Riddle me this!

[CaptRB]

My 15" touch bar MBP is now matching or BEATING my MacBook Air for battery life!

Same brightness levels and the same type of usage has the Pro easily topping 10-11 hours. The Air, which still has excellent battery capacity is sometimes the same or less.

Running Photoshop and Lightroom for work, the Touch bar always lasts longer than the 2015 rMBP I sold a few weeks ago.

So now I'm actually a bit baffled as to how this machine does this well for battery life. I'm at 39% right now with over 4 hours remaining (screen at 75%) and I'll really get that or more.


R.

 

[casperes1996]

Were you among those who had battery issues before and then this is a change your describing or has your computer just behaved like this from when you got it?

 

[CaptRB]

Were you among those who had battery issues before and then this is a change your describing or has your computer just behaved like this from when you got it?

The first few times I got the computer I nearly threw it out the window.

2nd and 3rd cycle gave me LESS THAN TWO HOURS!

So I called a friend at a Genius Bar in Chicago and she explained that I needed to update everything and let the system "settle" which meant it was still running a LOT of processes since it was new.

After a few more cycles I was getting 7-8 hours. Now, approaching 50 cycles I'm getting much better battery times, often well over 10-11 hours.


R.

 

[kazmac]

Great to hear. By updating everything is that more than the OS itself? (Sounding like a royal noob here but just curious.)

How long did it take you to adjust to the new keyboard? I might take the leap with the eventual 2017? model as I loved the screen, but typing on the keyboards felt painful to me. Granted, that was 15 minutes of use not weeks/months.

Glad to hear it is performing as advertised.

 

[j1104638]

So I called a friend at a Genius Bar in Chicago and she explained that I needed to update everything and let the system "settle" which meant it was still running a LOT of processes since it was new.

Could you share the number?

 

[CaptRB]

Could you share the number?

LOL....she won't even show special treatment for her husband. She can be fired for doing anything like that. In fact, another friend of mine WAS fired for consistently providing "preferential service" to customers she had history with. Apple is not a free and easy place in that respect.

Whenever I ask her about sales or returns, she's very general in her replies. Good, bad, about the same and nothing specific most of the time. On the other hand, knowing her led to me getting a NIB 15" base touch bar for 1000 off MSRP (not from Apple of course).

R.
[doublepost=1491153954][/doublepost]

Great to hear. By updating everything is that more than the OS itself? (Sounding like a royal noob here but just curious.)

How long did it take you to adjust to the new keyboard? I might take the leap with the eventual 2017? model as I loved the screen, but typing on the keyboards felt painful to me. Granted, that was 15 minutes of use not weeks/months.

Glad to hear it is performing as advertised.

I simply updated the OS and left the system on for several days and cycles. Battery life doubled and tripled, finally getting to the point where I'm surprised at how good it is.

As for the keyboard...

ANY keyboard that I'm not used to is going to cause some pain. I was working on a Dell a few days ago and was having a tough time for a while. But the human hands are pretty adaptive for most of us and you're not going to get the measure of the keyboard by using it for a brief time. A LOT of the complaints (as you can plainly see) come from non-owners who have no idea. But some are valid as well, though that number is much smaller. Ergonomics are a tricky design element and highly variable. To those I know directly, the new keyboard is a nice upgrade. Many of my associates are using them happily. The only complaints I've heard are on forums. If you're in the lucky minority who can't get used to it, you can just return it. Easy enough. Two months ago I looked at Lamborghini Huracan. At 6'3 I don't fit. End of story. I wrote a mean letter to Lambo about it, but I guess they don't need ME as a customer. It's hard to make a glove that fits everyone perfectly, even at a high price point.


R.

 

[kazmac]

LOL....she won't even show special treatment for her husband. She can be fired for doing anything like that. In fact, another friend of mine WAS fired for consistently providing "preferential service" to customers she had history with. Apple is not a free and easy place in that respect.

Whenever I ask her about sales or returns, she's very general in her replies. Good, bad, about the same and nothing specific most of the time. On the other hand, knowing her led to me getting a NIB 15" base touch bar for 1000 off MSRP (not from Apple of course).

R.
[doublepost=1491153954][/doublepost]



I simply updated the OS and left the system on for several days and cycles. Battery life doubled and tripled, finally getting to the point where I'm surprised at how good it is.

As for the keyboard...

ANY keyboard that I'm not used to is going to cause some pain. I was working on a Dell a few days ago and was having a tough time for a while. But the human hands are pretty adaptive for most of us and you're not going to get the measure of the keyboard by using it for a brief time. A LOT of the complaints (as you can plainly see) come from non-owners who have no idea. But some are valid as well, though that number is much smaller. Ergonomics are a tricky design element and highly variable. To those I know directly, the new keyboard is a nice upgrade. Many of my associates are using them happily. The only complaints I've heard are on forums. If you're in the lucky minority who can't get used to it, you can just return it. Easy enough. Two months ago I looked at Lamborghini Huracan. At 6'3 I don't fit. End of story. I wrote a mean letter to Lambo about it, but I guess they don't need ME as a customer. It's hard to make a glove that fits everyone perfectly, even at a high price point.


R.

Thank you for the extensive reply. It is good to know that just upgrading the OS and letting the system settle for several days makes all the difference.

I understand that testing the keyboard in store won't mean zip in real world usage and that I can return.

 

[mcomp112]

The 15 inch has excellent battery life IMO. I've never gotten less than 7-8 hours and sometimes 9+ hours. Much better than comparable Windows machines.

13 inch touch bar wasn't so great when it came to battery life though.