MBP 5,3 insufficient battery life

[daver.cl]

Hey folks,

I'm using a relatively new macbook pro here, and I'm only getting maybe 3-4 hours of battery life... closer to 3.

isn't this thing supposed to get more like 6 or 7? i've got wifi off, bluetooth off, screen dimmed, and the inferior graphics card running. just chatting on AIM and browsing the web right now... nothing too intense.

what do you think is going on? thanks!

 

[miles01110]

It's supposed to get "Up to" 6 or 7. Your mileage may vary.

 

[GGJstudios]

Calibrating a portable computer battery
About Apple Notebook batteries

 

[daver.cl]

Well right now I'm getting up to half the advertised battery life. All I wanted to know was if this was normal, or if it's a cause for concern.

I appreciate the links... I 'calibrated' yesterday. Purely by accident, because I expected it to last through a short workday without the brick and it died before lunch

 

[GGJstudios]

Well right now I'm getting up to half the advertised battery life. All I wanted to know was if this was normal, or if it's a cause for concern.

I appreciate the links... I 'calibrated' yesterday. Purely by accident, because I expected it to last through a short workday without the brick and it died before lunch

Just running the battery down isn't calibrating. Did you actually calibrate, or did you just let the battery die? There's a difference, as shown in the link I provided. Calibrating is a deliberate process, not something done "by accident."

 

[daver.cl]

Just running the battery down isn't calibrating. Did you actually calibrate, or did you just let the battery die? There's a difference, as shown in the link I provided. Calibrating is a deliberate process, not something done "by accident."

Yep. Here's how it went down:

Got into work around 9, laptop has previously been plugged in all night.
Used it until around 12 when it died.
Got home at 7, plugged it in. Fully charged and plugged in all night.

Did I miss a step there? I'm a 'macrumors newbie', not an idiot. I've learned to not expect much from battery life claims, but I can't speak for everyone. I really just want to know how much battery life I should expect, and whether 3ish hours is reason for concern or not.

Thanks.

 

[GGJstudios]

Did I miss a step there? I'm a 'macrumors newbie', not an idiot. I've learned to not expect much from battery life claims, but I can't speak for everyone. I really just want to know how much battery life I should expect, and whether 3ish hours is reason for concern or not.

Thanks.

No, you didn't miss a step. As you can imagine, many believe they've calibrated when they've simply let the battery die, then they plug it in right away. That's why I asked. As for the 3ish hour battery life, I would think that's low, if you have the new unremovable battery. I get 3+ hours out of my Early 2008 MBP with the removable battery. I would hope the built-in batteries would get much more than that. I'd call AppleCare and have them check it out to see if it's defective.

 

[Esquare]

I really just want to know how much battery life I should expect, and whether 3ish hours is reason for concern or not.

It all depends on what you were doing. Just word processing? In that case, you should be worried. Heavily hitting Flash-sites? That's another matter.

 

[daver.cl]

Like I said, today I'm doing email, IM, and some ms office. When I'm working on a poster or something in photoshop or modeling in Maya I expect the 2-3 hours, but I think this is just a little ridiculous.

Maybe I'll give AppleCare a call if I keep experiencing problems. Battery problems are impossible... I know they're just going to tell me that's 'how it is'.

Oh well.

 

[Pax]

Look in System Profiler under "Power", ideally post that page on here either the text or a screenshot. In particular there's some stuff about battery condition and capacity that's useful.

Also look in Activity Monitor when your computer is idle - your CPU should be down at the 1-5% level, if it's not there might be a rogue process eating battery.