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MBP 13 TB with 2:50 battery life

R

RachelClark

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 20, 2016
10
2
Alright, so after reading all the fuzz around the lack of strong battery life, especially on the 13 TB model, I decided to go and check by myself in store.

Surprisingly not a lot of people where on the computers and I managed to do a test on two 13" TB models (didn't check the exact spec though).

Process:
  1. Shut down all applications
  2. Waited 5 minutes
  3. Removed the charing cable
  4. Waited for the estimated time to appear
The first test with one of the computer showed 2:54 of battery life, although
  • The battery was fully charged
  • I've waited some time to make sure the estimate is not biaised by any time consuming application
  • No one was using the computer in the last 10 minutes before the test
  • Tried to check the heat of the computer to make sure it's not been overused
Result below:

upload_2016-11-20_18-41-33.png


Strange things, I don't know why it says that the terminal is consuming energy.

The second 13" TB for which I did the test showed 4:40 battery life.

This is getting seriously crazy and I wonder if anyone is wondering about a possible class action. Receiving mine tomorrow and already thinking about how we got scamed.
 

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Just because you shut down any apps loaded from applications, that doesn't mean that all of the app processes were shut down, much less hidden system processes.

Under what legal pretext would you file a class action suit? Apple states that both Macs are estimated to 10 hours of battery life. That doesn't mean you, me, or anyone else with touch bar will get 10 hours.

Some members here are getting 6-.5 - 9 hours of usage while many others are getting 6.5 and less. There are a lot of variables involved.

I don't know if there is a battery hardware problem or not. I am inclined to believe (at this point) that the problem is software related. I believe it is a little too early to be thinking Apple conspiracy.
 
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Reactions: tjleonard
The only duration that is relevant is how long the battery actually lasts on one charge - not that computed value that shows only "I'm just guessing here, but if you unplugged and used me until the battery runs down, you might get 2 hours 54 minutes"
Are you going to stand there and wait for nearly 3 hours, just to find out that it might be another 2 or 3 hours?
Unless you actually allow the battery to run down to nothing, you have no idea how long the battery lasts in real life.
The on-screen value is just an estimate, and nothing that you could use to base a class action.

Actual use is your key, eh?
 
RachelClark said:
Alright, so after reading all the fuzz around the lack of strong battery life, especially on the 13 TB model, I decided to go and check by myself in store.

Surprisingly not a lot of people where on the computers and I managed to do a test on two 13" TB models (didn't check the exact spec though).

Process:
  1. Shut down all applications
  2. Waited 5 minutes
  3. Removed the charing cable
  4. Waited for the estimated time to appear
The first test with one of the computer showed 2:54 of battery life, although
  • The battery was fully charged
  • I've waited some time to make sure the estimate is not biaised by any time consuming application
  • No one was using the computer in the last 10 minutes before the test
  • Tried to check the heat of the computer to make sure it's not been overused
Result below:

View attachment 673724

Strange things, I don't know why it says that the terminal is consuming energy.

The second 13" TB for which I did the test showed 4:40 battery life.

This is getting seriously crazy and I wonder if anyone is wondering about a possible class action. Receiving mine tomorrow and already thinking about how we got scamed.
Click to expand...

Did you try the SMC reset? Try that and then just use your computer for a day a couple days and see what the battery life is like.

Also you need to see what the ACTUAL battery life is, not just going by what the battery life estimate shows. The estimate is too erratic. This could be because the computer is simply new and hasn't had time to create an accurate estimate, or its under heavier loads due to first setup issues. It could even be that MacOS needs an update or two to fix some bugs with how it calculates.

I've heard from others that the Skylake chip is much more aggressive the way it ramps up and down power that might make it more difficult to provide an accurate battery life estimate.

Anyway at the least, your 'I left my MBP alone for 10 minutes and the battery estimate meter didn't say 10 hours of life left' doesn't really pass the muster for a class action.
 
RachelClark said:
Alright, so after reading all the fuzz around the lack of strong battery life, especially on the 13 TB model, I decided to go and check by myself in store.

Surprisingly not a lot of people where on the computers and I managed to do a test on two 13" TB models (didn't check the exact spec though).

