Typical battery life?

[bobsaget123]

I've had my MacBook for about a week now. I know battery life is quoted at 8 hours or so, but this is what I've consistently been getting. Is this normal for you guys? What "hours remaining" are you guys getting close to a full charge (~90%+)?

Also, of note, the 2:18 time on battery includes how long since it was last plugged in, I have only been using it actively for about 1 hour.

 

[GGJstudios]

I've had my MacBook for about a week now. I know battery life is quoted at 8 hours or so, but this is what I've consistently been getting. Is this normal for you guys? What "hours remaining" are you guys getting close to a full charge (~90%+)?

Also, of note, the 2:18 time on battery includes how long since it was last plugged in, I have only been using it actively for about 1 hour.

There are many factors that impact your battery life, and your workload and settings won't be the same as others, so comparison is pointless. Also, the time remaining is a constantly-changing estimate, based on the minute-to-minute power demands of your Mac, which changes constantly. It is not an accurate indicator of 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.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[bluewooster]

I have also been unable to get more than 5.5 hours on a charge. I keep brightness at 3 bars and have nothing running in the background. I find my unit fairly warm (even just using safari for about 10 minutes) so I'm not sure if mine has issues. What application are you using to track your battery usage? I'd be interested to do this (maybe I'm underestimating my usage).
Thanks!

 

[GGJstudios]

I have also been unable to get more than 5.5 hours on a charge. I keep brightness at 3 bars and have nothing running in the background.

Read my earlier post and the link provided.

What application are you using to track your battery usage?

Read the CHECKING STATUS AND HEALTH section for app recommendations.

I find my unit fairly warm (even just using safari for about 10 minutes)

That is completely normal. The iStat apps recommended in the section mentioned above will also give you information regarding temperatures.

 

[amitdoc2b]

I've had my MacBook for about a week now. I know battery life is quoted at 8 hours or so, but this is what I've consistently been getting. Is this normal for you guys? What "hours remaining" are you guys getting close to a full charge (~90%+)?

Also, of note, the 2:18 time on battery includes how long since it was last plugged in, I have only been using it actively for about 1 hour.

Download Coconut Battery (from the web) or the Battery Health app (from the app store) for more info on your battery. I have both of them so can compare if you want.

 

[bluewooster]

Thanks for the advice - I'll confess, I wasn't even aware of the existence of the Activity Monitor!

I took a look and it turns out Dropbox was active and consuming quite a bit (though it is already fully synced and I thought I had it disabled as it does NOT appear in my top bar like it does on my other computers when it is active). I rebooted, disabled it, fully charged, and now my estimated time remaining is >11 hours! (I know this isn't realistic but far better than the estimated 5-6 hours I was getting before on a full charge). If I can get about 8 hours, I will consider this very acceptable!

Thanks again.

In fairness, I don't recall Dropbox affecting battery life of my MBA that much (but that battery life is so amazing, I may simply not have noticed). Maybe this improvement has more to do with simply rebooting than the Dropbox app?

 

[Hankster]

I average seven to nine hours of battery power depending on what I'm doing. If I am only surfing the web I easily get over nine hours.