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Possible fix for most battery issues with new MacBook Pro

tg_nyc

tg_nyc

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 11, 2016
6
5
New York City, NY
Hi everyone, I'm posting this thread because I'm one of those people who spent a small fortune on a new 15" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and was freaking out watching his battery dwindle to about 2-3 hours per charge. I tried all of the workarounds, called Apple tech support, and searched all of the forums. Something I read on one of the Apple Support Community forums led me to try something pretty simple that (hopefully) solved my issue. When I first brought my new MBP home I used Migration Assistant to transfer all of my docs over from my old to my new Mac. I'm no expert but it appears that something relating to the process of using Migration Assistant resulted in my decreased & wonky battery life (like the charge and time remaining bouncing all over the place). I backed all of my stuff up onto an external drive, did a clean install of OS Sierra, and then copied my files back onto the new laptop, and now all day I have been seeing really solid and expected battery life, around 8-9 hours on a single charge—I've been working all afternoon and at this moment still have 6 hours left and 69% charge. This solution might not work for everyone but it worked well enough for me to cancel a Genius Bar appt today and to decide that it's probably more a software vs. hardware issue. Hope it helps some others like me!
 
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tg_nyc said:
Hi everyone, I'm posting this thread because I'm one of those people who spent a small fortune on a new 15" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and was freaking out watching his battery dwindle to about 2-3 hours per charge. I tried all of the workarounds, called Apple tech support, and searched all of the forums. Something I read on one of the Apple Support Community forums led me to try something pretty simple that (hopefully) solved my issue. When I first brought my new MBP home I used Migration Assistant to transfer all of my docs over from my old to my new Mac. I'm no expert but it appears that something relating to the process of using Migration Assistant resulted in my decreased & wonky battery life (like the charge and time remaining bouncing all over the place). I backed all of my stuff up onto an external drive, did a clean install of OS Sierra, and then copied my files back onto the new laptop, and now all day I have been seeing really solid and expected battery life, around 8-9 hours on a single charge—I've been working all afternoon and at this moment still have 6 hours left and 69% charge. This solution might not work for everyone but it worked well enough for me to cancel a Genius Bar appt today and to decide that it's probably more a software vs. hardware issue. Hope it helps some others like me!
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I reckon there is something in this as I have seen on here that those who did fresh installs have 10hrs of battery - I am one of them!
 
Did a fresh install clean on day 2 and it didn't improve things dramatically. Still get very low life. It's better than before I did it (but I didn't use migration assistant), but it's still terrible
 
WhiteWhaleHolyGrail said:
I reckon there is something in this as I have seen on here that those who did fresh installs have 10hrs of battery - I am one of them!
Click to expand...
Glad to hear it and that it's not just me! I definitely had my moments of freak out and regret but now with the battery issue hopefully solved, I have to say, I love this computer.
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technoholic said:
Did a fresh install clean on day 2 and it didn't improve things dramatically. Still get very low life. It's better than before I did it (but I didn't use migration assistant), but it's still terrible
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear that. I hope you didn't end up with a bum machine because everything I went through after waiting a month to get my new computer was a kick in the stomach. Good luck with your issue.
 
tg_nyc said:
Hi everyone, I'm posting this thread because I'm one of those people who spent a small fortune on a new 15" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and was freaking out watching his battery dwindle to about 2-3 hours per charge. I tried all of the workarounds, called Apple tech support, and searched all of the forums. Something I read on one of the Apple Support Community forums led me to try something pretty simple that (hopefully) solved my issue. When I first brought my new MBP home I used Migration Assistant to transfer all of my docs over from my old to my new Mac. I'm no expert but it appears that something relating to the process of using Migration Assistant resulted in my decreased & wonky battery life (like the charge and time remaining bouncing all over the place). I backed all of my stuff up onto an external drive, did a clean install of OS Sierra, and then copied my files back onto the new laptop, and now all day I have been seeing really solid and expected battery life, around 8-9 hours on a single charge—I've been working all afternoon and at this moment still have 6 hours left and 69% charge. This solution might not work for everyone but it worked well enough for me to cancel a Genius Bar appt today and to decide that it's probably more a software vs. hardware issue. Hope it helps some others like me!
Click to expand...

Nope. That's not a fix since MANY users have not used the assistant. I've had it even with fresh installs....and I never use the MA (I hate it).
 
kwandrews said:
Nope. That's not a fix since MANY users have not used the assistant. I've had it even with fresh installs....and I never use the MA (I hate it).
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Why so hostile? I said a possible fix because yes, it worked for me. I clearly said it might solve some owners issue. Good luck.
 
tg_nyc said:
Why so hostile? I said a possible fix because yes, it worked for me. I clearly said it might solve some owners issue. Good luck.
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Sorry. Not a fix for the issue overall, it's something deeper than migration and much more widespread. I'm glad it worked for you :) and that solution has been posted here over and over for weeks on end. Sorry, I'm just a little more than frustrated with the battery life. On my 2nd TB Mac now and same thing. Fresh installs, reinstall after wiping disk, etc. Just finished a 3rd reinstall (losing a lot of productivity....argh). Also NVRAM AND SMC resets. It's just nuts. Sorry I came across that way, just frustrated.