Process:
  1. Shut down all applications
  2. Waited 5 minutes
  3. Removed the charing cable
  4. Waited for the estimated time to appear
The first test with one of the computer showed 2:54 of battery life, although
  • The battery was fully charged
  • I've waited some time to make sure the estimate is not biaised by any time consuming application
  • No one was using the computer in the last 10 minutes before the test
  • Tried to check the heat of the computer to make sure it's not been overused
Result below:

View attachment 673724

Strange things, I don't know why it says that the terminal is consuming energy.

The second 13" TB for which I did the test showed 4:40 battery life.

This is getting seriously crazy and I wonder if anyone is wondering about a possible class action. Receiving mine tomorrow and already thinking about how we got scamed.
Click to expand...
A class action after less than a week?
[doublepost=1479698226][/doublepost]
Rkuda said:
Did you try the SMC reset? Try that and then just use your computer for a day a couple days and see what the battery life is like.

Also you need to see what the ACTUAL battery life is, not just going by what the battery life estimate shows. The estimate is too erratic. This could be because the computer is simply new and hasn't had time to create an accurate estimate, or its under heavier loads due to first setup issues. It could even be that MacOS needs an update or two to fix some bugs with how it calculates.

I've heard from others that the Skylake chip is much more aggressive the way it ramps up and down power that might make it more difficult to provide an accurate battery life estimate.

Anyway at the least, your 'I left my MBP alone for 10 minutes and the battery estimate meter didn't say 10 hours of life left' doesn't really pass the muster for a class action.
Click to expand...

He was looking at them in the store, not one he bought :(
 
You're already thinking about people bringing suit and you haven't even gotten yours yet? My 13" tbMBP is at 55% battery and says it has more than five hours left of battery life. Just wait and see how yours is with your normal usage, don't get stressed out over something you don't even have yet.
 
midtrains said:
You're already thinking about people bringing suit and you haven't even gotten yours yet? My 13" tbMBP is at 55% battery and says it has more than five hours left of battery life. Just wait and see how yours is with your normal usage, don't get stressed out over something you don't even have yet.
Click to expand...

Can you send me a screenshot of your activity monitor? I'm curious at how i'm on the opposite side of the fence here :(

Which processor / ram do you have?
 
I'd do two things. Reset the SMC then charge the battery to full, take the computer off the charger, and use it until it shuts down. Just like occasionally on iOS, I think the Mac need a cycle to calibrate the battery meter.
 
I just returned my non toucbar MBp for one that has the touch bar. In both cases out of the box the battery had a charge of just under 100%. During the initial set up on each one I downloaded fresh apps and all my data is in either iCloud or One Drive. I downloaded all the apps I wanted from the App Store, tested them all and downloaded some Music a movie or two and some television episodes. The battery lasted about 5 hours.

With all the downloading and testing I didn't think anything of it.

I then fully charged the battery and with the non touch bar model I started seeing battery times increasing with each new charge. I let the batteries go down to anywhere from 2-7% before plugging it back in. With each charge the battery time increased. I am doing the same thing with the touch bar model and seeing the same results thus far, but I have only had it for about 36 hours at this point. I don't anticipate any differences with this model over the one I returned.

The reason I returned it was mainly I loved the non touch model so much I had to have the touch bar model. As long as I had the extra cash I decided to do it since I only had a few days left on the return policy. I do not regret at all. The touch bar has a lot of potential, and I love it so far. As far as the overall machine goes it does seem a tad bit quicker but having the extra ports and stronger processor are winners for me,
 
ScottNWDW said:
I just returned my non toucbar MBp for one that has the touch bar. In both cases out of the box the battery had a charge of just under 100%. During the initial set up on each one I downloaded fresh apps and all my data is in either iCloud or One Drive. I downloaded all the apps I wanted from the App Store, tested them all and downloaded some Music a movie or two and some television episodes. The battery lasted about 5 hours.

With all the downloading and testing I didn't think anything of it.

