rMBP 13 battery life on external projector

[Viking2]

Running Keynote for presentation give me less then 4 hours on my rMBP 15. Just showing some slides. I have the laptop screen on very low brightness but it does not make any big differences.

So I will buy 13 rMBP and hope it will give a full day lecturing without power supply.

Perhaps it would be better with new 13 MBA, but if you are used to retina it is hard to settle for less (and of course I do not use retina when doing presentations but there is also other things I want to use the computer for other stuff!)
And I also like the horse power and TB2 and so on the new rMBP.

Any thoughts!

 

[klover]

Are you running Mavericks on your rMBP 15"? There are some battery life savings if you're running the latest OS.

Regardless, the MBA will definitely provide the longest battery life with the rMBP 13" coming up second.

 

[esskay]

OP, I'm curious, what sort of battery life do you get normally with your MBPr15 and how much worse is it when driving a projector? I wonder why that is...?

 

[Viking2]

OP, I'm curious, what sort of battery life do you get normally with your MBPr15 and how much worse is it when driving a projector? I wonder why that is...?

It is because that keynote switches to dGPU, and the dGPU drains my battery.
I used software to block dGPU and then the projector was blank. I assume that, if there is a dGPU as in my rMBP 15 it uses it when external projector is connected to Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort is used.

I do not know exakt times, but I think I get less then 4 hours on rMBP 15 (on low brightness). When I use the rMBP 15 for pages, safari, photoshop etc I usually get 6 hours.

Perhaps I get slightly more on Maverick (have not tested so much), and I do not know if the new tacky Keynote (ported from IOS) get me any longer times then Keynote 09. Perhaps new tacky feature less Keynote is optimized for maverick.

My thought was the difference between rMBP 13 (9hours) and MBA 13 (12 hours) would be less - if running Keynote on Maverick on rMBP 13 because it uses iGPU and I also have brightness very low on both computer (as the retina screen also eat a lot of battery).

Anyone else who ha experiences of running Keynote and been keeping an eye on the battery?


Ps. I really hope that we will see a Pro version of Keynote someday even if I doubt it. It seems like after Mac OS X 10.9 we will get Mac IOS 8. Ok I know I am whining...

 

[Darthmnkyrpm]

It is because that keynote switches to dGPU, and the dGPU drains my battery.
I used software to block dGPU and then the projector was blank. I assume that, if there is a dGPU as in my rMBP 15 it uses it when external projector is connected to Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort is used.

I do not know exakt times, but I think I get less then 4 hours on rMBP 15 (on low brightness). When I use the rMBP 15 for pages, safari, photoshop etc I usually get 6 hours.

Perhaps I get slightly more on Maverick (have not tested so much), and I do not know if the new tacky Keynote (ported from IOS) get me any longer times then Keynote 09. Perhaps new tacky feature less Keynote is optimized for maverick.

My thought was the difference between rMBP 13 (9hours) and MBA 13 (12 hours) would be less - if running Keynote on Maverick on rMBP 13 because it uses iGPU and I also have brightness very low on both computer (as the retina screen also eat a lot of battery).

Anyone else who ha experiences of running Keynote and been keeping an eye on the battery?


Ps. I really hope that we will see a Pro version of Keynote someday even if I doubt it. It seems like after Mac OS X 10.9 we will get Mac IOS 8. Ok I know I am whining...

I feel your pain. As soon as they announced Launchpad, I could tell that everything was going to start going downhill. There's a reason I had a laptop and an iPad. It's because they're two completely different devices. So when they start making the Macs less like Macs and more like iPads, it makes me sad on the inside. Apple is locking up they're stuff too much. I can barely get into internal files anymore. It feels more and more like an iPad, where all I can do is what Apple wants me to do with it. Now I'm whining

 

[Azathoth]

Haswell late-2013 rMBP13 gives me about 6hours with external display - dimming the internal would give maybe an hour or two more. 8hours tops, I would guess, but draining the battery from 100->0% every day is not good for it.

 

[johnnylarue]

Running Keynote for presentation give me less then 4 hours on my rMBP 15. Just showing some slides. I have the laptop screen on very low brightness but it does not make any big differences.

So I will buy 13 rMBP and hope it will give a full day lecturing without power supply.

Perhaps it would be better with new 13 MBA, but if you are used to retina it is hard to settle for less (and of course I do not use retina when doing presentations but there is also other things I want to use the computer for other stuff!)
And I also like the horse power and TB2 and so on the new rMBP.

Any thoughts!

I know it's an annoying/inconvenient solution, Viking, but aren't there usually AC outlets available nearby when you're plugged into a projector?

If you're determined to go AC adapter-less, I think Broadwell will prove a more useful CPU update for you, since it promises ~30% increase in efficiency under moderate to heavy loads. In the meantime, if battery life is priority #1, then the MacBook Air is logically your best choice.

 

[Darthmnkyrpm]

I know it's an annoying/inconvenient solution, Viking, but aren't there usually AC outlets available nearby when you're plugged into a projector?

If you're determined to go AC adapter-less, I think Broadwell will prove a more useful CPU update for you, since it promises ~30% increase in efficiency under moderate to heavy loads. In the meantime, if battery life is priority #1, then the MacBook Air is logically your best choice.

Agreed, the new MacBook Airs definitely have the best battery life I've seen in awhile, and if the most labor intensive tasks you're doing is Keynotes, I think it would be your best bet. Super light, very fast, and amazing battery life.

 

[Viking2]

I know it's an annoying/inconvenient solution, Viking, but aren't there usually AC outlets available nearby when you're plugged into a projector?

If you're determined to go AC adapter-less, I think Broadwell will prove a more useful CPU update for you, since it promises ~30% increase in efficiency under moderate to heavy loads. In the meantime, if battery life is priority #1, then the MacBook Air is logically your best choice.

Yes today I of course bring a long the AC adapter but on some places they do not have an power out let so I have to run around to find one. And also I keep forgetting them. It has happens me a few times, not fun when I forget at home. Had to run out and buy an AC charger on lunch, and on a few occasions I forgot it at site. So I would value the ability to go AC-less. And also when traveling on airplanes and at some airport they don't always have AC-outlets...

I really do not like the MBA displays after using retina...perhaps I need to give up the retina, but then i would prefer a fat 11 inch MBA with 12 hours battery life ...But you can't get it all....

I guess I have to wait for Broadwell and new IGZO / or whatever display technique...