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New MacBook Pro Battery Problem

C

css136

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 10, 2008
51
0
I bought a new MacBook Pro 5 days ago and so far, the battery has only lasted ~2.5 hours when I have used it without a power source. For instance, right now the battery is at 93% capacity and I only have 1:52 remaining. For a while, I thought it might be because I was using the "normal" option, but even after switching it to the "Better Battery Life" option, it is still only at 1:52. System Info tells me that I have only gone through 5 cycles.

On Apple's website, I have read that the battery should last up to 5 hours. I didn't expect it to be completely accurate, but this seems ridiculous to me. Is there something I am doing wrong? Right now, I am not running any power-intensive applications. In fact, all I am running is wireless internet and Firefox (sorry Safari fans). I didn't do any configuration of the battery, but the manual that came with the laptop said I didn't need to.

Do I need to get my battery replaced, and if so, how do I do this? I absolutely need to have my computer with me for the next few weeks, so I cannot send it anywhere. Can I take it to the nearby Apple Store and get this resolved? Also, I don't want a replacement laptop because configuring this one for the work I do (installing programs, etc.) took a very long time. I don't have the time to go through that process again (I will be very busy for the next few weeks).

If anybody has any advice, I would really appreciate it. Other than this issue, my MacBook Pro has been fantastic. I absolutely love it.

P.S. I bought the lower-end model. A 15" screen, 2.4 GHz, 5400 rpm HDD, etc. Thanks!
 
I have the same computer as you, and mine lasts about 3 hours, depending on what I'm doing. 5 hours is under absolutely ideal conditions I would say. Try downloading iStat Pro widget or coconutBattery (Google). They tell you what your battery's health is as a percentage of its rated capacity. After just a few charge cycles, 98-99% health seems normal (based on my battery and from what I have read). There's loads of threads about this sort of thing.
 
5 hours is not on ideal conditions but rather on unrealistic condition, you achieve 5 hours if you turn on the machine and just look at it :D the battery can take a bit of time to get its full capacity, you should wait a bit more cycles and then see if it's better.
 
Turn down the screen to it's lowest setting, turn off the keyboard light, don't use the DVD drive, turn off bluetooth and wiFi, and don't run anything that requires a lot of cpu or disk I/O, and it will last pretty close to 5 hours.

The more of each of the above you use, the further from 5 hours you'll get out of the battery.
 
I got mine this week, and I've been very pleased with the battery life.

I have Bluetooth turned off, and the brightness set to the second-highest level, and yesterday I got over five hours of word processing and light wifi use.
 
Wow, thanks for the quick responses. This forum must be really active.

So 2-2.5 hours really is a realistic battery life? Normally, I would be using both of my processors and doing a lot of multitasking (I do a lot of computation). I imagine that in this scenario, the battery life really drops then.

I will download these utilities and wait a few more cycles. Thanks for the generous response!
 
css136 said:
Wow, thanks for the quick responses. This forum must be really active.

So 2-2.5 hours really is a realistic battery life? Normally, I would be using both of my processors and doing a lot of multitasking (I do a lot of computation). I imagine that in this scenario, the battery life really drops then.
Click to expand...

To fuel the fire...I am at Starbucks on T-Mobile watching campaign videos on CNBC - Listening to iTunes - Surfing Net and at 60% battery life I have 2:00 minutes remaining.

All of this on a OUTDATED 2.33 C2D w/ 4GB, furthermore, my battery health is at 87%.
 

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While we're on the subject a few tips that make a HUGE difference:

1) Adjust the screen brightness until white appears almost gray; your eyes will adjust.
2) Use this software to enable/disable widgets *
3) Avoid putting docs - software - anything but folders on your desktop **

* I place the Enable Icon on My Dock and the Disable is a Widget itself. Its very easy to transition the few times they are needed
** The processor is ALWAYS ready to open these files as they are placed on the Desktop; this readiness takes processor speed.
 
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