Survey: Data Migration to new MBP and battery issues

[nconnella]

So I've isolated my reduced battery life issue in my new 2010 MBP to something with my data migration. Before using Migration Assistant I get 8 hours but as soon as I transfer my data, it's cut in half. So I would like to know who bought a 2010 MBP and has transferred data from an '08 MBP and STILL gets at least 7-8 hours. I'm wondering if I'm an isolated case, or if this could be the root problem to all those with poor battery. Thanks!

P.S. I'm still trying to isolate what exactly is causing the problems. I think it's a piece of software because I tried transferring ONLY Applications and it cuts my battery down. Now I will try transfer just my data, and see if it's okay. If it is then I just have to manually reinstall my software. This has become a huge let down for my faith in Time Machine... it was so easy before this happened!

 

[nconnella]

wow... really. No one? I've seen so many complaints I thought people would have more to say or be curious.

Update for anyone who cares. I'm about half way through copying data over and reinstalling software instead of using Migration Assistant and so far battery is holding up. So, for anyone who migrated their data and suffers from poor battery and thinks it's a hardware defect, this looks like it was the problem and I suggest you try the same.

 

[nconnella]

Last update. Finished all data migration doing it manually, and reinstalling apps rather than migrating from backup and I can confirm my battery life is way better. I strongly suggest you try this if you ran into the same problem.

 

[Gorilla Power]

As you see, data migration may have little to do with battery life...

 

[nconnella]

Actually it had everything to do with it. By migrating my apps something happened that cut my battery life in half. But by freshly installing them everything works fine.

And yes I had previously calibrated my battery and followed all available tips. But after unplugging on a full charge it used to say 4-5 hours now it says 9-10. After trial and error testing I am 100% positive it had to do with migrating my apps. I'm not sure which one though, or if it was all of them.

 

[djasterix]

I don't think it's related to migration, it's more like a GPU thing, that nVidia really consumes battery, force to Intel HD and you will be fine.

 

[Gorilla Power]

Apps are just apps. You're copying and pasting them and your ~/Library/Preferences folder when you're using Migration Assistant. I'm not sure how it could affect your battery life. May well be something else.

 

[nconnella]

I can't tell you why all I know is that after doing a fresh install, and using Migration Assistant to ONLY transfer my apps, the battery life went down. After doing another fresh OS install, and then freshly installing apps, battery life is great. I was convinced it was an older user preference maybe in my Library making it act like my '08 battery but I saw it wasn't after doing the app migration. Once again, can't explain why but it is what it is...

 

[GGJstudios]

... Once again, can't explain why ...

That's why you can't blame it on data migration. You have zero proof. The data you have stored on your hard drive has nothing to do with your battery life. Battery life is strictly related to your hardware use. The settings and apps you run trigger hardware use (CPU, GPU, hard drive read/write, port usage, screen brightness, etc.) If you run the same apps with the same hardware settings, you'll get exactly the same battery life if you have your drive half full of text files or images or movies or applications. It doesn't matter, since everything stored on your hard drive is nothing but zeros and ones.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

For all I know, you are 100% right and the migration from your '08 to the '10 MBP is causing your battery issues. But for the same HARDWARE, I'm not experiencing any of your issues and I migrated as well.

There are so many other possible variables at play I don't know how you can be so sure this is the culprit. But if restoring to factory does the trick for you, congrats.

I migrated and am getting 7-7.5 hours on my 15" i7 7200RPM HD 4 Gig MBP.

 

[Boneheadxan]

For all I know, you are 100% right and the migration from your '08 to the '10 MBP is causing your battery issues. But for the same HARDWARE, I'm not experiencing any of your issues and I migrated as well.

There are so many other possible variables at play I don't know how you can be so sure this is the culprit. But if restoring to factory does the trick for you, congrats.

I migrated and am getting 7-7.5 hours on my 15" i7 7200RPM HD 4 Gig MBP.

Exactly same here. And, I migrated from a 2008 MacBook.

 

[nconnella]

Then I must be an isolated incident. But I guess it's not coming through. It can't be anything else. I've tested it three times by wiping my drive and reinstalling OSX, then copying my data various ways. When I unplug my computer on a full charge with clean OS it reads about 10 hours. After a MIGRATION of my apps, it goes down to 5. And I can't stress this enough. NOTHING is open. NOTHING. Brightness is at 50%, backlight off, bluetooth off. Both are tested under exact same settings yet one gives half the battery life. Yes it's the hardware, but something in my apps was causing it to function that way. I can't see how you could come to any other conclusion when it was repeated three times, and the ONLY action that reduces battery life is a migration of my apps. Freshly installing them on the other hand, does not. Think what you like, all I know is I'm happy I've managed to get battery life to where it's supposed to be and thought I'd share this in case anyone else wants to try it. Yes there are many who THINK their batteries are not functioning properly but there are those who are doing everything right and receiving poor battery life for no reason, and this post is for them.