Very disappointed with the battery of the 2015 MBP

[deepakvrao]

Just got the 2105 MBP 13" and after about a week, I see that the battery is down from a 100% to 75% over just maybe an hour and a half. I thought that these had a 12 hour battery life, and would beat my 2011 MBA.

Is this normal or should I get my laptop checked?

 

[snaky69]

Battery life is 100% dependent on what you do with your computer.

Since you have provided zero information regarding that, nobody can aswer your question.

 

[deepakvrao]

Was watching youtube videos, and surfing.

 

[Dark Void]

Just got the 2105 MBP 13"

Is it so thin that it is one dimensional in 2105?

I wouldn't jump to conclusions on your battery. Use for it a couple of cycles, and if you dissatisfied with its performance based on your usage, report back with specifics and information.

 

[deepakvrao]

OK, some reading says that Chrome is the culprit. Lemme see if I switch to Safari.

 

[SE43]

OK, some reading says that Chrome is the culprit. Lemme see if I switch to Safari.

Yep, Chrome is a bit battery sucker.

So is many other factors, brightness, wifi, bluetooth, certain programs that use a lot of cpu power and lots of other things.

Also remember the reviews that say "12 hour battery life" tend to test the battery in a non real life scenario.

 

[ApolloBoy]

I thought that these had a 12 hour battery life

They usually get that figure by doing light web browsing with Safari and some document viewing with the brightness turned down.

 

[snaky69]

Was watching youtube videos, and surfing.

On what browser? If you're using chrome, that's your problem right there.

Also, you should learn to read the fine print. The website clearly states "Up to X hours", not "X hours". Battery tests are done with a pages document open, wifi on, everything else off, brightness down about 1/3 of the way and refreshing the page every 30 seconds on a website with no flash content.

Install something like adblock plus and avoid flash-based websites, use youtube in html5 mode, use safari, and report back.

On an not-too-related note, I just cannot comprehend why people insist on using chrome. It's a shoddy, resource hogging piece of software made by a company that makes billions by spying on its users and reselling their info for advertising.

 

[mlsusa]

On an not-too-related note, I just cannot comprehend why people insist on using chrome. It's a shoddy, resource hogging piece of software made by a company that makes billions by spying on its users and reselling their info for advertising.

Didn't use to be. It was lightweight and responsive when it first came out. Also, in my opinion, it provides a better user experience than Safari.

I'm primarily using Safari now on my rMBP because of the huge difference in smoothness. Chrome chokes on even basic web sites unless I switch on the dGPU. Otherwise it'd be my preference. Safari has some baffling behavior to me. For example, if I want to open all bookmarks in a folder, it wipes out the existing tabs first.

 

[deepakvrao]

On what browser? If you're using chrome, that's your problem right there.

Also, you should learn to read the fine print. The website clearly states "Up to X hours", not "X hours". Battery tests are done with a pages document open, wifi on, everything else off, brightness down about 1/3 of the way and refreshing the page every 30 seconds on a website with no flash content.

Install something like adblock plus and avoid flash-based websites, use youtube in html5 mode, use safari, and report back.

On an not-too-related note, I just cannot comprehend why people insist on using chrome. It's a shoddy, resource hogging piece of software made by a company that makes billions by spying on its users and reselling their info for advertising.

Like the next poster says, Chrome gives [me at least] a better experience, and it syncs with my Win PC at work.

I know about the 'upto' X hours. What I meant was in comparison to my 2011 MBA, which is now 4 years old, the new MBP does not compare well.

Anyway, from this morning I am not using Chrome, so let me see.

 

[z31fanatic]

There is no way you will get 12 hours. Whoever claims that is just lying.
If you can get 8 hours of use then it's good in my opinion.

 

[Ahmahzahn]

Wait... 12 hours? Apple itself claims that these should last 10 hours, and claims from the manufacturer tend to be a little exaggerated in most cases. I would manage your expectations a bit before you consider exchanging the machine.

 

[JBat]

On what browser? If you're using chrome, that's your problem right there.

Also, you should learn to read the fine print. The website clearly states "Up to X hours", not "X hours". Battery tests are done with a pages document open, wifi on, everything else off, brightness down about 1/3 of the way and refreshing the page every 30 seconds on a website with no flash content.

Install something like adblock plus and avoid flash-based websites, use youtube in html5 mode, use safari, and report back.

On an not-too-related note, I just cannot comprehend why people insist on using chrome. It's a shoddy, resource hogging piece of software made by a company that makes billions by spying on its users and reselling their info for advertising.

Gee, I don't know, because it blows Safari out of the water?

 

[johannnn]

[..]and would beat my 2011 MBA.

Screens drain a lot of battery, that's why MBA has such good battery life. A crappy screen has both pros and cons.

 

[JackieInCo]

There is no way you will get 12 hours. Whoever claims that is just lying.
If you can get 8 hours of use then it's good in my opinion.

8 hours is what I've gotten so far with the brightness turned down about halfway. I was streaming a movie to my ATV2 for about 90 minutes of that time.

I think 8 hours is excellent.

 

[snaky69]

Gee, I don't know, because it blows Safari out of the water?

Blows it out of the water at doing what? In my usage scenario, it does nothing at all better than Safari does.

Don't put add-ons into the argument, they are independently developped and any competent programmer could make the same add-on for any browser.

 

[joeszef1]

I have a Retina MacBook Pro Early 2015 base model.

