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New MB (7,1) 10 Hour Battery Claims...

FWW

FWW

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 29, 2010
202
2
Anchorage, AK
Anyone know what this number is based on? I charged my new MB to 100%, unplugged it and it is showing an estimate of time ranging from 2:31 to 4:10. Was idle, running nothing when it showed 4:10 and transferring files off a USB external when showing 2:31. Both cases with full screen brightness.

Would this claim be based on max battery saving settings? You would think a battery life claim would at least be based on continuous use (not sleeping the display or OS)...
 
FWW said:
Anyone know what this number is based on? I charged my new MB to 100%, unplugged it and it is showing an estimate of time ranging from 2:31 to 4:10. Was idle, running nothing when it showed 4:10 and transferring files off a USB external when showing 2:31. Both cases with full screen brightness.
Click to expand...

Thats your problem right there...
 
NT1440 said:
Thats your problem right there...
Click to expand...

I cant help it, I'm on the deck taking in the beautiful sun (and an I.V. of Red Hook Copper Ale)

You think thats what it's coming down to? I'll have to charge it up later tonight and try with it set at the default battery screen brightness...
 
FWW said:
I cant help it, I'm on the deck taking in the beautiful sun (and an IV or Red Hook Copper Ale)

You think thats what it's coming down to? I'll have to charge it up later tonight and try with it set at the default battery screen brightness...
Click to expand...

The screen is by far the biggest drain on the battery unless ur burning dvds or converting stuff.
 
keep us posted on how long the battery life lasts.

battery life is one of the positive from the updated macbook, we like to hear from actual use and how long it lasts ...

thanks!
 
FWW said:
Anyone know what this number is based on? I charged my new MB to 100%, unplugged it and it is showing an estimate of time ranging from 2:31 to 4:10. Was idle, running nothing when it showed 4:10 and transferring files off a USB external when showing 2:31. Both cases with full screen brightness.

Would this claim be based on max battery saving settings? You would think a battery life claim would at least be based on continuous use (not sleeping the display or OS)...
Click to expand...

You'll need to calibrate the battery a couple of times.

~10 hours is tough to do even with an ultra low power SSD........... and pretty much impossible with a stock HD. That said, once you've cal'd the bat you should be able to get 7-8 hours with the screen set to 1/3 level.
 
johnnymg said:
You'll need to calibrate the battery a couple of times.
Click to expand...

Qualified ********. No need to calibrate more then once, a brand new machine doesn't miscalculate that much.

Here is what apple has to say about their testing:
Testing conducted by Apple in April 2010 using preproduction 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo-based MacBook units. Battery life depends on configuration and use. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information. The wireless productivity test measures battery life by wirelessly browsing various websites and editing text in a word processor document with display brightness set to the middle setting.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
 
FWW said:
Anyone know what this number is based on? I charged my new MB to 100%, unplugged it and it is showing an estimate of time ranging from 2:31 to 4:10. Was idle, running nothing when it showed 4:10 and transferring files off a USB external when showing 2:31. Both cases with full screen brightness.

Would this claim be based on max battery saving settings? You would think a battery life claim would at least be based on continuous use (not sleeping the display or OS)...
Click to expand...

You have a 63.5 Watt hour battery. To run for 10 hours, you must use on the average 6.35 Watt or less. Screen on full brightness takes lots of power. Think of how much light bulbs use; typical between 40 and 100 Watt. A USB external drive, plugged into your Mac without its own power supply, will take probably 5 to 10 Watt on its own.

If you could be bothered to read what Apple writes: 10 hours, nothing plugged in that sucks the life out of your batteries, screen at half brightness.

johnnymg said:
You'll need to calibrate the battery a couple of times.
Click to expand...

Calibrating doesn't change how long your battery will last. It changes how accurate the remaining time will be displayed.
 
gnasher729 said:
Calibrating doesn't change how long your battery will last. It changes how accurate the remaining time will be displayed.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what the OP is basing his/her complaint off of. His battery may have lasted 6-8 hours with what he was doing. But instead of finding out how long it actually lasted, he saw the time remaining on the screen and decided that must be 100% true and that he should start a thread about it.
 
gnasher729 said:
You have a 63.5 Watt hour battery. To run for 10 hours, you must use on the average 6.35 Watt or less. Screen on full brightness takes lots of power. Think of how much light bulbs use; typical between 40 and 100 Watt. A USB external drive, plugged into your Mac without its own power supply, will take probably 5 to 10 Watt on its own.

If you could be bothered to read what Apple writes: 10 hours, nothing plugged in that sucks the life out of your batteries, screen at half brightness.



Calibrating doesn't change how long your battery will last. It changes how accurate the remaining time will be displayed.
Click to expand...


Actually I just am not very familiar with the batteries, power ratings etc, so I asked my question in a place where I knew some smart folks might be able to enlighten me, thanks, despite the smarmy comment...
 
