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MBP Aluminum 2:50 Battery Life?

Hawkeye411

Hawkeye411

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 6, 2007
1,833
12
Canada EH!!!
Hello,

I have a new 15" MBP Aluminum. It's the 2.53 GHz with a 320GB 7200 HD.

I don't seem to be getting very good battery life. I just unplugged the power cord and it estimates 2:50. I only have Safari and Mail running. I am connected over WiFi and Bluetooth is turned on. The screen brightness is at the lowest setting. I am running in Power Saver mode with the lower powered video card. I conditioned my battery when I first got it.

Here is what iStat provides:
Cycles 8
Health 100%
99%, 2:50 remaining.

Here is the Power information from the System Profiler.

Model Information:
Serial Number: SMP-xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Manufacturer: SMP
Device name: bq20z951
Pack Lot Code: 0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 002a
Hardware Revision: 000a
Cell Revision: 0100
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4282
Fully charged: No
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4643
Health Information:
Cycle count: 8
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1571
Voltage (mV): 12094


The other day, I unplugged the MBP and took it to work. I only turned it on when I was teaching. I used the mini adapter to connect the MBP to the projector. After I taught, I closed the lid and when I got home the power was down to 10%.!! So I was only able to get about 1.5 hours out of it for the day. The screen was on full brightness when I was teaching however.

Are other getting less than 3hrs battery life? Does this sound about right? Any suggestions?

Cheers.
 
Sounds like it isn't sleeping correctly maybe?

Also what did you use it for while on battery power "teaching" doesn't say what apps, what sort of load, etc..

1.5 hours is pretty low, when I'm on battery I turn off the backlit keyboard, put the display as low as possible, and close it whenever I'm not typing (note taking) and I've gotten just under 4 and a half hours from that (with 21% remaining charge when getting home).
 
I have the same laptop as you and currently running off battery power. I have 65% battery and my estimated life left is 3 hours 22 minutes.

Maybe you have some settings different or possibly a bad battery.

The other day, my highest estimated time started at 6 hours 19 minutes starting from a full charge. It did not last that long as I got just over 4 and half hours on it.
 
did you turn off bluetooth when you put it to sleep? it might be the reason why it keeps waking up in sleep and also are you using the high performance video card? The only time I get less than 3 hours is when I used the high performance setting with wifi. Otherwise I get 5 to 5.5 hours with lowest screen setting and wifi on.
 
2.5 hours sounds about right honestly. I have a 2.53Ghz 320GB configuration too, I get 3 Hours if im not doing much with the brightness turned down and slightly over 2 at full brightness.

The "old" 2.4Ghz macbook pro i had previously was about the same as well.
 
I'm getting similar battery life to you after a full charge... I haven't been able to get over two and a half hours off a full charge yet with similar use :(

I've calibrated it twice since I got it and it's not getting better... I'm annoyed haha
 
That's quite a difference. I am going to try to cycle the battery completely and then get a new reading. Then I will try to determine the actual battery life I am getting. If it's not close to yours I guess I will have to take it in to get serviced.
 
Also, here are my power specs :

Manufacturer: SMP
Device name: bq20z951
Pack Lot Code: 0000
PCB Lot Code: 0000
Firmware Version: 002a
Hardware Revision: 000a
Cell Revision: 0100
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh): 4683
Fully charged: Yes
Charging: No
Full charge capacity (mAh): 4723
Health Information:
Cycle count: 20
Condition: Good
Battery Installed: Yes
Amperage (mA): -1177
Voltage (mV): 12317
 
David N said:
I'm getting similar battery life to you after a full charge... I haven't been able to get over two and a half hours off a full charge yet with similar use :(

I've calibrated it twice since I got it and it's not getting better... I'm annoyed haha
Click to expand...

OH .. that's not good news. I'll still give it one more chance before returning it.

Cheers.
 
Are you guys serious? I used to get 3 1/2 hours with everything off when I first got my (early 07) MBP, I still get 2:50 now, with very light usage.
 
I'm an Idiot

And it takes quite a person to admit it!! :D

I just double checked and the Power Saver was set to Higher Performance. I just changed it to Better Battery Life and iStat says 80% with 3:20 remaining.

I noticed that Thunder82 listed the power consumption as Amperage (mA): -1177 and mine was Amperage (mA): -1571 which was quite a bit higher so I double checked the Power Settings and realized my mistake.

I'm not even sure now what setting I was using when I was teaching the other day.

SORRY for wasting everyones time!! I'm willing to bet that I make the same mistake in the not-to-distant-future and run out of battery life.

I'll post my battery information after I recharge in case anyone is interested in the battery life differences for each video card.

Cheers.
 
When I am under the "better battery life" and using it to take notes in lecture (no backlit keyboard, lowest screen brightness, bluetooth off) I can get 4-5 hours of battery life.

However when I leave higher performance on, I get what you a getting (2.5 hours predicted but I suppose it is a little closer 3 or 3.5 as it does not decrease at a constant rate.

edit: Oh I didn't read your last post. Glad you have figured things out.
 
Glad you figured it out -- I'll just post my stats for comparison.

- 9400M
- Bluetooth off
- Wifi off
- Screen on lowest brightness
- Powerpoint/Acrobat open, constantly typing

I've been seeing right around 5 hours on these settings. If I turn Wifi on from the beginning it goes down around half an hour or so.

--mAc
 
FYI ... After a full recharge it iStat says 100%, 4:42 remaining. This is with the correct Energy Saver setting (i.e. Better Battery Life), the screen on the lowest brightness setting, using WiFi and Bluetooth and Safari and Mail running.

Cheers.
 
Hm, I'm down on 78% now, and it says I have 2h17m left.

This is with bluetooth and wifi enabled
and Mail, Firefox, Colloquy, iTunes, Adium and Vuze running.

Backlight is turned down with 4 notches
and better battery life is enabled aswell
 
Do not be too concerned with 2.5 hours, the damn battery indicator reminds me of a random number generator at times. sometimes i have 25% battery life, and then suddenly it jumps to 40%. You might want to fully charge it and have it run some low intensity task, while you record the actual time using a watch to give you an indicator.

And if you expect to get the times that apple advertises...Good luck....i myself would love to know how they got those, so do not be concerned if your laptop battery is not living upto the marketing :) .
 
Hello all. I have a battery issue, and this thread seemed like the best place to post. I have a 2.33 C2D MBP and maybe 8 months after I purchased the computer the battery was draining quickly. I called Apple, we did the diagnostics, and they sent me a new one. Below are the stats of the replacement battery that I have had for a little over a year. I really noticed it yesterday morning. I was typing a word document with wireless on, but Safari was closed, and by battery went from 100% down to about 20% in just under an hour. I do have AppleCare. Do you think they would replace it again if I called in?

Thanks!

Picture1.jpg
 
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