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WTF, 3 hours of Battery life for 2010 MacBook Pro?

X

xDeathReaperx

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 3, 2009
114
0
So, lately I've been getting under 3 hours of battery life on my MacBook Pro with the screen dimmed down to half the brightness. All I did was watch a few small videos in Quick Time.

MY MACBOOK PRO is ONLY 2 FRIGGIN Months old! WTF Apple! You said 8-9 Hours.

Help please and yes I have calibrated and used coconut battery :(

EDIT******* - Alright I also JUST noticed that when my battery is at 95% it says I only have 4 hours and 30 minutes of battery life left.. I only have FireFox open with HALF brightness WTH? I'm so confused, should I take my MacBook into Apple?

Please help..
 
Is that what you are really getting or is this based on what the computer says?

Just wondering because if I am watching a movie, it claims I will get 3-4 hours but it was enough for me to watch two movies before the battery was near 25% so... lets say I actually got 4 hours plus x hrs more life
 
Similar Situation??

Ive had my 2010 MBP 17" for about 3 weeks... This is actually my 2nd MBP 17" (first ones Airport Card went kaput when it was 2 weeks old..). With the new MBP, ive noticed that my battery life is a little less than what my 1st MBP seemed to be. Im getting approximately 5-6 hours of use, depending on what i'm doing. Heavy internet searching (for jobs) drained 3 hours out of my battery in about 1-1.5 hrs of searching... another 2-3 hours of use and my battery indicator was red.. I just downloaded CoconutBattery about 10 minutes ago and plan on monitoring my battery stats over the next few days..

currently, my stats through coconut and istatnano are attached....

Now i'm noticing a few odd things here.. First, my Current battery capacity / Maximum Battery Charge.. seems a little more than it should be?? Second off, my Age of Mac is DEFINITELY not 106 months old.. I know there is an option to enter the SN of the Mac to properly adjust for that..

Im guessing my battery may not be functioning properly at this point... If the battery is in fact bad, how are the 17" batteries swapped out? would any old apple store be able to swap it out for me (if deemed necessary?)
Sorry to be so long winded..

Thanks!
 

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tool80 said:
Ive had my 2010 MBP 17" for about 3 weeks... This is actually my 2nd MBP 17" (first ones Airport Card went kaput when it was 2 weeks old..). With the new MBP, ive noticed that my battery life is a little less than what my 1st MBP seemed to be. Im getting approximately 5-6 hours of use, depending on what i'm doing. Heavy internet searching (for jobs) drained 3 hours out of my battery in about 1-1.5 hrs of searching... another 2-3 hours of use and my battery indicator was red.. I just downloaded CoconutBattery about 10 minutes ago and plan on monitoring my battery stats over the next few days..

currently, my stats through coconut and istatnano are attached....

Now i'm noticing a few odd things here.. First, my Current battery capacity / Maximum Battery Charge.. seems a little more than it should be?? Second off, my Age of Mac is DEFINITELY not 106 months old.. I know there is an option to enter the SN of the Mac to properly adjust for that..

Im guessing my battery may not be functioning properly at this point... If the battery is in fact bad, how are the 17" batteries swapped out? would any old apple store be able to swap it out for me (if deemed necessary?)
Sorry to be so long winded..

Thanks!
Click to expand...

The Current battery capacity is correct. The max should read 13000 not 1300. Coconut battery is also notorious for incorrect ages. Your battery is likely working fine, you probably just have some flash stuff going on in some of your web pages. That will drain your battery very quickly
 
xDeathReaperx said:
So, lately I've been getting under 3 hours of battery life on my MacBook Pro with the screen dimmed down to half the brightness. All I did was watch a few small videos in Quick Time.

MY MACBOOK PRO is ONLY 2 FRIGGIN Months old! WTF Apple! You said 8-9 Hours.

Help please and yes I have calibrated and used coconut battery :(
Click to expand...

When you say you calibrated it, what exact steps did you do? I'm asking because many people think they know how to calibrate the battery by just running down the battery completely and recharging it and that's not how to do it.
 
MacDawg said:
Contact Apple Support and/or take it back for evaluation
Click to expand...

EDIT******* - Alright I also JUST noticed that when my battery is at 95% it says I only have 4 hours and 30 minutes of battery life left.. I only have FireFox open with HALF brightness WTH? I'm so confused, should I take my MacBook into Apple?
 
xDeathReaperx said:
EDIT******* - Alright I also JUST noticed that when my battery is at 95% it says I only have 4 hours and 30 minutes of battery life left.. I only have FireFox open with HALF brightness WTH? I'm so confused, should I take my MacBook into Apple?
Click to expand...

Is there flash in any of the pages you have open? That will kill your battery faster than just about anything else
 
HLdan said:
When you say you calibrated it, what exact steps did you do? I'm asking because many people think they know how to calibrate the battery by just running down the battery completely and recharging it and that's not how to do it.
Click to expand...

According to Apple..

1. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter and fully charge the MacBook or MacBook Pro battery until the light on the MagSafe connector changes to green and the Battery icon in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
2. Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for two hours or longer. You may use your computer during this time as long as the power adapter is plugged in.
3. Disconnect the power adapter with the computer on and start using it with battery power. When the battery's charge gets low, you’ll see the low battery warning dialog on the screen.
4. Continue to keep your computer turned on until it goes to sleep. Save your work and close all applications when the battery's charge gets low and before the computer goes to sleep.
5. Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or longer.
6. Reconnect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged. You may use your computer during this time.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh2339.html
 
LocoStrange said:
According to Apple..

1. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter and fully charge the MacBook or MacBook Pro battery until the light on the MagSafe connector changes to green and the Battery icon in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
2. Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for two hours or longer. You may use your computer during this time as long as the power adapter is plugged in.
3. Disconnect the power adapter with the computer on and start using it with battery power. When the battery's charge gets low, you’ll see the low battery warning dialog on the screen.
4. Continue to keep your computer turned on until it goes to sleep. Save your work and close all applications when the battery's charge gets low and before the computer goes to sleep.
5. Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or longer.
6. Reconnect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged. You may use your computer during this time.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh2339.html
Click to expand...

No no no, I think you misunderstood my post. I do know how to properly calibrate. I was checking with the OP to see how he did it. He still hasn't answered my question.
 
HLdan said:
No no no, I think you misunderstood my post. I do know how to properly calibrate. I was checking with the OP to see how he did it. He still hasn't answered my question.
Click to expand...

Ahh..sorry...Ive been up for a long time haha
 
HLdan said:
When you say you calibrated it, what exact steps did you do? I'm asking because many people think they know how to calibrate the battery by just running down the battery completely and recharging it and that's not how to do it.
Click to expand...

I thought the new non user replaceable battery equipped MBP's had "smart" calibration technology in them?
 
Yeah my 13" MacBook Pro battery life gets about 4 hours now.


I think I'm going to buy the Apple 27" monitor when it comes out if I leave the charger on it on will it reck my battery?... I was going to sell my MacBook Pro and buy a 27" iMac but now this might be a better option. If I do I will end up leaving my MacBook connect to the monitor 24/7, is that safe or ok?.
 
Rideherhard said:
Yeah my 13" MacBook Pro battery life gets about 4 hours now.


I think I'm going to buy the Apple 27" monitor when it comes out if I leave the charger on it on will it reck my battery?... I was going to sell my MacBook Pro and buy a 27" iMac but now this might be a better option. If I do I will end up leaving my MacBook connect to the monitor 24/7, is that safe or ok?.
Click to expand...

What do you do to it that it only gets 4 hours? If you're gaming, watching flash *ahem* videos, etc. it will eat up your battery. But yes, you can leave it plugged in all the time if you want. To maintain your battery, I would at least use it down to 50% charge a couple times a week.
 
alust2013 said:
What do you do to it that it only gets 4 hours? If you're gaming, watching flash *ahem* videos, etc. it will eat up your battery. But yes, you can leave it plugged in all the time if you want. To maintain your battery, I would at least use it down to 50% charge a couple times a week.
Click to expand...

Just surf the web with a bit of Video but I do have my screen on as bright as it'll go. I'll be using it more for video in the new year when I leave for school, easier than packing around a TV and hooking up cable/satellite. This is why I've been thinking about selling it and getting a 27" iMac but I may just get the 27" monitor instead.

How will I get audio through the display since my current MacBook doesn't support audio through MiniDisplay Port :( am I screwed.

If I use my MacBook for watching my TV shows, Movies and stream sports games online will it run hot? if it will is this bad for the computer?.
 
Rideherhard said:
If I use my MacBook for watching my TV shows, Movies and stream sports games online will it run hot? if it will is this bad for the computer?.
Click to expand...
Mac notebooks tend to run hot. That's normal. They're designed to automatically shut down before the heat reaches the point that it could harm your computer.
 
LocoStrange said:
According to Apple..

1. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter and fully charge the MacBook or MacBook Pro battery until the light on the MagSafe connector changes to green and the Battery icon in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
2. Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for two hours or longer. You may use your computer during this time as long as the power adapter is plugged in.
3. Disconnect the power adapter with the computer on and start using it with battery power. When the battery's charge gets low, you’ll see the low battery warning dialog on the screen.
4. Continue to keep your computer turned on until it goes to sleep. Save your work and close all applications when the battery's charge gets low and before the computer goes to sleep.
5. Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or longer.
6. Reconnect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged. You may use your computer during this time.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh2339.html
Click to expand...

Dude, I just said I already did that. READ THE whole thread.
 
Can you pull up Activity Monitor and tell us what the CPU utilization looks like? Do you have some errant process that's eating up CPU cycles (look at "All Processes" in the drop down).

Apple's claim for battery life is based on "wireless productivity" as well, not watching videos. They are claiming that you can surf the Internet for 8-9 hours - which I've found true on my 15".
 
I have the 2010 MBP 13 inch as well.
If usually have the brightness down to one, which is suitable for me indoors.
Also, since I'm a student, I typically use pages to type documents. When I do, I turn off Airport(because that takes up extra battery power) and turn off any other apps that I don't need.
Now, I last time I checked, I had 8:23 worth of battery left at a 92% charge. It helps if you turn off the extra applications that you don't need. I also read that there are also some small ways to save more battery power, for example having your background only one color. Not sure if that helps though...
 
xDeathReaperx said:
Dude, I just said I already did that. READ THE whole thread.
Click to expand...

Actually not to argue with you, but you didn't say you did all of that. You just said you "calibrated" the battery. As I said earlier many people think by calibrating it's just running the battery down and then charging it back up. I asked you what steps you took but you've refused to respond to my question. Not sure why? I've asked twice already. I'm only here to help. :(
 
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