Newbie MBP 15 Battery Life Question

[scmguru]

I just converted from the PC world. This evening, I am working with my new 15" MBP (Lion) importing pictures into Aperture.

It's been just about 2 hours and my battery charge has gone from 95% down to 25%...

Is this normal for a MBP? All of my images that I'm importing are on SD memory cards and I have an SDD instead of an HDD.

I've been checking the system metrics and I'm not seeing really heavy CPU or disk drive use..

Am I missing something?

Thanks folks!

 

[i4k20c]

Is this the first time you are using it? I know the battery is supposed to be calibrated, but I was having unusual timing until a few charge cycles. I'll let others chime in, but might want to keep a close eye on it for the next few days and letting it lose charge and re-charging.

EDIT: Also, what's your screen brightness at? is everything on (i.e. bluetooth, keyboard brightness, wifi)?

 

[marshallbedsaul]

check screen brightness
keyboard backlight
make sure your have settings to switch between graphics card.


And do not stress about the battery life this will kill you, just use your computer and charge it when needed the battery will take care of the rest.
my 2011 that is 2 months I get 6 hrs, watching youtube and web browsing.

 

[GGJstudios]

I just converted from the PC world. This evening, I am working with my new 15" MBP (Lion) importing pictures into Aperture.

It's been just about 2 hours and my battery charge has gone from 95% down to 25%...

Is this normal for a MBP?

There are many things that affect battery life, such as screen brightness, WiFi, bluetooth, apps/widgets/processes running. Check to see if Spotlight is indexing your drive, which is required to make your searches faster and more accurate. That process can be a drain on system resources and battery life until it's complete. You can determine if Spotlight is indexing by the Menu Bar icon:

(not indexing)

(indexing)

This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[i4k20c]

check screen brightness
keyboard backlight
make sure your have settings to switch between graphics card.


And do not stress about the battery life this will kill you, just use your computer and charge it when needed the battery will take care of the rest.
my 2011 that is 2 months I get 6 hrs, watching youtube and web browsing.

are you running lion?

i'm LUCKY if i get 5 w/ screen brightness @ 1/2, wifi, and nothing but chrome & mail open on a less than 1 mo. old mbp.

 

[ArmanUV]

Install gfxcardstatus and see if your MBP is using the dedicated graphics. Some apps like 1password or reeder make the graphics switch to dedicated which can easily half the battery life.

 

[yusukeaoki]

First of all, what year MBP is it?
If the old series, the battery may be dead but if the new series, its either the brightness of scree, backlit, bluetooth, spotlight, applications running.
Or possibly a defect.

 

[scmguru]

First of all, what year MBP is it?
If the old series, the battery may be dead but if the new series, its either the brightness of scree, backlit, bluetooth, spotlight, applications running.
Or possibly a defect.

Thanks for all the input folks.. 2011 MBP.

Is there an application which will log battery stats (ie discharge rates, etc)

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks for all the input folks.. 2011 MBP.

Is there an application which will log battery stats (ie discharge rates, etc)

Look at the "CHECKING STATUS AND HEALTH" section of the Apple Notebook Battery FAQ I posted earlier.