New to Mac- battery issues

[melynn44]

While I am not new to Apple, being familiar enough with iPod, iPhone, and iPad to get by...I am still a little stumped with my most recent purchase a Macbook Air. So, you are probably going to have to talk me through it like a 5 year old. I am relatively tech savvy and a quick learner, but there is still a learning curve, going from PC to Mac.

So, right now, I am on my second charge. Straight out of the box, it had 11-12 hours of battery life, and I think it probably got close to that. However, when the battery ran out, I charged it. At full charge, it indicated about 8 hours battery time, but actual time ended up being around or just under 6 hours. I chalked it up as a fluke, but on my second charge, at full charge, it said 7 1/2 hours.

I have only run Safari at this point. I've learned enough to find the Activity Monitor, and for Safari, the Avg Energy Impact is around 64, which I figured was probably pretty high.

I don't even know what software I am using; I don't know anything about Mavericks or Mountain Lion or what version I am on. Suggestions on figuring out why my battery is draining so quickly?

 

[GGJstudios]

So, right now, I am on my second charge. Straight out of the box, it had 11-12 hours of battery life, and I think it probably got close to that. However, when the battery ran out, I charged it. At full charge, it indicated about 8 hours battery time, but actual time ended up being around or just under 6 hours. I chalked it up as a fluke, but on my second charge, at full charge, it said 7 1/2 hours.

You can find your OS X version by clicking the  logo in the upper left corner of your screen, then select "About This Mac". In the small window that pops up, your version will be displayed under the Apple logo and "OS X". It will show something like "Version 10.9.5".

Your battery "time remaining" is an ever-changing estimate, based on the current workload and settings on your computer. It is not accurate, as those conditions will not be the same for the entire duration of the discharge.

There are many factors that impact your battery life. See the BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE section of the following link for details, including tips on how to maximize your 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​

 

[motrek]

...
I don't even know what software I am using; I don't know anything about Mavericks or Mountain Lion or what version I am on. Suggestions on figuring out why my battery is draining so quickly?

You have already accomplished the most important step which is finding Activity Monitor.

From there, you can look at the CPU tab (the tab switcher is at the top) and sort that table by CPU usage to see what you're running and which software is taking up most of your battery power.

You might have a stray web page open that's running some poorly-coded Flash ad or something. Flash is a notorious battery hog, for Macs and Windows equally.