I have BT ON (Audio Streaming), Chrome (with 9-10 tabs open), Backlit OFF, Screen 4 bars, WIFI ON, Spotify ON, Tawk.to (Live chat On), Airmail 2 (syncing every min), Safari (with 3 tabs open), Wireless mouse (with USB wireless receiver plugged in) and I was running 8 hours with 5% left on battery.

 

[deepakvrao]

OK, switched to Safari, and I got four hours thirty minutes with screen on, and no main power connection for over 14 hours, so 10 hours in sleep, with battery drop to 50%, which is not bad, but then I had about 10% drop over about 6 hours overnight with the laptop shut, and presumably in sleep mode. I don't think my Air would lose 10% over 6 hours of sleep?

 

[JBat]

Blows it out of the water at doing what? In my usage scenario, it does nothing at all better than Safari does.

Don't put add-ons into the argument, they are independently developped and any competent programmer could make the same add-on for any browser.

I don't use add-ons. Little things, like quicker page loading, an actual full-screen mode, which is useful for a lot of the photography websites I frequent, the little URL icons on each open tab that makes identifying it much easier (on the toolbar menu as well).

Safari still doesn't automatically open the previous browsing session when launched, much like Mail doesn't default to the inbox when launched (explain that one to me). What else. Setting the page zoom ONE time, instead of having to do it every time a new page loads. In Chrome I can set the default size to 110% (or whatever) and it works every time. As a result, Safari fonts are always just a little too small for my tastes. If I open a photo and zoom in, when I go back to the previous page it's zoomed also. Retarded.

There's a lot of little refinements Apple could make to Safari, and other apps, that would make put it on par with the best browsers. Just my opinion.

Chrome has its issues as well, but it works better for me.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

On an not-too-related note, I just cannot comprehend why people insist on using chrome. It's a shoddy, resource hogging piece of software made by a company that makes billions by spying on its users and reselling their info for advertising.

Except that Google do not do this.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Don't put add-ons into the argument, they are independently developped and any competent programmer could make the same add-on for any browser.

The Safari extension API is very limited and locked down (in typical Apple fashion). This is why things like adblockers are pathetic on Safari compared to Chrome... oh and Safari has only 5% marketshare so many devs don't even bother.

 

[johannnn]

Safari still doesn't automatically open the previous browsing session when launched,

Safari > Preferences > General > Safari opens with > All windows from last session

What else. Setting the page zoom ONE time, instead of having to do it every time a new page loads. In Chrome I can set the default size to 110% (or whatever) and it works every time. As a result, Safari fonts are always just a little too small for my tastes.

Solution 1) From Safaris preferences in the advanced tab, you can choose minimum font size.
Solution 2) There are extensions that do this, e.g. http://www.cerimorgan.com/products/zoombysite/. Although I think the future for these extensions is grim given Apple's new extension fee.
Solution 3) Create a css file with following text

body {
zoom: 110%;
}

then go to Safari's preferences in the advanced tab, and add it as the Style Sheet.

If I open a photo and zoom in, when I go back to the previous page it's zoomed also. Retarded.

Depends on how you zoom in. If you "pinch in to zoom", the previous page is not zoomed.

The Safari extension API is very limited and locked down (in typical Apple fashion). This is why things like adblockers are pathetic on Safari compared to Chrome... oh and Safari has only 5% marketshare so many devs don't even bother.

ublock is not pathetic on Safari, far from it.

 

[JBat]

Safari > Preferences > General > Safari opens with > All windows from last session


Solution 1) From Safaris preferences in the advanced tab, you can choose minimum font size.
Solution 2) There are extensions that do this, e.g. http://www.cerimorgan.com/products/zoombysite/. Although I think the future for these extensions is grim given Apple's new extension fee.
Solution 3) Create a css file with following text

body {
zoom: 110%;
}

then go to Safari's preferences in the advanced tab, and add it as the Style Sheet.

Depends on how you zoom in. If you "pinch in to zoom", the previous page is not zoomed.


ublock is not pathetic on Safari, far from it.

Thanks for the solutions, but other browsers open the previous sessions by default. Why Safari doesn't do this is beyond me. It's a pretty standard feature these days.

Setting the font size isn't the same as setting the page zoom level. I've tried the font sizing and the page doesn't look as good. I'll try it again, however. We shouldn't have to use an extension to do this. I just read about Apple's new extension fee and it's not making the developers very happy.

I don't usually pinch to zoom, I just use the Command plus/minus sign keyboard shortcut. KB shortcuts have always been quicker and easier for me and I'm pretty obsessive about learning as many of them as I can. That said, the trackpad on my Air blows away any other I've used by several light years. So many things can be done from it and it really enhances the user interface. I love it.

Thanks for the input.

 

[MBHockey]

The Safari extension API is very limited and locked down (in typical Apple fashion). This is why things like adblockers are pathetic on Safari compared to Chrome... oh and Safari has only 5% marketshare so many devs don't even bother.

5% marketshare? Where do you come up with such nonsense? Every single Mac ships with Safari as the default browser. If you think 95% of people who own Macs switch their browsers to Chrome you're delusional.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

5% marketshare? Where do you come up with such nonsense? Every single Mac ships with Safari as the default browser. If you think 95% of people who own Macs switch their browsers to Chrome you're delusional.

Ummm.... really? Have a think about what you've written and consider that Chrome and Firefox add ons also work on Linux and Windows.