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Real life battery times...

legreve

legreve

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 22, 2010
244
0
Denmark
Im wondering how much the calibration actually means to the longevity of the battery.
I admit I didn't go the full 5 hours after it went into sleep from lack of power. More like 2 hours or so, and then charged it up again.

But the fact remains now that I only get around 4 hours of usage, and this is when only browsing on the forums while listening to iTunes with headset connected.

What sort of battery time are you guys getting?

Should I just bite the dust and do a proper calibration this weekend?

Or could this be attributed to a bad battery?

Atleast... 50% of ideal battery time is not acceptable to me :) So I'll do whatever it takes to get back to max.
 
Experiencing the same. I've tried replicating the 7 hours (by browsing text only sites on low screen brightness, no background apps, integrated graphics) and best I can do is near 5 hours. I don't need a link to a battery FAQ, I know what I need to know: 7 hours is a joke
 
Hmm. After reading this last night -- where my battery fairly consistently reports 7hrs on constant wifi internet/e-mail usage -- I decided to try a heavier load, so I started work with the MBP on battery instead of mains.

I got 2.5 hours, with wifi on constantly streaming radio, FTP running up and down, reading and writing files to a bus-powered external drive on the FW port, alternating use of Illustrator and Photoshop CS5, with the laptop screen on medium brightness and driving a 21" Cintiq as the main monitor.

I think that's pretty respectable, TBH!

Cheers

Jim
 
7 to 7-1/2 hours for web browsing, gpu set to integrated, screen at 50% or less brightness. Sometimes I run I-Tunes as well.
 
I get between5-7hrs dep on what im doing. If I'm gonna sit and just type junk I'll turn wifi off to conserve energy
 
I usually get 7-8 hours when doing light web browsing. I just have automatic graphics switching on, screen brightness at 50%, and keyboard brightness on 50% as well.
 
I normally get around 8-9 hours of just internet browsing. I have 50% brightness and i turned off the keyboard illumination. It'll go down to around 6-7 when i download documents and what not but after it's done, it'll shoot back up to around 8-9. Not too shabby...
 
lavrishevo said:
sbbluewater said:
7 to 7-1/2 hours for web browsing, gpu set to integrated, screen at 50% or less brightness. Sometimes I run I-Tunes as well.
Click to expand...

Where do you do this again?
Click to expand...
If you're referring to selecting the integrated GPU, from the Battery FAQ I posted earlier:
If you're using a MacBook Pro with both integrated and discrete graphics cards, you can install gfxCardStatus to manually select your integrated GPU, which will help reduce power demands and give you more life on a battery charge.
Click to expand...
 
I get 7-9 hours while typing & light web browsing etc.:D


Buttt... only 1-2 hours when gaming.:mad:
 
I am in the 3-5 hr range when on wireless, full brightness and several tabs open with itunes and a couple other apps open.

That 7 hrs is a tad misleading.

on a related note, I am noticing that the fans are a tad noisier when they get working.
 
I happy with my time off the charger. I average 6 hours, but I am not putting the machine through its paces. If I import photos or have multiple apps running, then battery life decreases appropriately. I have not experienced less than five hours off the charger. My laptop is new and the battery has nine cycles. The real test is to see how the battery holds up after two years or more. :)
 
I get about 6-7 hours doing mild stuff like browsing, WiFi on, some writing, iTunes running most of the time, and maybe iChat running once in a while too.

What is everyone's max battery capacity? (Find out in About this Mac... More Info... Power tab on the left... "Full Charge Capacity (mAH)")

Mine reads: 5644. I'm on the low end 13" MacBook Pro early 2011.
 
markeemarc21 said:
I normally get around 8-9 hours of just internet browsing. I have 50% brightness and i turned off the keyboard illumination. It'll go down to around 6-7 when i download documents and what not but after it's done, it'll shoot back up to around 8-9. Not too shabby...
Click to expand...

What kind do you have? MUST be a 13 inch. theres just no way youre doing this on a 15. unless you have a 17? and even then thats very very impressive.

cactus33 said:
I get 7-9 hours while typing & light web browsing etc.:D


Buttt... only 1-2 hours when gaming.:mad:
Click to expand...

what are your specs as well?
 
This is what my coco app is telling me, should i be making a trip to the app store? or is this just in need of Re-calibration ? TIA! Cheers!

EDIT: its telling my im fully charged at 99%
 

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99% is totally normal it won't reach 100% unless you run it down 20% and load again.

I have a 2010 15" and the 8-9 h are ridiculous and only possible with min brightness or close to and doing almost nothing. Real life is around 4-5h. Also most of the time i run on battery I do need full birghtness because I am usually outside in the sun. Sittings idle with full brightness means 6-7h but doing anything at all like switching apps every few seconds, spaces, typing the power usage goes up by 30-40% immediatly.
 
dusk007 said:
99% is totally normal it won't reach 100% unless you run it down 20% and load again.
Click to expand...
That's not true. It can recharge to 100% if you drop it to 92% first. Read the Battery FAQ I posted for an explanation.
 
Neil1138 said:
Experiencing the same. I've tried replicating the 7 hours (by browsing text only sites on low screen brightness, no background apps, integrated graphics) and best I can do is near 5 hours. I don't need a link to a battery FAQ, I know what I need to know: 7 hours is a joke
Click to expand...

I've done 7+ hours. Highest was around 10 but I can't recall if that was plugged in or not for a little bit. Mid screen brightness, integrated graphics, mostly just web browsing (facebook, random sites (no flash games or anything)) and IM chatting. 2011 high end 15" with the high res screen.

Granted I'm not running Photoshop or anything on battery power, but you CAN get the advertised battery life.
 
Last edited:
legreve said:
Im wondering how much the calibration actually means to the longevity of the battery.
I admit I didn't go the full 5 hours after it went into sleep from lack of power. More like 2 hours or so, and then charged it up again.
Click to expand...

In spite of what people seem to say about the new MBP, I get about the same battery life with same usage on my MBP17 2.3 as I do on my late 2009 17 with a C2D 2.8....considering the CPU power difference, that is a-ok in my book.
 
I own a 13 inch macbook pro 2010 version.
i get around 6 to 6 1/2 hours on web browsing and maybe a bit of itunes,with brightness turned down to 1/3rd and no keyboard backlighting.
I'm wondering if the number would go up,if I move closer to the router,right now it's situated more than 8 metres away,with a lot of obstructions in the way, a couple of walls.
on no wifi,no bluetooth and brightness turned way down,playing a dvd rip,i'd get around 5 1/2 hours.
If i turn off everything,only having Coda open doing some coding i get around 8 hours.
If i keep it idle,with no applications running,only then would it show 10 hrs remaining LOL. :p
Also battery health is at 92% with around 65 cycles,is that normal?
 
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