum keyboard. It's an extremely expensive Macbook. But it is thin. The touch bar did not work.

Unfortunate.
I had no idea Donald Trump posted here.
 
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I've said for years to buy the first of any new model is crazy as these "kinks" need to be ironed out. <...snip...>

This advice is widespread: Don't buy the first model of anything. Yet, I've bought a number of things at their first introduction without any problems. My feeling was that I was willing to take the (small) risk of bugs in order to have the thing sooner.

They say it with cars, but I bought my 2004 Toyota Prius as soon as it came out (took delivery January of 2004, after a two-month wait, the first year of the liftback model, and now, twelve years later, I've never had any problems other than a broken cruise-control stalk that was replaced under warranty). I bought my iPad Mini 1 the day it became available because I wanted a lightweight tablet, mainly for travel. Never had any trouble with it other than a software glitch when I registered another device, and the issue was fixed with a call to support. Same with my iPad Air 1, which I got because it's twice the screen size and still very light weight for travel. Never a problem. And lastly, my iPad Pro, which I got mainly for streaming video. Both the Air and the Pro I got the day they came out, and never a problem to date.

YMMV, and yes, a few people will have problems. But most Apple devices will work flawlessly. And in the case of this battery-life issue, it became obvious immediately, and Apple's no-questions-asked return policy means that if the battery life is inadequate, those early buyers could return it, no fuss, no bother, and now anyone who does their homework knows about it and can choose whether or not it's acceptable for them.

My iPad Pro has a shorter battery life than I expected, but this was obvious within a couple of days, well within the return period, if it had been a deal-breaker for me. It wasn't because I use it at home where I can plug it in any time I need or want to.

If there are issues with a gadget, it's good to post reviews and tell others about them. But ranting against Apple is silly because if a gadget doesn't do what you want, you can return it.
 
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UPDATE 12-6-16
Can report macOS Sierra update 10.12.2 Beta (16C60b) has differently improved battery life. MacBook on since this morning and battery at 31%. This will be good news for owners of 2016 MacBook Pro w/ Touch Screen when the update released to the public.

maybe they left out the 2016 non-TB 13" MacBook Pro :( as I'm still only getting 5-6 hours with light browsing in safari (Facebook, Macrumors and a couple other forums I visit) on beta build 16C60b.
 
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maybe they left out the 2016 non-TB 13" MacBook Pro :( as I'm still only getting 5-6 hours with light browsing in safari (Facebook, Macrumors and a couple other forums I visit) on beta build 16C60b.

I don't believe the non tb MacBook has the battery problems we're discussing. Maybe there's another issue with your system? I'd call Apple to get them to take a look at it.
[doublepost=1481170699][/doublepost]Wow. Maceumours? More like MacHate!! To read this forum the majority of you are well off enough to be able to drop 3k on a computer just to join in the, Yeah I hate it too, posts.

My 15" is the finest system I've ever owned. The build quality is incredible. The touch pad huge, love the new technology for the track pad and Touch ID. I like the touch bar, surprisingly handy. Beautiful screen. I like the keyboard. Its a step up and above my prior 2012 model in every way. I currently get 3ish hrs battery. Which I'm presuming will be fixed with an update. If not, I'll return it and get a working model. Simple. I'm lucky enough that the battery issue doesn't effect me much as I work on power 99% of the time.

Apple's customary 14 day no questions asked return period is extended to January I believe. If you've bought a MBP and don't like it, don't rant on a forum that Apple don't see. Simply return it and buy a Surface or something.
 
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I don't believe the non tb MacBook has the battery problems we're discussing. Maybe there's another issue with your system? I'd call Apple to get them to take a look at it.

You are right I booted back into my 10.12.1 partition and the time showed in activity monitor is 11 hours. so might be a bug in 10.12.2 beta 5 for my system, I'll boot back into the beta partition and use the feedback asistent as apple support don't support the beta software.
 
You are right I booted back into my 10.12.1 partition and the time showed in activity monitor is 11 hours. so might be a bug in 10.12.2 beta 5 for my system, I'll boot back into the beta partition and use the feedback asistent as apple support don't support the beta software.

The time remaining is pretty broken, for the touch bar MBPs at least. I've had mine jump from 14hrs remaining to 1 1/2hrs. It doesn't reflect actual use. It may say only 2hrs left when actually you have 5hrs if you use it till the battery is dry. Which is still far short of the promised 10, but it's really not helping things. I think thats causing half the confusion as people see 3hrs remaining at 100% battery and freak out. Apple needs to fix this asap. Hopefully its better in the public release of 10.12.2.
 