Alonzo84 said:
That's exactly what the OP is basing his/her complaint off of. His battery may have lasted 6-8 hours with what he was doing. But instead of finding out how long it actually lasted, he saw the time remaining on the screen and decided that must be 100% true and that he should start a thread about it.
Click to expand...


Again, wasnt a complaint, I was genuinely curious about something I have little understanding of. I was curious if anyone who had also gotten a new one had seen anything different, thanks for your input though!
 
FWW said:
Again, wasnt a complaint, I was genuinely curious about something I have little understanding of. I was curious if anyone who had also gotten a new one had seen anything different, thanks for your input though!
Click to expand...

Congrats on the new MB ~~~~ :cool:

Apple has sort of set themselves up for lots of complaints given that it takes a fair bit of 'effort' to eek out 10 hours from these bats.
 
Well the old macbook claimed to get 7 hours of "wireless battery life" and having used it for 6 months now, it does actually get very close to that. I get around 6.5 hours. So using the same conditions, does the new macbook get 10 hours?
 
vistadude said:
Well the old macbook claimed to get 7 hours of "wireless battery life" and having used it for 6 months now, it does actually get very close to that. I get around 6.5 hours. So using the same conditions, does the new macbook get 10 hours?
Click to expand...

So far (3 full battery cycles) I have gotten up to 8:42 out of it. That is a mix of browsing, watching movies in iTunes, wifi on, screen about 60% brightness.
 
FWW said:
So far (3 full battery cycles) I have gotten up to 8:42 out of it. That is a mix of browsing, watching movies in iTunes, wifi on, screen about 60% brightness.
Click to expand...

Then you are getting just about what you should be, depending on exactly how much movie time was spent on iTunes.
 
My biggest problem with these battery life claims is that they always have the screen set to something less than FULL BRIGHTNESS. When I'm using my computer, I want it on full brightness. Obviously that will decrease battery life. Fine. Just tell me what that number is. Don't make up misleading claims as to 10 hours.
 
any one else can post how is the 10 hour battery doing?

i thought setting any mac brightness to full or even 60% will blind you? (unless you are in direct sunlight you need more brightness)

my 3 and half year macbook still at lowest brightness as well as the new iMac ...
 
Seriously? I find the lowest brightness setting very unpleasant to work with. Almost always at 100% here.
 
yup, still it is at the lowest brightness, at a time when increase the brightness i feel like i gotta new Mac :)

one thing sure, the screens on the most of the Macs are awesome, even after few years they are strikingly bright (at least in my experience)
 
Every laptop I have ever used has always cut the brightness when on battery power. That being said, a real world test would be to use it on as low a power state as possible to preserve the battery life. Try turning any laptop on I'll brightness with an intensive graphics game or program. You will probably see an hour or so.

If I have my MB on battery it is a 6,1. I have seen the calculation up to 9 hours when browsing the web on around 50% brightness and with an upgraded seagate 7200.4 320gb HD. I used mine on batt to download some audio story mp3's for my sone and burn them to disc. After about 30 mins and two CDs batt had barely dropped.

I did have it o. Lowest brightness setting I felt comfortable using.
 
SSD's will improve battery life but not as much as you might think. The average idle for a 2.5 sata is probably about 2-3W whereas the average SSD might be 0.5W
 
miicah said:
SSD's will improve battery life but not as much as you might think. The average idle for a 2.5 sata is probably about 2-3W whereas the average SSD might be 0.5W
Click to expand...

2.5" idle power consumption is much less. Hitachi Travelstar 500 = 0.69 Watt in low power idle, 0.2 Watt in standby, 1.8 Watt during read/write, 2.0 Watt during seek, 5.5 Watt during startup. 2-3 Watt during idle would be catastrophic for the battery life. The battery has only 63.5 Watt hours; that amount of idle power would cost 20-30 Watt hours in 10 hours.

It's hard to get actual numbers, but SSD seems to be not as power efficient as one would hope.
 
Dissapointed

I bought the new low end 2.4 13 inch MBP. Battery lasts from 2.5hrs to 3.30 when it claimed to be 10hrs. (main reason i went for it). Any idea or some news form apple regarding this. I upgraded my HD to a 500gb 7200rpm and I wonder if it could be affecting my battery life...
thnx
 
piero09 said:
I bought the new low end 2.4 13 inch MBP. Battery lasts from 2.5hrs to 3.30 when it claimed to be 10hrs. (main reason i went for it). Any idea or some news form apple regarding this. I upgraded my HD to a 500gb 7200rpm and I wonder if it could be affecting my battery life...
thnx
Click to expand...
You need to give us more info man.

Screen brightness?
Apps running?
Wifi?
Bluetooth?

What are you doing that makes it last only that long?
 
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