New MacBook Pro Users Report Improved Battery Life on macOS 10.12.2

[MacRumors]

Apple released macOS 10.12.2 yesterday with stability improvements and fixes for several key bugs, including major graphics issues plaguing some late 2016 model MacBook Pro users.

What the changelog did not mention is that Apple also removed the "time remaining" battery life indicator following an increasing number of battery life complaints, likewise among new MacBook Pro users.

A new MacBook Pro on macOS 10.12.2 with a 99% charge and an estimated 9 hours and 21 minutes of battery life remaining​

What it may have also failed to mention is that macOS 10.12.2 appears to have led to battery life improvements for some users. A growing number of MacRumors forum members using the new MacBook Pro claim to be experiencing longer battery life after updating to macOS 10.12.2, despite experiencing less-than-desirable battery life while running macOS 10.2.1 just days earlier.

Many of the users using battery apps like coconutBattery have noticed their new MacBook Pro's battery is discharging with lower wattage, and if accurate, the lower power consumption would certainly lead to longer battery life.

MacRumors forum member lobo1978 -- edited slightly for clarity:

Ok it is official. macOS Sierra 10.12.2 fixed my battery. I am up back to 9-10 hours of regular use. Before updating, idle power consumption was not going lower than 6 watts. On macOS Sierra 10.12.2, it is now 10 hours with 70-75% brightness with the same workload (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on of course).

At least a dozen other users have reported similar results since yesterday after upgrading to macOS 10.12.2. Since publishing this article, a number of Reddit users have also confirmed seeing longer battery life.

While the user reports are worth acknowledging, they remain anecdotal and reflect only a small subset of new MacBook Pro users. It remains to be seen if Apple actually made battery life optimizations in the latest macOS Sierra update; if it did, however, Apple could be choosing to do so quietly as to not confirm that battery life issues were actually a problem for some users.

Apple officially says the new MacBook Pro is rated for up to 10 hours of battery life. Specifically, its tech specs page says all new 13-inch and 15-inch models are capable of up to 10 hours of wireless web browsing, up to 10 hours of iTunes movie playback, and up to 30 days of standby time on a single charge.

Following the release of macOS Sierra 10.12.2, Apple told The Loop that, after a lot of testing, it stands behind the 10-hour battery life advertised.

As more user reports surface, we should be able to see if the alleged battery life improvements are circumstantial or part of a larger trend.

Article Link: New MacBook Pro Users Report Improved Battery Life on macOS 10.12.2

 

[George Dawes]

They were holding it wrong !!!

 

[nikster0029]

What application is being used in that screenshot?

 

[Hustler1337]

So what was the need in removing the "Time Remaining" in the first place? Hopefully they bring it back.

 

[rlmcguire]

APPLE IS DOOMED!! TIM NEEDS TO GO! THIS COMPANY IS RIDICULOUS! ETC, ETC, ETC!

 

[4God]

How 'bout that graphics issue???

 

[deany]

I hate to be right! but I did say its was software related.
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...t-limited-battery-life.2019376/#post-24015820
Great news for a change, maybe apple are finally 'turning the corner'.

Warren Buffett doesn't panic as per usual.

 

[farewelwilliams]

you'll be amazed at how removing the time estimate creates a placebo for improved battery life

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Apple forgot to mention that CPU and GPU performance were cut by 50% in order to get longer battery life. 10.12.3 will remove the activity monitor so people won't be able to tell...

 

[chromite]

Get Timmy outta here.

 

[Brookzy]

Meanwhile engineers in Cupertino are spitting out their coffee in laughter at this because they changed nothing affecting power consumption...

#placeboeffect

 

[Zedcars]

They were holding it wrong !!!

Oh god - my sides are splitting from laughing so hard!

/s

 

[xmonkey]

No positive news allowed.

 

[Hustler1337]

Apple forgot to mention that CPU and GPU performance were cut by 50% in order to get longer battery life.

... and RAM has been throttled to 4GB and nowhere to be found in Activity Monitor

 

[Porco]

More than you would have got on Monday ... Remaining

Great news for everyone affected.

 

[jmgregory1]

you'll be amazed at how removing the time estimate creates a placebo for improved battery life

Not a placebo effect, the poor battery life was most obviously caused by the Estimated Time Remaining "bug". Get rid of the bug and problem solved...

 

[sniffies]

I guess removing "time remaining" did the trick. And I bet Tim and Phil are laughing their a$$e$ off right about now.

Never mind, right about now, Tim is sitting next to Peter Thiel at Trump Tower with a sad Pepe the Frog face on.

 

[Red Oak]

Stop ******** on Apple all the time MR posters. Apple employees are not stupid. Get some balance on how you view things..Gain some self control before you post

If this battery issue was in the Windows world, you'd be completely on your own. To those threatening to make the jump - go and good luck

 

[macintoshmac]

I am interested in knowing the name of the app in the screenshot too.

Edit: Figured it. The app is Battery Health 2.

 

[Rogifan]

So these users are lying? Or thinking they're getting something they're not. Because the time remaining indicator was totally accurate?

 

[djcerla]

And, best news of all, the sky isn't falling.

 

[ChrisCW11]

Lol, how would they know? I mean unless they are sitting their with a stopwatch it is all subjective. And now that Apple removed any time related battery life information, its even more subjective.

If you say that a laptop will last 3 hours but it dies after 1.5 then users will feel that the battery life doesn't last that long.

If you no longer show the laptop will last 3 hours and a user does 1.5 hours of work in blissful ignorance then it feels like it is lasting longer.

Time is all relative, especially when you don't know what time it is.

This was Apple's plan all along. Without any real evidence its all just circumstantial and the warped reality field Apple creates around its products is extended a little further.

 

[dannys1]

you'll be amazed at how removing the time estimate creates a placebo for improved battery life

Turns out the time estimate process was using a constant 5% of an Intel i7 processor just to continually update...

 

[oneMadRssn]

So what was the need in removing the "Time Remaining"?

It's just not an accurate estimate. You used to be able to set it to show that number all the time in the top bar, but Apple got rid of that a while ago.

Back before app nap and timer coalescing, the time remaining estimate was somewhat accurate because the usage was consistent. Now with those features, the CPU can go from using almost no power to used a lot of power and back again. It does this wildly depending on what the user is doing.

The time remaining estimate looks at current power usage to make the estimate. So if you are opening an app, the CPU is running at max power for a second, the time remaining estimate gets really low. Then the app finishes loading, the CPU goes back to using almost no power, the time remaining estimate gets really high.

Since the OS can't know what you will be using the computer for the future, it can't really give you an accurate estimate. Even if it just goes off of average usage over the past hour or so, the future estimate will be very inaccurate.

 

[mwb]

you'll be amazed at how removing the time estimate creates a placebo for improved battery life

Meanwhile engineers in Cupertino are spitting out their coffee in laughter at this because they changed nothing affecting power consumption...

#placeboeffect

CoconutBattery app is susceptible to the placebo effect? What amazing AI!