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A subset of users who purchased a new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar claim to be experiencing shorter than expected battery life.

2016_macbook_pro_lineup.jpg

In particular, some users claim to be getting as little as 3 to 6 hours of battery life on a single charge, or between 30% and 60% of the up to 10 hours advertised.

MacRumors forum member SRTM said:MacRumors forum member Aioriya said:Reddit user Azr-79 yesterday claimed his new base model 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar received only 3 hours and 45 minutes of battery life on a single charge, despite what he described as "normal usage" in the form of web browsing, watching YouTube videos, and software development.

mbp-battery-life-chart.jpg

MacRumors forum member Scott claimed he experienced a 5 percentage point drop in battery life, from 10% to 5%, in just 12 minutes. Google Chrome, a known battery hog, was listed as the only app drawing significant power. The discussion topic he posted in and others are littered with similar claims of sizeable percentage drops in mere minutes.

1-2-800x296.jpg

Other claims on Reddit include anywhere from 3 hours to 5 hours to 6 hours -- sometimes more, and sometimes less.

Conversely, some users report battery life exactly in line with Apple's advertised figures. Reddit user Andrew J., for example, said he was working on non-intensive tasks on his new MacBook Pro for 90 straight minutes, and still had 92% battery life with an estimated 10 hours and 35 minutes of usage remaining.Estimates unsurprisingly vary widely based on screen brightness, background processes, and other factors, so user reports are only anecdotal evidence and your mileage may vary. It is also important to note battery life could be initially reduced until Spotlight finishes indexing your new MacBook Pro.

Battery life complaints are nothing new following the launch of a new Apple product. However, some users speculate battery life could be impacted by the new MacBook Pro switching from more efficient integrated Intel graphics to the power-hungrier dedicated AMD Radeon Pro GPU for unnecessary tasks.

Once again, however, there are always claims to suggest otherwise. Reddit user Lebron Hubbard claims he received 5 hours and 48 minutes of battery life on his high-end built-to-order 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar when forcing only the dedicated AMD Radeon Pro 460 graphics to run using gfxCardStatus:Apple's built-in Activity Monitor and third-party app coconutBattery are useful tools for tracking system processes and detailed battery information.

10-hours-macbook-pro-battery-life.jpg

Apple officially says the new MacBook Pro is rated for up to 10 hours of battery life. Specifically, its tech specs page says all new 13-inch and 15-inch models are capable of up to 10 hours of wireless web browsing, up to 10 hours of iTunes movie playback, and up to 30 days of standby time on a single charge.

TechCrunch placed battery life at 9 hours and 35 minutes for the 13-inch model. Mashable said 10 hours is a fair estimate overall. The Wall Street Journal got 9.5 hours on the 13-inch model. Engadget gauged between 9 and 10 hours of video playback on the 15-inch model. Nilay Patel got 5.5 hours on the 13" in real-world use.

Apple explains how it performs its battery tests on its website:Apple's website also provides tips for maximizing battery life on the MacBook Pro, including updating to the latest version of macOS, optimizing Energy Saver settings in System Preferences, dimming the screen's brightness to the lowest comfortable level, and turning off Wi-Fi while not connected to a network.

Additional battery optimization advice provided by users includes performing a fresh install of macOS Sierra and resetting the SMC.

Article Link: MacBook Pro Users Express Concerns About Limited Battery Life
[doublepost=1481208697][/doublepost]I got a new 13" with the i7, 1Tb SSD, 16 Gb memory, restored from a backup, and had absolutely dismal battery performance. In particular, whenever I'd put the computer to sleep, when I'd wake it up it the kernel_task was running over 100% and the battery performance was even worse. The only way I'd be able to stop it was to restart. Working with what I could find on the internet and Apple support I first reset the SMC, uninstalled one program that wasn't working, and still no joy. I ran First Aid from the Option-R recovery, and still poor performance - about 4.5 hours max. Finally, I reinstalled OS X Sierra from the Option-R recovery, and voila. I am now getting what looks to be 10-11 hours and the kernel_task problem appears to have gone away. I'll keep testing and report more if this ends up not working, but at the moment the system seems to be working exactly as advertised. It seems a PIA to have to go through this to make the computer work, but at least it seems to have solved the problem. My guess is that those of us who were having a problem with battery life had restored something from backup that isn't quite compatible, which is a problem but may not turn out to be a disaster.
 
Here's the deal...

MacBook Pro TB
2.9 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Intel HD Graphics 530 1536 MB / Radeon Pro 460 4096 MB
1 TB Flash Storage

Brightness set to 40-45%
Backlit keyboard off
Bluetooth off
Wifi on
Using only Chrome to browse websites (no YouTube or video playback) and playing music in background via iTunes I'm getting 4.5 - 5 hours max.

