I've got no apps running that require the discreet GPU, yet it is being used. This update did not fix the issue. Not impressed.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
macOS Sierra 10.12.2 Removes 'Time Remaining' Battery Life Indicator
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I've got no apps running that require the discreet GPU, yet it is being used. This update did not fix the issue. Not impressed.
No. Steve Jobs would tell you you're batterying wrong.
He wouldn't have allowed the quality of the product to deteriorate to this **** show.
Let me introduce you to the MobileMe launch.
Not so bad. I'm usually plugged in, but when I'm not I generally have Reeder, mail.app, tweetbot, and safari (with a couple of tabs), all running mostly in the background. Usually I am using MS Word actively, and a preview.app window or two. I get around 7.5-8.5 hours.
Look under the energy tab of Activity monitor - it will also tell you which gpu is active. iStat Menus also works.
As an owner of the new tbMBP 13" for several weeks, I can say the battery life is without a doubt not great. At best it is on par with my 2013 rMBP.
I am not doing anything scientific, but I figure I am getting about 4-6 hours of real usage. Definitely a far cry from the 10 hour mark. There have been certain days where it was averaging in the 6-8 range under very light usage but that was few and far between.
I have seen some rather inconsistent battery life over the past few weeks.
I agree the battery meter was never accurate, but it was good to have. This is Apple playing games...we all know the battery life of the ntbMPB is about 10 hours, and its impossible for the tbMBP to have the same battery life when it has a smaller battery and more demanding processor.
I am seriously considering returning this machine because of all the nonsense. I am going to give it one more week since we have such a wide return window, but when Apple pulls stuff like this (amid all the other controversies), they don't deserve $3000 for this machine.
Which is a shame, because there is a lot to love about it.
I am not doing anything scientific, but I figure I am getting about 4-6 hours of real usage. Definitely a far cry from the 10 hour mark. There have been certain days where it was averaging in the 6-8 range under very light usage but that was few and far between.
I have seen some rather inconsistent battery life over the past few weeks.
I agree the battery meter was never accurate, but it was good to have. This is Apple playing games...we all know the battery life of the ntbMPB is about 10 hours, and its impossible for the tbMBP to have the same battery life when it has a smaller battery and more demanding processor.
I am seriously considering returning this machine because of all the nonsense. I am going to give it one more week since we have such a wide return window, but when Apple pulls stuff like this (amid all the other controversies), they don't deserve $3000 for this machine.
Which is a shame, because there is a lot to love about it.
You: Siri, let me know when the battery is about to go dead.
Siri: Sorry, I was not able to find anything on dead boats.
A rare misstep years ago. Now the we lose the ability to estimate battery life on ALL macbooks, not just the battery-affected thunderbolt versions. Thanks Tim and Stooges.
Last edited:
You have to admit the timing of this change is suspicious to say the least. And why was the estimate good enough for decades but now suddenly isn't?
This is exactly the sort of thing Apple should do if they want to incite criticism and foster disappointment from their users.
Don't return it. Update to the new 10.2.2 version and use it normally. Moderate loads should be in the 7-8h range. Light use should get you the estimated 10h. No cost to try.
Somebody might have pointed out what a courageous decision this is. If not, then what a very courageous decision this is. Well done Apple!
The optics of this are just horrible. They wait until there's widespread complaints to have the courage to remove it? Where's the courage to fix a bogus indicator?
Where's the courage to fix a bogus indicator?
Last edited:
C'mon, I've been using Apple laptops since the iBook G4, and the remaining time has always been fairly accurate. It's especially accurate if, say, I'm watching a movie that's using constant CPU & GPU & etc. Or I'm doing web browsing.
Of course it's inaccurate if I'm running Tensorflow or something, but Macs aren't for pros anymore, so it shouldn't matter!
Of course it's inaccurate if I'm running Tensorflow or something, but Macs aren't for pros anymore, so it shouldn't matter!
It's like a company getting too many customer complaints so they just take away the complaint box.
Yes, good riddance indeed. More information and options is always such a bother and brain strain. So much easier to gauge battery life by a cute icon or divining what the heck "% of battery life" means real world. /sarc.
1. Sure it's a first world problem -- computing is a first world device. It's what helps make allow people to do their work so they can earn money, buy food, shelter, and also play around too. We don't exist in a 3rd world so why would we complain about 3rd world issues? Just because some countries might need assistance in purifying their water doesn't negate the problems people in industrialized countries have. Heck it's those computers that help to solve 3rd world problems.
2. I've owned dozens of PowerBooks and MacBook Pros. The battery meters on them worked just fine. Not pin point accurate but good enough to let me know how much time I was good for. Maybe using the % works for you but I don't really see how if you don't know the max battery life in the first place. If the meter reads 50% is that 5 hours or 4 or 3?
To me THAT is not useful, especially when battery life varies so much in this model. Under your logic though since I don't find that metric useful Apple should get rid of that gauge too and not give customers any idea about battery life. It certainly would free them of meeting anyone's expectations.
Is it really that bizzaro that customers that buy flagship models from a premier computer maker have certain expectations based on claims made by that computer maker?
Personally I find it nuts that Apple thinks it can sweep this under the rug buy removing the "time remaining" element. But even more -- why the heck was something like this left to get to this point? The battery issue / time gauge was noted in many of the reviews but rather than fix it they just nix it. Sounds a bit lazy to me.
I get that the actual/current/floating number varies quite a lot. But at least the basic calculation works fine: what is in the tank diveded by the rate I am consuming what's in the tank. So I actually ran it down 3 times... I generally get around 800 km (I'm in Europe) on a full tank of gas, when I hit the reserve it tells me that I'm getting 100 km if I drive normally, falling to 70 km if I use it as a low flying jet. This is very precise, it'll go 1-5 km after that and it's over.
The basic calculation is still, how much minus rate of consumption. This number can go up and down depending on usage, as do the time on the battery indicator. Most people will get and understand that.
I get that the number is all over the place - my beef is with the way Apple fixes this. There is a point in measuring the current capacity inside the battery and at what rate you are draining the battery - this very easily translate into time remaining. You even have the added benefit of doing sort of a "eco mode gauge" this way. If this number is widely incorrect it's because Apple never bothered making it correct - not that this is virtually impossible to do so - that is my point. My Lenovo X1 does this every time I click the icon, my 2008 MBP could do this (never noticed this as a problem anyhoo), so what is the great challenge here? Did Apple all of a sudden get a myriad of calls regarding remaining battery time, and if they did why not just fix the root cause?
Thank you, and thanks to everyone that has quoted and replied to me, with the activity monitor trick, the terminal command, even those pointing to the iStat Menu and similar apps.
I'd like to say that I prefer to keep the Battery.menu file, on the System Library, and paste it when I install macOS 10.12.2, I think it's the best solution to keep the 'time remaining' on the system, like in previous versions.
More info here:http://osxdaily.com/2016/12/13/see-battery-life-remaining-macos-sierra/
Again, thank you everybody, you are a great community I'm proud of being part.
And before that they came from the Watch Band department.
Next Tim Cook will say the Russians hacked MacOS and removed the time remaining icon!