Hi,
Bit of a dilemma at the moment. My new MPB TB 13 is lovely except for the battery life. I timed it today and got 4 hrs from 100% to empty with some light internet use (on Chrome) and Spotify playing. I did nothing I would consider intensive.
Tom
First of all, let me answer - no, I don't think there will be a dramatic "fix" for the battery. But I do think the problem is not, well, anything new or specific to this MBP - and that people - and media - are now really focused, so they are suddenly discovering the fact that battery life sucks. Not MBP battery life - every battery life. Even my iPhone can't do more than a few hours of demanding stuff, the only reason I can sometimes go even 2 days without charging it is because I don't use it for demanding stuff most of the time. And especially for Intel-based computers, battery life is really bad.
Battery tech is developing really slowly. And not because companies are not trying - it's just a very difficult problem to solve. Energy, in general, is one of mankind's biggest challenges - but let's not get sidetracked here.
The thing is - people are really focused on Apple products. And often times the "first impression" is what dictates the attitude. A new MBP design in years, the fact that Apple didn't update its Mac lines, the fact that it's the most valuable tech company - etc. - "MBP battery life issues" makes good (clickbait) headlines. What headlines should be is "Even in the 21. century, battery life still sucks" - but no one would read that.
With all that said, it is a bit strange that you're getting 4 hours and not more. The new MBP has a 25% smaller battery than the previous models (supposedly offset by more efficient hardware). But let's imagine Apple used the same battery as before. 25% is 1h, so instead of 4, with your usage, you would get 5. Not 10, 5.
This is what I find a bit strange with people reporting 4-5 hours of battery life - no, the 25% reduction of battery is not the reason why you get half the battery life than before. I think it has more to do with perception and paying attention to that battery meter, than to realistic issues. Even with the battery smaller, there is no reason to get such a dramatic decrease compared to the 2015. model. TB does not use that much power, everything else is more efficient (the screen, one of the largest power spenders, is 25% less power demanding, for example) - so there is no way that a 25% smaller battery results in 50% smaller battery life.
So, what's the explanation?
I have a feeling people are now just paying attention. You could
always drain the battery REALLY fast on a MacBook, or any other laptop. It depends on the software running in background. For example, I just discovered that my Wacom drivers are the SECOND biggest energy spender on my MBP. They spend more battery than a fully loaded Safari! Desktop OSes, like macOS or Windows, are complex, demanding systems, running A LOT of stuff in the background. It is much harder to estimate battery life in macOS or Windows than on iOS, for example.
So, what I'm saying is - I think people are getting less than advertised 10 hours, much less, but this was always the case. As soon as you load your apps, your backgroun processes, etc. - you start to get much less. Same with every laptop. Some people squeeze out that 10 hours, sure, but most people don't. Basically - I am not sure you would get a much better battery life on previous MacBook Pros or PC laptops. I could be mistaken, I
do not want to defend Apple here or be "the fanboy" - but do some research before getting a replacement computer or risk getting disapointed.
BTW, I would switch to Safari when using the battery. CMD+Q Chrome whenever you're not plugged in.
Hope this helps.
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The problem stems from Apple using long battery life to market the computers.
If they used real world numbers and said that they average 3 to 4 hours of battery life, there wouldn't be a problem.
Instead, they used an estimate based on the most unlikely and improbable use scenario.
True. However, all companies do this. This is.... well - capitalism, really. It's - not to insult anyone - as "American" as it gets.
"Up to" when presenting something good and "as low as/starting at" when presenting costs - is typical. Companies advertise the most powerful computers in most optimum scenarios and entry level costs.
Every laptop out there claims 10 hours or more, and it's never 10 hours in regular use.
With all that said, I was hoping Apple would squeeze in more battery life than before. What I'm getting is, more or less, the same as what I had 3 years ago.