I then fully charged the battery and with the non touch bar model I started seeing battery times increasing with each new charge. I let the batteries go down to anywhere from 2-7% before plugging it back in. With each charge the battery time increased. I am doing the same thing with the touch bar model and seeing the same results thus far, but I have only had it for about 36 hours at this point. I don't anticipate any differences with this model over the one I returned.

The reason I returned it was mainly I loved the non touch model so much I had to have the touch bar model. As long as I had the extra cash I decided to do it since I only had a few days left on the return policy. I do not regret at all. The touch bar has a lot of potential, and I love it so far. As far as the overall machine goes it does seem a tad bit quicker but having the extra ports and stronger processor are winners for me,
Click to expand...
How long is your battery up to?

I am thinking about wiping mine and installing everything manually instead of migration assistant.
 
I had purchased the 13" TB with i7, 16GB and 512GB SSD yesterday and I got terrible battery life--4.5 hours going from 100% to 5%. It also ran weirdly hot. It was uncomfortable to hold on my lap just surfing the web. This morning after charging all night and doing an SMC reset, it still said my remaining battery time was barely 6 hours (like 6:03 remaining with nothing running and plenty of time to equalize.) At that point, I did some soul searching and I realized that I didn't really need that much power in my laptop for the things I use my laptop for--I was using a 12" MacBook before this and it worked great for what I did (I want the extra ports, bigger screen, TB and the new speakers)--and so I returned it early this afternoon to my Apple Store and got the base model with TB.

After all the setup time to install the latest Dev build of Sierra, restoring of my apps and data, then doing its first TM backup to my Time Capsule drive, I am now using it on battery. As of now, it is running way cooler then the high-end model and the battery time remaining is fluctuating between 7:45 and 8:00 hours. Still not the advertised 10 hours, but way better than yesterday. I'm going to try an SMC reset in the morning after another night of charging. Perhaps that will improve things a little more.
 
For the past 2 hours I have been browsing various hotel booking web sites and listening to youtube in the background. And right now, my 13" TB is showing 6:54 Remaining.

Not bad really.
 
So Apple is advertising battery life as 10hrs, but most people are getting around 6.5 hrs.

How much were they getting on the 2015 model? I heard it was complete 10hrs.
 
Since 8:00am, I have been reading Facebook, macrumors and checking on my day in Mac Informant as well as other websites, and right now my battery level is 95% and 10.16 hours remaining. I am sure this is based on what my current activity is. Not running any other apps except Mac Informant and Safari. I suppose when I get to other apps that may affect the battery.
 
Screen brightness, keyboard backlight and wifi strength are all big factors in addition to the program your using.

Yesterday, I was able to get just over 5 hours while using Unity 3D and Maya, both of which are very power hungry and graphics demanding programs. If I'm just browsing on safari and and using notes, at 70% brightness, I can get 8-10 hours.

The good news is that all of this battery talk has surely got apples attention. Maybe we'll see a Mac OS update that helps extend battery life a bit.
 
terminator-jq said:
Screen brightness, keyboard backlight and wifi strength are all big factors in addition to the program your using.

Yesterday, I was able to get just over 5 hours while using Unity 3D and Maya, both of which are very power hungry and graphics demanding programs. If I'm just browsing on safari and and using notes, at 70% brightness, I can get 8-10 hours.

The good news is that all of this battery talk has surely got apples attention. Maybe we'll see a Mac OS update that helps extend battery life a bit.
Click to expand...


which model are you on? And what makes you think we have apples attention?
 
skids929 said:
which model are you on? And what makes you think we have apples attention?
Click to expand...

Base 13" with Touchbar.

A large majority of reviewers have commented on low battery life so I'm sure the higher ups at Apple have taken notice and will do what they can to get people the 10 hour average that they promised.

With all of the controversy surrounding these new MacBook Pros, the last thing Apple needs is being accused of false advertising.
 