One a POSITIVE note, this 3rd wipe and fresh install from my install USB drive is showing more promise...hope it holds this time. I have Mr Stopwatch running (it auto stop/starts with system awake) so I can get an accurate measure of REAL usage. Paying NO attention to the system estimates. Just measuring it against remaining %, right now I'm at 91% left and 57 min of usage...this is great so far. BUT, I've only been using Safari and haven't installed ANYTHING (except stopwatch) outside of stock with the fresh OS. Better than it's been, if it stays, great! But it shouldn't be this hard. I've had Mac notebooks for many years and have never returned one or even worried about the battery.
 
kwandrews said:
Sorry. Not a fix for the issue overall, it's something deeper than migration and much more widespread. I'm glad it worked for you :) and that solution has been posted here over and over for weeks on end. Sorry, I'm just a little more than frustrated with the battery life. On my 2nd TB Mac now and same thing. Fresh installs, reinstall after wiping disk, etc. Just finished a 3rd reinstall (losing a lot of productivity....argh). Also NVRAM AND SMC resets. It's just nuts. Sorry I came across that way, just frustrated.

One a POSITIVE note, this 3rd wipe and fresh install from my install USB drive is showing more promise...hope it holds this time. I have Mr Stopwatch running (it auto stop/starts with system awake) so I can get an accurate measure of REAL usage. Paying NO attention to the system estimates. Just measuring it against remaining %, right now I'm at 91% left and 57 min of usage...this is great so far. BUT, I've only been using Safari and haven't installed ANYTHING (except stopwatch) outside of stock with the fresh OS. Better than it's been, if it stays, great! But it shouldn't be this hard. I've had Mac notebooks for many years and have never returned one or even worried about the battery.
Click to expand...
Understand your frustration completely. Again I wish you the best and hope it resolves soon.
 
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kwandrews said:
Sorry. Not a fix for the issue overall, it's something deeper than migration and much more widespread. I'm glad it worked for you :) and that solution has been posted here over and over for weeks on end. Sorry, I'm just a little more than frustrated with the battery life. On my 2nd TB Mac now and same thing. Fresh installs, reinstall after wiping disk, etc. Just finished a 3rd reinstall (losing a lot of productivity....argh). Also NVRAM AND SMC resets. It's just nuts. Sorry I came across that way, just frustrated.

One a POSITIVE note, this 3rd wipe and fresh install from my install USB drive is showing more promise...hope it holds this time. I have Mr Stopwatch running (it auto stop/starts with system awake) so I can get an accurate measure of REAL usage. Paying NO attention to the system estimates. Just measuring it against remaining %, right now I'm at 91% left and 57 min of usage...this is great so far. BUT, I've only been using Safari and haven't installed ANYTHING (except stopwatch) outside of stock with the fresh OS. Better than it's been, if it stays, great! But it shouldn't be this hard. I've had Mac notebooks for many years and have never returned one or even worried about the battery.
Click to expand...


Hi there. Can I ask what stopwatch app/feature you're using as I'd like a real life test of my battery life too.
 
EmkwanTV said:
Hi there. Can I ask what stopwatch app/feature you're using as I'd like a real life test of my battery life too.
Click to expand...

It's Mr Stopwatch in the App Store (Free) :) It will sit in your menu bar. You can also hide the main window so all you see if the menu bar chrono. Working really well.
 
EmkwanTV said:
Just had a look at the app store and it is no longer free
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My mistake! Sorry about that. It's $2.99. It's been worth it for me to get a more accurate picture of actual usage on battery vs. my "impression" and inaccurate measurements. With the app, I can see the usage from Mr Stopwatch and then the total battery time (which includes sleep, etc.) from activity monitor.
 
I must say, i'm not a fan of migration. I used to use Carbon Copy cloner (and still do), but now I just go from scratch as iCloud takes care of most things.

EVERY time I tried to use migration it was a disaster. They should scrap it, and start over.
 
I have a fresh install. Nothing copied over etc and battery life is crap.
MBP 15" 2.9ghz, 1TB, 460 GPU
 
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I doubt Migration Assistant would have much to do with battery life.

Instead of buying a new 2016 MacBook Pro, I decided to stick with "trusted and true" and bought a new 2015 MacBook Pro 13" a couple of weeks ago.

I used Migration Assistant to migrate my apps, accounts, and settings from a 2010 MacBook Pro to the new one (from a cloned backup created with CarbonCopyCloner).

Hasn't affected battery usage at all. I'm very impressed by the battery life in the new one...
 
Fishrrman said:
I doubt Migration Assistant would have much to do with battery life.

Instead of buying a new 2016 MacBook Pro, I decided to stick with "trusted and true" and bought a new 2015 MacBook Pro 13" a couple of weeks ago.

I used Migration Assistant to migrate my apps, accounts, and settings from a 2010 MacBook Pro to the new one (from a cloned backup created with CarbonCopyCloner).

Hasn't affected battery usage at all. I'm very impressed by the battery life in the new one...
Click to expand...
How's your battery life with the 2015? 13" or 15"? Base model or BTO? Tell us more :)
 
I'm getting good battery life without fresh installing MacOS. As a precautionary measure, though, rather than just restoring an entire TimeMachine (TM) backup to the new MBP, I copied my files from TM (no ~/Library files) and did the rest by hand. Actually a lot is automatic these days by signing into iCloud. I had to manually import Dev projects into IDEs, etc. Not sure if necessary, it's extra work, but at the very least it satisfied my OCD by knowing that there's no extra cruft getting copied over to my new MBP. The first few days battery life was not great because of the initial TM backup, syncing with iCloud, probably background indexing, etc.
 
Kris.K said:
I have a fresh install. Nothing copied over etc and battery life is crap.
MBP 15" 2.9ghz, 1TB, 460 GPU
Click to expand...
Do you notice anything unusual in Activity Monitor using a high % of CPU cycles or some app that's keeping the dGPU active?

I have the 15" 2.7/512/455 model and my battery life has been excellent.
 
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