indeed, this is the question. i'm wondering if the first machines of the new series (mine for sure, got it two days after they're out) have some internal problems...
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New MacBook Pro 8-hour Battery JOKE!
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indeed, this is the question. i'm wondering if the first machines of the new series (mine for sure, got it two days after they're out) have some internal problems...
It could be, but I don't think we can already talk about a first vs. second version. I think the current machines have all been manufactured together or belong to the same batch...but I could be wrong.
Slightly OT, I picked mine up yesterday btw, Comet store in Orpington (Kent), paid £1,399 instead of £1,499 with free Office 2008! Bring it on. Not a bad deal I reckon.
Right now the battery indicator says 77% remaining, 5:57.
I think it's the discrete graphic card the problem: when it kicks in (even just for Skype!) the battery halves...Keep on eye on which graphic card is in use...My 8 hours are with the Intel HD.
trust me, i'm checking the card with a specific programme and i'm always with the intel - but still, something more than 4 hours.
Last night I did write a report that took roughly 3 hrs, then watched an episode of Star-Trek (~45 min and this one enables the 330m), after i was done i had 52% left. I did run Adium in background too all the time.
If your would go out of juice after 4 hrs, then we definitely don't have the same hardware, or yours is broken in some way.
I notice people are complaining a lot about battery life, but all I can say is that mine is absolutely stunning.
Complain complain, just take it back or sell it on ebay and go buy your Sony Vaio then.
That's a pointless and ignorant reply. He bought a mac for the battery life, which it isn't providing.
There are a lot of complaints about the 15" and 17" battery life, as well as heat issues. I'm thinking there's something not jiving with the i-series processors and/or the 330m gpu.
I calibrated my battery when new, and once a month thereafter. 112 cycles and 10 months later, still at 100% health and still getting a looooooooong time out of my battery.
Calibration is hugely important, as is realistic expectations. I don't bring a charger to university, so if I know I'll be working on my MBP most of the day, I turn BT off, brightness down, close unnecessary apps and turn off wi-fi when I'm not using it for an extended period. I've never had cause to worry about the battery dying yet.
As for the poster who mentioned it's like buying a Ferrari then driving it at 50mph - poor analogy. It's like buying a Ferrari with a stated 10mpg, then driving it all day at it's maximum speed and wondering why you're getting 2mpg. The MBP *can* get 8 hours. It won't if you're not being frugal.
Calibration is hugely important, as is realistic expectations. I don't bring a charger to university, so if I know I'll be working on my MBP most of the day, I turn BT off, brightness down, close unnecessary apps and turn off wi-fi when I'm not using it for an extended period. I've never had cause to worry about the battery dying yet.
As for the poster who mentioned it's like buying a Ferrari then driving it at 50mph - poor analogy. It's like buying a Ferrari with a stated 10mpg, then driving it all day at it's maximum speed and wondering why you're getting 2mpg. The MBP *can* get 8 hours. It won't if you're not being frugal.
He tried it out and it didn't meet his needs. So take it back and buy your Sony, end of story.
Do we need group therapy here? Do all you women need to meet in a circle for some self help healing?
Seriously, I think some people need to lighten up or go take some prozak or somethinng.
I've been getting about 7 hours with light work, display at about 40% of full brightness... 15.4" display. And as I'm sure most of you know it's the display of any device that tends to draw the most from the battery...
That may be true for iPhones and iPads, I'm not sure, but it's not for the 15" Macbook Pro i7 2.2 I just got. System Profiler under Power will show you battery current draw. It's not too useful on AC, but running on battery it should be reliable. The current indicator (times voltage to get watts, or for a full battery which should always be about 12V) is certainly more useful to compare different people's computers with each other as it separates out any variations in battery capacity.
Anyway...
0% screen with nothing much running I see 720mA draw at about 12V from a full battery, 100% screen I get 944mA. That's nearly 3W, but less than 25% of the total power. That 3W, though, is enough to knock about two hours off the 0% screen run-time estimate from 9:30. FWIW, running world of warcraft or handbrake, I've seen the current go up to about 4000mA (~48W) and the battery life dip just below 2 hours. Reported capacity is 7017mAh after two calibrations. The computer presumably comes with a 85W adapter in order to be able to send the remainder to the battery for charging. Not sure what a low battery would get in charge current but 30-40W wouldn't surprise me (77Wh LiPo battery).