I think what everyone is missing here is that there is NO guarantee that you will get 10 hours of battery life. The ads all state UP TO 10 hours of battery life and there is also a disclaimer that states it depends on usage. I am sitting here and my 13" MacBook Pro with Touchbar 512gb has been on battery power for 3.5 hours already. I am using an app called Owly to stop it from sleeping. Screen brightness is about 70% bright and sound about 25%. I have been using. few apps and Safari with 5 tabs open. Apps have included Mac Informant, OmniFocus, Calendar, Excel, Pages, Quicken 2017 and Chronicle. At this moment battery level is 63% which for 3.5 hours is pretty good and on track for 9-10 hours. When I click on the battery indicator and it states there is 9.08 hours remaining. Do I honestly think it will last that much longer, no, but I do believe at this point that I will get at the very least 9.5 hours total, which to me is great. I also believe you should run the battery down to 2% or less and then recharge it fully and give the machine a few battery cycles before judging. Did I get 10 hours right ou of the box, no and I didn't expect it. The computer was working harder downloading and installing my apps, documents, photos, music, video etc. as well as starting and testing apps so it was working harder. The harder you make the processor work, the less time your battery will work. It's called common sense people. The more intense the app your using the more power it will use up. Just like the mileage on a car, when you do a lot of highway driving, which is easier on the cars engine, the farther you will get on a tank of gas. The more city driving you do the less distance that tank will take you. That's why when you see mileage quotes there is always a city and highway estimate and the city estimate is always lower, again that word estimate.
 
Last edited:
terminator-jq said:
Base 13" with Touchbar.

A large majority of reviewers have commented on low battery life so I'm sure the higher ups at Apple have taken notice and will do what they can to get people the 10 hour average that they promised.

With all of the controversy surrounding these new MacBook Pros, the last thing Apple needs is being accused of false advertising.
Click to expand...


First I disagree that they are paying attention to reviews. I think most of this information would be channeled in through stores to Apple or from feedback on the website. Lastly Apple never promised 10 hours, they say up to. What I would like to see is how they established this 10 hours and how they actually got it. They owe us at least that.

sad to say but this is probably what we are going to get, and I would caution having high expectations that a Sierra update will get you an hour or more of additional battery life. Maybe, it's possible I guess but I am doubtful on that.
 
Last edited:
tjleonard said:
Can you send me a screenshot of your activity monitor? I'm curious at how i'm on the opposite side of the fence here :(

Which processor / ram do you have?
Click to expand...

http://imgur.com/a/7l373

Here it is at 55% this evening after using it for most of the day. I have the i7 processor/16gb ram. I also keep my screen brightness low and the keyboard lights off, not sure if that helps much. How long have you had yours? It may take a few days until it's done indexing!
 
happyslayer said:
I had purchased the 13" TB with i7, 16GB and 512GB SSD yesterday and I got terrible battery life--4.5 hours going from 100% to 5%. It also ran weirdly hot. It was uncomfortable to hold on my lap just surfing the web. This morning after charging all night and doing an SMC reset, it still said my remaining battery time was barely 6 hours (like 6:03 remaining with nothing running and plenty of time to equalize.) At that point, I did some soul searching and I realized that I didn't really need that much power in my laptop for the things I use my laptop for--I was using a 12" MacBook before this and it worked great for what I did (I want the extra ports, bigger screen, TB and the new speakers)--and so I returned it early this afternoon to my Apple Store and got the base model with TB.

After all the setup time to install the latest Dev build of Sierra, restoring of my apps and data, then doing its first TM backup to my Time Capsule drive, I am now using it on battery. As of now, it is running way cooler then the high-end model and the battery time remaining is fluctuating between 7:45 and 8:00 hours. Still not the advertised 10 hours, but way better than yesterday. I'm going to try an SMC reset in the morning after another night of charging. Perhaps that will improve things a little more.
Click to expand...
Apple states "up to" 10 hours. That does not mean that you will get 10 hours with your usage.
Also, running a beta build can drain your battery faster.
[doublepost=1479775392][/doublepost]
midtrains said:
http://imgur.com/a/7l373

Here it is at 55% this evening after using it for most of the day. I have the i7 processor/16gb ram. I also keep my screen brightness low and the keyboard lights off, not sure if that helps much. How long have you had yours? It may take a few days until it's done indexing!
Click to expand...
Take days to index, when the machine has PCI SSD? That doesn't sound right.
 
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