MBP 13"(2010) battery life not even close to 10 hours?

[pjny]

Not getting even close to 10 hours on MBP 13"(late 2010)
Hi,

I have a MBP 13" 2.4hz/OSX 10.6.6 purchased 14 weeks ago and I am not getting anywhere near the supposed 10-hour battery life. For example, I was browsing using google Chrome over a wi-fi connection at home for about 20-25 minutes, used Facetime app for 3 minutes, and then kept the laptop in sleep mode for about 5 hours. Screen brightness was half-way and keyboard backlight was at the lowest setting(one bar).

Battery % meter is now 76%.

Just want to see how many hours you are getting from:

1) web browsing using wi-fi card
2) web browsing using a mobile broadband card(& airport off)
3) processing image files using applications like Adobe Lightroom

I usually get about 3-5 hours browsing the web using wi-fi or aircard.

I was surprised that the battery drain using wi-fi and a verizon mobile broadband card(USB760) were quite similar. My broadband card usually killed the battery faster on older Dell laptop.

Coconut battery app states I have completed 25 battery load cycles and current max charge now is 5589mah out of 5770maH design capacity.

This report has similar numbers from April 2010.

http://www.cultofmac.com/macworlds-1...ur-hours/39634

Do your numbers compare?

I was hoping I wouldn't have to carry a charger in my bag. I ran down the battery this month to about 10% as suggested by Apple.

 

[Mik3F]

I can get around 8 hours use out of mine. I have the Screen brightness set to around 1/3rd and the keyboard backlight turns off after 1 min of inactivity.

This decreases depending on what I am doing, watching Movies etc

 

[adnoh]

i have a white Mb with the same spec as you, browsing on wireless with 3 bars brightness i get around the quoted 10 hours.

 

[ddoolin0]

Make sure to turn off the backlighting on the keyboard when it's not night. That thing is a real power drain.

One bar or not, its still emitting energy...

 

[Sirolway]

I had the same issue when I first got my 2009 13" MBP, until I realised that I had Carbonite on it that was running all the time, draining the battery.

I started 'pausing' Carbonite & hello long battery life

I've now removed Carbonite & installed it on a home machine

 

[jetblk328i]

I got 9.5 a couple of times, then again I was working on the lowest screen brightness, no backlit keyboard and surfing non flash sites intermittently while typing a paper. I say 10 can be done

 

[pjny]

I noticed that the power drain from 100% full charge is pretty fast. Literally like 1% depleting every 1-2 minutes.

I'll keep backlighting off and see if that makes a big difference.

i have a white Mb with the same spec as you, browsing on wireless with 3 bars brightness i get around the quoted 10 hours.

 

[mikeo007]

Same machine as you. The ONLY way to get the advertised 10 hours is to turn the backlight right down, use safari, visit sites with little to no flash/HTML 5 content, and let it sit idle a lot.

Realistic usage at minimum brightness is about 6-7 hours, and at high brightness, you will be under 5 hours.

 

[pjny]

OK, thanks. I just switched to Mac after 20 years on PC. I was expecting a machine I can use for a whole day(4-5 hours) processing RAW photos and browsing.

The last time I checked I got down to about 60% battery power processing and ftp'ing 30 12megapixel RAW images using Adobe Lightroom in about 30-40 minutes. The RAW files were processed to 2MB JPGS and transmitted over a Novatel USB760 aircard.

I suppose it's better than the Dells that had about 2-3 hours working time.

Same machine as you. The ONLY way to get the advertised 10 hours is to turn the backlight right down, use safari, visit sites with little to no flash/HTML 5 content, and let it sit idle a lot.

Realistic usage at minimum brightness is about 6-7 hours, and at high brightness, you will be under 5 hours.

 

[mikeo007]

Yup, Apple's battery saving techniques only really work when the machine is able to conserve power somewhere. When its idling, the battery can last for a long time, but when you've got a load on the processor, you're not going to get more than 2-3 hours tops.

Remember, MBPs use the same batteries and the same components as in other computers, the only difference is OSX. Everything draws the same amount of power, regardless of system, so shutting things down/under-powering is the only way to achieve more power savings. That being said though, Windows is getting closer, thanks in large part to manufacturers adopting more standardized power saving techniques.