Need battery to discharge quickly - Tips?

[Melodeath]

I'm trying to calibrate the battery of my new MBP. I need to get the battery to fully discharge and sleep for five hours or more. What are some things I can do to get my battery to discharge more quickly? Do I need to tell the MBP to not go to sleep after 10 mins of non-use, or the battery might last through the night? Or is it just the display that sleeps? I'd like to be able to use my MBP in the morning, but I'd like to make sure I get at least the recommended 5 hours of dead battery.

Thanks

 

[GGJstudios]

I just turn on Caffeine and leave the screen brightness turned all the way up. You could also put a video on repeat in iTunes.

 

[Melodeath]

Thanks for that. Is it "dangerous" to leave Caffeine on though and have the MBP screen on (static) for over an hour with no screen saver?

 

[kousuke18]

Watch flash videos?

On a more serious note, you can have two terminal windows open and run the following command: "yes > /dev/null" in both. CPU usage should spike to 100% and should drain the battery pretty quickly.

 

[Eleventeen]

Throw a bunch of movies into Handbrake.

That or download and install Seti @ Home. Use your battery *and* search for ET.

 

[murdercitydevil]

I just calibrated my battery today, and here's what I did (had to do it quickly because I was leaving the house).
fired up movist with a playlist of a bunch of files.
opened photoshop, word, powerpoint.
opened itunes, let it play music in the background.
opened firefox with several tabs, the active tab displaying the menu screen of onslaught 2 (flash)
Ran vmware, did the same thing there (onslaught 2 flash)
Turned off graphics switching
screen brightness all the way up
key backlight all the way up
and for the final straw, opened Warcraft 3 and just let it sit there.

The battery went from 100% to absolutely dead in about an hour and a half.

 

[tdream]

I just calibrated my battery today, and here's what I did (had to do it quickly because I was leaving the house).
fired up movist with a playlist of a bunch of files.
opened photoshop, word, powerpoint.
opened itunes, let it play music in the background.
opened firefox with several tabs, the active tab displaying the menu screen of onslaught 2 (flash)
Ran vmware, did the same thing there (onslaught 2 flash)
Turned off graphics switching
screen brightness all the way up
key backlight all the way up
and for the final straw, opened Warcraft 3 and just let it sit there.

The battery went from 100% to absolutely dead in about an hour and a half.

Hahaha, now this is real world usage

 

[Jimmi1321]

When is the best time to start calibrating battery?

As soon as you get the new mac
or after a few day weeks normal usage?

And in the second case do you have to let the battery drain?
or you never have to let the battery drain?

 

[wandrer2]

I played Tales of Monkey Island, full brightness screen, keyboard backlight maximal. About 90 minutes to empty.

Oh, and unlike any Windows system I've seen, when I connected to power next morning, the game continued as if nothing happened!

 

[Chupa Chupa]

When is the best time to start calibrating battery?

As soon as you get the new mac
or after a few day weeks normal usage?

And in the second case do you have to let the battery drain?
or you never have to let the battery drain?

1) Charge your battery to 100% when you get your machine then let it drain.

2) Once you have calibrated it you can charge it whenever you like. The battery itself does not have "memory." You should recalibrate your battery every couple of months though. Apples says monthly, but seems like overkill to me.

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks for that. Is it "dangerous" to leave Caffeine on though and have the MBP screen on (static) for over an hour with no screen saver?

Not at all, unless you have a custom screen installed that was built in the 1970s.

When is the best time to start calibrating battery?
As soon as you get the new mac
or after a few day weeks normal usage?
And in the second case do you have to let the battery drain?
or you never have to let the battery drain?

If you read the instructions:

Calibrating a portable computer battery​

You'll read:

Calibrate your battery during the first week you own it, and then recalibrate it every two months. If you use your computer infrequently, it’s best to recalibrate it at least once a month.

And you'll also see the detailed instructions for calibrating.

1) Charge your battery to 100% when you get your machine then let it drain.

That's NOT calibrating. Read the instructions for the correct way to calibrate.

 

[Eleventeen]

I played Tales of Monkey Island, full brightness screen, keyboard backlight maximal. About 90 minutes to empty.

Oh, and unlike any Windows system I've seen, when I connected to power next morning, the game continued as if nothing happened!

Windows *will* do this with hibernation enabled but it's typically not set up correctly by OEM's on new machines, and to my knowledge, not enabled by default on retail/corporate installs of Windows. My disclaimer is that I haven't worked with Windows 7 installs that much yet, they could have changed this behavior.

 

[anarchron]

open up 4 tabs in terminal and type this in to each of them:

yes > /dev/null

 

[GGJstudios]

open up 4 tabs in terminal and type this in to each of them:

yes > /dev/null

That only puts a load on the CPU. If you add a load on the GPU (video), the optical drive and add activity on bus-powered drives, you'll drain it much faster.

 

[murdercitydevil]

I played Tales of Monkey Island, full brightness screen, keyboard backlight maximal. About 90 minutes to empty.

Oh, and unlike any Windows system I've seen, when I connected to power next morning, the game continued as if nothing happened!

same thing here, I was really impressed with that feature. Seems like a no-brainer, but only on a Mac have I seen this.