They say "up to", and that usually means just web browsing.
Wi-fi and bluetooth will drain more quickly.
Using Windows (especially via boot camp) will drain it as well.
Battery life is much more impressive on any MacBook I've used than a comparable PC laptop, so Apple is doing something right.
It's like driving - know when to slow, coast, accelerate, etc, and one can improve their MPG rating as well.
I didn't read the whole thread, but some of the issues users have mentioned are likely due to not calibrating the battery properly before use.
To calibrate a battery, charge it all the way up, then let it drain all the way down until the computer shuts down.
Do this process about once a month to maintain the battery.
In addition, do not leave the computer plugged in all the time. This does not allow the battery to "exercise," which will make readings inaccurate as well as decrease performance. However, just as bad is leaving the computer unplugged all the time. The best method is to find a good balance.
My 13" MBP lasts over 10 hours regularly with the screen dimmed to 50%, bluetooth turned off, and keeping muti-tasking to a minimum.
To calibrate a battery, charge it all the way up, then let it drain all the way down until the computer shuts down.
Do this process about once a month to maintain the battery.
In addition, do not leave the computer plugged in all the time. This does not allow the battery to "exercise," which will make readings inaccurate as well as decrease performance. However, just as bad is leaving the computer unplugged all the time. The best method is to find a good balance.
My 13" MBP lasts over 10 hours regularly with the screen dimmed to 50%, bluetooth turned off, and keeping muti-tasking to a minimum.
That's not how you calibrate a battery. Read the correct instructions in the following link. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:
In my opinion, the only way your going to see 8 hours is with wifi & bluetooth off and the screen almost maximum dimness and very low intensive task. Otherwise, 4 -6 hours is about right.
My Compaq laptop advertised 3 hour battery. I get typically 1.5 hours max. Practically all companies stretch the truth. I'm sure if I was really careful about what I was running I could get 3 hours out of it. I don't consider it a lie but more of a stretching of the truth. You may get that long out of your battery but don't expect to.
Anywhere from 4-6 hours seems to be normal for the Macbook Pro which is much better than most PCs. The new HP Envy I used only got around 2 hours. 4 hours doesn't sound bad at all. Next time you should read a few reviews before your purchase. They'll give you a real take on how long you should expect the battery to last.
Anywhere from 4-6 hours seems to be normal for the Macbook Pro which is much better than most PCs. The new HP Envy I used only got around 2 hours. 4 hours doesn't sound bad at all. Next time you should read a few reviews before your purchase. They'll give you a real take on how long you should expect the battery to last.
As I already told you in another thread, the built-in batteries in the newer Mac unibody notebooks come pre-calibrated and do not require regular calibration like the removable batteries.
My Macbook is supposed to be capable of getting about 5 hours out of a charge, according to Apple. And that's generally what I got out of it until fairly recently (the battery health is at about 80% now, so I get about 4 hours out of a charge these days).
I never found it particularly difficult to achieve Apple's numbers. For light work, it's usually just a matter of not having anything superfluous running, and if you're browsing the web, keeping Flash from loading. That, and keeping my screen brightness as low as possible (generally around 50%), bluetooth off, and muting the speakers if I can get away with it.
I never found it particularly difficult to achieve Apple's numbers. For light work, it's usually just a matter of not having anything superfluous running, and if you're browsing the web, keeping Flash from loading. That, and keeping my screen brightness as low as possible (generally around 50%), bluetooth off, and muting the speakers if I can get away with it.
recently got 5-6 hours with LOTS of flash video playing and plenty of open apps
most recently i used it on battery for 8+ hrs while doing light video playing and light app usage.
would have gotten another at least another 30+ minutes had i used gfxcardstatus
icloud was off both times
battery was dim, but it was late night, so it was going to be set to dim anyways
i'm really happy with the battery right now. I remember it being a bit worse than this when lion first came out
most recently i used it on battery for 8+ hrs while doing light video playing and light app usage.
would have gotten another at least another 30+ minutes had i used gfxcardstatus
icloud was off both times
battery was dim, but it was late night, so it was going to be set to dim anyways
i'm really happy with the battery right now. I remember it being a bit worse than this when lion first came out