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Rant. Please Read. Whats the problem with my MacbookPro Retina???

V

VideoNewbie

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 6, 2009
476
6
about one hour ago my battery was at 90% with an estimated time of 5 hours and 45 minutes left of battery time.

i just checked the battery now and its down to 55% thats almost 40% in just one hour. and strangely the estimated time has now dropped to 2 hours and 23 minutes of battery time left. (ony an hour has passed i should only be at 4 hours)

why has my battery dropped down so significantly? anybody have any guesses as to whats going on here?

my macbook pro is brand new
 
VideoNewbie said:
about one hour ago my battery was at 90% with an estimated time of 5 hours and 45 minutes left of battery time.

i just checked the battery now and its down to 55% thats almost 40% in just one hour. and strangely the estimated time has now dropped to 2 hours and 23 minutes of battery time left. (ony an hour has passed i should only be at 4 hours)

why has my battery dropped down so significantly? anybody have any guesses as to whats going on here?
Click to expand...
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.
 
What were you doing at the time? The estimate you saw beforehand was established based on the workload at the time.

As an example, if your battery estimates that you will receive 5 hours of battery life, you cannot then open up a game and play for about 5 hours. It will be drastically different.
 
Dark Void said:
What were you doing at the time? The estimate you saw beforehand was established based on the workload at the time.

As an example, if your battery estimates that you will receive 5 hours of battery life, you cannot then open up a game and play for about 5 hours. It will be drastically different.
Click to expand...


i had multiple windows open in firefox, skype , word & virtualbox running
but all of this was going on even when i first received the time estimate..
 
VideoNewbie said:
i had multiple windows open in firefox, skype , word & virtualbox running
but all of this was going on even when i first received the time estimate..
Click to expand...

The estimates aren't perfect. Read through the information that GGJstudios posted, that should give you a good idea of what is going on.

When Apple quotes the 7~ hour battery life, they're doing a specific test. I doubt they're running Adobe Flash(which will drain your battery quickly), and I doubt they're running more than one browser window.
 
ECUpirate44 said:
Check activity monitor? Rogue process?
Click to expand...


I checked the activity monitor and i see A LOT of things running that i dont recognize.

things liek kerneleventagent,hidd, etc. etc.

how do i know if its a rogue process?

----------
GGJstudios said:
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.
Click to expand...



i read through this entire thing and it basically talks about how to keep ur battery in good health. (unplug every few days) i dont seee where it says anything about why my battery is dropping so quickly
 
** How long DID it Actually Last For..??

Well.. I will approach this from a different perspective than I often see..

** How long DID it Actually Last For.. ?? **

Or, did you even Run It Empty, or just post after seeing the 'estimated time by an electronic gas gauge' being presented to you.. ?? It seems that many folks panic if it changes erratically, which I almost certainly expect it will some times.. :eek:

It has always been my experience that the TIME is relative, just like on a Vehicle.. The 'Gas in the Tank' and Distance to be Traveled will be dependent upon your Driving Type.. and often it WILL go further than stated..

So I have seen.. Quite Often.. in both circumstances..

:apple:

"why has my battery dropped down so significantly? anybody have any guesses as to whats going on here?

my macbook pro is brand new "
 
VideoNewbie said:
i read through this entire thing and it basically talks about how to keep ur battery in good health. (unplug every few days) i dont seee where it says anything about why my battery is dropping so quickly
Click to expand...

This is right near the top of the link GGJstudios posted:

Your battery life is dependent on many factors, including screen brightness, WiFi, bluetooth, apps/processes/widgets running, Flash content on websites, graphics-intensive applications, etc. Even if you're not getting anywhere near the advertised life from a charge, it's most likely quite normal, and simply the result of your usage demands.
Click to expand...

Like I pointed out, it's an estimate. Sometimes estimates are wrong. You're running quite a few things, so I'm not surprised your battery doesn't last as long as the estimate claims.
 
VideoNewbie said:
about one hour ago my battery was at 90% with an estimated time of 5 hours and 45 minutes left of battery time.

i just checked the battery now and its down to 55% thats almost 40% in just one hour. and strangely the estimated time has now dropped to 2 hours and 23 minutes of battery time left. (ony an hour has passed i should only be at 4 hours)
Click to expand...

It's a known problem. Check out the explanantions in this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1437426/
 
AirThis said:
It's a known problem. Check out the explanantions in this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1437426/
Click to expand...

This wouldn't really be applicable to what the OP is talking about. His computer started with a certain time estimate, then drastically dropped. The article you linked to is about the generally lower battery life expectations in ML. Different subjects, though both have to do with batteries.

OP, did you actually do a call in Skype while you were watching the battery estimate? Skype kicks in the discrete graphics card, which pulls a lot more battery power than the integrated one does. Usually just quitting Skype will see your battery estimate go up by quite a lot (on my 2011 MBP running Skype cuts my estimated battery time about in half). As others have said, it all depends on what you're running at the time. That battery estimate is just a snapshot, based on the current battery power your computer is using. Opening new windows, actively browsing, using Skype...all those things will cause your battery to drain faster than if it's just sitting there. Chances are there's not really anything wrong with your battery.
 
VideoNewbie said:
i read through this entire thing and it basically talks about how to keep ur battery in good health. (unplug every few days) i dont seee where it says anything about why my battery is dropping so quickly
Click to expand...
Re-read the 3rd bullet point in that section.
 
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