 

[admiraldennis]

run prime95

 

[Ferry]

Reviving an old thread, but I just replaced my MBP 15" mid-2009 battery, and I was looking for instructions on how to recalibrate it.

If you read the instructions:

Calibrating a portable computer battery​

You'll read:

Calibrate your battery during the first week you own it, and then recalibrate it every two months. If you use your computer infrequently, it’s best to recalibrate it at least once a month.

And you'll also see the detailed instructions for calibrating.

Looks like Apple has changed its mind since then. Now it recommends NOT to recalibrate MBP mid-2009 and other models batteries. Previous page has dissappeared and now in this one

Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance​

you can read:

Portables with built-in batteries

Current Apple portable computer batteries are pre-calibrated and do not require the calibration procedure outlined in this article. These computers use batteries that should be replaced only by an Apple Authorized Service Provider.

MacBook

MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009) and later

MacBook Air

MacBook Air (all models)

MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro with Retina display (all models)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009) and later
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009) and later
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) and later

Any explanation for this change?

Saluditos,

Ferrán.

 

[Atomic Walrus]

I'd speculate that the real reason for this change is that it was always a bad idea. The worst thing you can do to a lithium battery is drain it completely and let it stay that way.

I can't think that any small improvements in battery measurement accuracy are worth the impact following these procedures on a regular basis would have on the battery's lifespan.

 

[GGJstudios]

Reviving an old thread, but I just replaced my MBP 15" mid-2009 battery, and I was looking for instructions on how to recalibrate it.

Looks like Apple has changed its mind since then. Now it recommends NOT to recalibrate MBP mid-2009 and other models batteries

Apple didn't change its mind. User-removable batteries in older Apple notebooks should be calibrated. Apple likely removed the link because most notebooks in use today are likely to be the unibody models. Removal of the link doesn't change the fact that calibration still applies to those older models.

The built-in batteries in the newer Mac unibody notebooks come pre-calibrated and do not require regular calibration like the removable batteries in older Apple notebooks.

Remember that calibration only serves to keep battery readings more accurate, and does not improve or extend battery life.
The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[laserbeam273]

I'm trying to calibrate the battery of my new MBP. I need to get the battery to fully discharge and sleep for five hours or more. What are some things I can do to get my battery to discharge more quickly? Do I need to tell the MBP to not go to sleep after 10 mins of non-use, or the battery might last through the night? Or is it just the display that sleeps? I'd like to be able to use my MBP in the morning, but I'd like to make sure I get at least the recommended 5 hours of dead battery.

Thanks

Geekbench Stress Test and Cinebench? That's a bad day for your battery charge!

 

[Ferry]

Apple didn't change its mind. User-removable batteries in older Apple notebooks should be calibrated. Apple likely removed the link because most notebooks in use today are likely to be the unibody models. Removal of the link doesn't change the fact that calibration still applies to those older models.

Hummm… That doesn't seem to match with what you said in your previous post, where you were quoting from that page

Calibrate your battery during the first week you own it, and then recalibrate it every two months. If you use your computer infrequently, it’s best to recalibrate it at least once a month.

in an answer to Melodeath, and his original post is dated back in April 2010 -OSX v10.6 was the only available then, v10.7 was not available until Aug 2010-. The only page available then was that one, as a v10.6 Help page, and I know because I have been following these very directives myself -I own a mid-2009 MBP-. And the page has been active until June 2012, according to Internet Archive.

So, yes, it looks like Apple has changed its mind, and I would like to know why, if there's any technical reason.

Saluditos,

Ferrán.

 

[827538]

Take the bottom cover off, find an insulated piece of copper cable of about 12AWG, locate the anode and cathode, have fun sparking away.
;-)

As a number of people mentioned previously I don't believe you really need to calibrate, although I imagine it's a good idea on first use to fully charge the battery.

 

[Ferry]

Apple didn't change its mind.

ADDENDUM: Found it!

The link you can find in the FAQ you linked to, the same link I posted, is:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

You can find what it said back in July 22th 2011. It was changed just a week later -check dates in the documents themselves-. So yes, Apple changed its mind. Does that means that I have been mistreating my battery all these years, following what I thought were correct Apple directives?

Saluditos,

Ferrán.

 

[GGJstudios]

ADDENDUM: Found it!

The link you can find in the FAQ you linked to, the same link I posted, is:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

You can find what it said back in July 22th 2011. It was changed just a week later -check dates in the documents themselves-. So yes, Apple changed its mind. Does that means that I have been mistreating my battery all these years, following what I thought were correct Apple directives?

Saluditos,

Ferrán.

If you have an Apple notebook with a built-in battery, you do not need to calibrate that battery. If you have been calibrating it in the past, you can stop doing so. You haven't damaged your battery by calibrating it, but it is unnecessary for built-in batteries. Calibration only affects the accuracy of the battery readings, and not the battery health.

 

[Ferry]

If you have an Apple notebook with a built-in battery, you do not need to calibrate that battery. If you have been calibrating it in the past, you can stop doing so. You haven't damaged your battery by calibrating it, but it is unnecessary for built-in batteries. Calibration only affects the accuracy of the battery readings, and not the battery health.

Thanks for the info. Anyway, any idea on why they changed those directives?

Saluditos,

Ferrán.