Went to Apple Store, they can't do anything (Apple store acknowledges problem outside return window and will accept full return, however can't provide replacement) as my machine is built to order and will have to go without a machine until they are back in stock (2-3 weeks, according to Apple website)

You do the math...unacceptable
[doublepost=1481291811][/doublepost]
[doublepost=1481208697][/doublepost]I got a new 13" with the i7, 1Tb SSD, 16 Gb memory, restored from a backup, and had absolutely dismal battery performance. In particular, whenever I'd put the computer to sleep, when I'd wake it up it the kernel_task was running over 100% and the battery performance was even worse. The only way I'd be able to stop it was to restart. Working with what I could find on the internet and Apple support I first reset the SMC, uninstalled one program that wasn't working, and still no joy. I ran First Aid from the Option-R recovery, and still poor performance - about 4.5 hours max. Finally, I reinstalled OS X Sierra from the Option-R recovery, and voila. I am now getting what looks to be 10-11 hours and the kernel_task problem appears to have gone away. I'll keep testing and report more if this ends up not working, but at the moment the system seems to be working exactly as advertised. It seems a PIA to have to go through this to make the computer work, but at least it seems to have solved the problem. My guess is that those of us who were having a problem with battery life had restored something from backup that isn't quite compatible, which is a problem but may not turn out to be a disaster.

I set up as brand new and have already done everything you mentioned. Any other recommendations? Apple Store was...let's just say less than helpful :(

UPDATE: In the 13 min I have spent writing this response and browsing other people's comments I have lost 9% (Chrome and itunes running only)
 
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UPDATE 12-6-16
Can report macOS Sierra update 10.12.2 Beta (16C60b) has differently improved battery life. MacBook on since this morning and battery at 31%. This will be good news for owners of 2016 MacBook Pro w/ Touch Screen when the update released to the public.

UPDATE 12-9-16
Oops...jumped the gun on macOS Sierra update 10.12.2 Beta (16C60b). Battery life turned out to be only slightly better. Now on macOS Sierra update 10.12.2 Beta 6 (16C63a) and don't see any noticeable improvement. 4-5 hours. Thanks to all for their good comments on this discouraging problem....let's hope Apple can provide a solution without dumbing down our machines.
 
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As in...Apple store acknowledges problem outside return window and will accept full return, however can't provide replacement

and...ok, thanks

Apple gets high battery life from being efficient. I can easily get 12 hours on Safari at 80% brightness if that's all I'm doing.

Chrome is not efficient, so it uses a lot of energy. There's no way to fix this other than to make Chrome more efficient.

---
Just to be clear, I would get similar battery life as you are if I were using Chrome. Sometimes I need it for something, and I leave it running accidentally. My battery life will fade quickly.
 
Well, let's face it, at least here in the US there are very few consumer protections against outright lying (oops. "exaggerating") when it comes to advertising. I always assume 50% the claimed battery life on any product in real-world scenarios, which seems to be about accurate. I don't know, do we blame Apple for abusing a system tilted against the consumer? I suppose you have to fix the system before any company could honestly estimate battery life (or fuel economy, or actual aloe-vera content of an "aloe vera" lotion, or, or, or...) Any company being honest will instantly lose sales. Also, who the heck expects to get decent life while gaming? That one isn't on Apple, that's a major misunderstanding on the part of anyone expecting to game on battery...

Not even remotely fair. If the product doesn't conform to up to 10 hours within a few macOS updates under the conditions Apple defined the test, then it would be fraud. However this is a brand new product and a bit of time should be given before passing judgement.

In addition Apple has very good return policies. Currently the return policy is better than normal. If someone feels cheated they should definitely avail themselves of this enhanced return policy.
 
I was getting about 4-5 hours battery life tops, Loaded 10.12.2, reset PRAM, still nothing. Returned to Apple Store. The kid there didn't even open the box, he just said on his radio "Got another one", issued me a full refund no questions asked, and I went on my way..

great service, but....

worried about trying another if it's so widespread..

Has anyone actually gotten decent battery life on here?
 
Here, I'll fix that for you free of charge: "I had no idea that form has replaced function. Thanks, JamesPDX! you just saved me $3000 including dongles and hubs."

I have large hands and am quite enjoying the new keyboard. Thought I'd hate it. Wasn't a huge fan after the first day or two. After a couple of weeks I find it more comfortable than the magic keyboard I usually use with it at work.
 
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