YouTube/Flash/CD/DVD drain

[Peter Franks]

Just a quick question to anyone with a mid 2011 i5 13", or the like.

Is it just me or does the percentage by the battery go down at a rate of absolute knots when viewing YouTube, or playing DVD, Flash etc. I know Flash is a killer, but DVD, burning etc kills my battery which wasn't ever great to start with, anyway.

Are there any tips other than 'quit' whatever else is open.

It's the only really disappointing aspect of my MBP. Battery is total rubbish. Always has been. I've viewed so many topics about battery on here and on Apple's site, and it would appear that so many of you have a great battery life, 7 - 13 hours plus, and I appear to have been the one who got the dud.

Do any of you get a movie of 2 hours plus from a DVD and only make a small dent in your battery, or watch Flash clips/movie online and not see that percentage bar go down in 1 or 2 minute increments?

If anyone has sussed out a way of making this thing work better, it would be great to know. Thanks

 

[iHeartMyMBP]

I just got this 13" Macbook Pro last week and I love it, but I know what you're talking about. Flash videos and DVDs bring the battery life down quite a bit.

Then again I usually have at least 6 tabs open and iTunes running in the background at all times. I also use stickies and the dashboard quite a bit.

I'm just worried that my battery is a dud also. Is there any true way to tell?

 

[Peter Franks]

Well someone did say you can take it in the store and get them to test it, but they're probably going to say it's OK, they usually do. I just think some of us with the 13" have been really unlucky. I'm forever attached to a plug socket and it's the only real down side to the MBP. Is yours the i5 or i7?

 

[sparky1499]

See this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1313974/

 

[Woojun912]

I just got my 13" Macbook Pro yesterday (1/24/2012), the baseline model. I don't notice anything but maybe it's because I'm a new mac user so I don't know anything about it. But I am calibrating it cso I read on the support forum on the apple site that you should calibrate it once you get it. Let it charge 2-4 hours or something then drain it until the laptop shuts it self off. Am I right?

 

[thundersteele]

Am I right?

No. Read again.

 

[Woojun912]

No. Read again.

My apologies.

 

[Peter Franks]

I just got my 13" Macbook Pro yesterday (1/24/2012), the baseline model. I don't notice anything but maybe it's because I'm a new mac user so I don't know anything about it. But I am calibrating it cso I read on the support forum on the apple site that you should calibrate it once you get it. Let it charge 2-4 hours or something then drain it until the laptop shuts it self off. Am I right?

Don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but that's more to do with accurate battery readings so you can see your charge, than anything to do with battery life. I did that, still do on occasion but it makes **** difference to the battery length or charge power

 

[heisenberg123]

those are all pretty battery intensive things how is you battery on normal usuage like webpages with text(fourms, news, etc.) is you brightness and backlight cranked?

 

[GuitarG20]

playing flash will drain your battery faster because flash is horribly made and eats CPU cycles. and, if it heats your computer up, then the fans will turn on, using yet more battery.

Using the DVD drive will drain your battery because the superdrive is then in operation, whereas before it wasn't being used and so it wasn't drawing any power.

both of these seem pretty obvious to me, to be honest.

 

[Peter Franks]

those are all pretty battery intensive things how is you battery on normal usuage like webpages with text(fourms, news, etc.) is you brightness and backlight cranked?

Not great, also only a couple of hours or so. Nowhere near like the 7 - 10 quoted by so many

playing flash will drain your battery faster because flash is horribly made and eats CPU cycles. and, if it heats your computer up, then the fans will turn on, using yet more battery.

Using the DVD drive will drain your battery because the superdrive is then in operation, whereas before it wasn't being used and so it wasn't drawing any power.

both of these seem pretty obvious to me, to be honest.

Yes, may be obvious, but not to this degree of watching the percentage in the battery icon go down every minute when on YouTube or the likes. Fan only really comes on when secure deleting trash if a lot in there or burning DVDs.

Never mind these Ivy/Sandy/Tower Bridge updates and retina screen MBPs, how about someone inventing a battery that lasts a day, and can be used for Flash/DVD

 

[GuitarG20]

Yes, may be obvious, but not to this degree of watching the percentage in the battery icon go down every minute when on YouTube or the likes. Fan only really comes on when secure deleting trash if a lot in there or burning DVDs.

Have you tried resetting the SMC?

 

[sparky1499]

Oh dear. You use your MBP and you worry about the battery running down?

I'm browsing the web, brightness turned down low, say three or four blobs, my battery shows 8hrs and 49 minutes remaining(89%)...

Where is GGJstudios when you need him?

 

[Peter Franks]

GGJ has linked me to battery pages before, but like I say, no 2 batteries are alike, IMO

3 or 4 blobs? Too dim for me, 4 yeh I can live with, which I do, mostly.

SMC? Nope What is that?

That percentage goes down far too quickly for my liking, even on 3 blobs brightness and only this page open

Is there a sensor with the brightness, because i set it but sure it has a mind of it's own when I check it later on. Probably needs turning off somewhere, because sometimes when it's on 3 it moves I'm sure.

 

[GuitarG20]

the SMC is the System Management Controller, which controls power draw to components of the computer. I find that resetting it after each software update improves my battery life. Try resetting it: [Apple]

 

[thundersteele]

Never mind these Ivy/Sandy/Tower Bridge updates and retina screen MBPs, how about someone inventing a battery that lasts a day, and can be used for Flash/DVD

Some of us actually need a powerful computer, and not just a DVD player.

I'm very happy that I can browse the web for 6-7 hours (12/16 brightness) yet at the same time some of my code runs up to 4 times faster than on my 2008 machine.

 

[Peter Franks]

the SMC is the System Management Controller, which controls power draw to components of the computer. I find that resetting it after each software update improves my battery life. Try resetting it: [Apple]

Will do, thanks

Some of us actually need a powerful computer, and not just a DVD player.

I'm very happy that I can browse the web for 6-7 hours (12/16 brightness) yet at the same time some of my code runs up to 4 times faster than on my 2008 machine.

I use it for business, but would be nice to watch the odd DVD and a bit of YouTube, however, I don't/can't because of the battery!

 

[The Economist]

Just a quick question to anyone with a mid 2011 i5 13", or the like.

Is it just me or does the percentage by the battery go down at a rate of absolute knots when viewing YouTube, or playing DVD, Flash etc. I know Flash is a killer, but DVD, burning etc kills my battery which wasn't ever great to start with, anyway.

Are there any tips other than 'quit' whatever else is open.

It's the only really disappointing aspect of my MBP. Battery is total rubbish. Always has been. I've viewed so many topics about battery on here and on Apple's site, and it would appear that so many of you have a great battery life, 7 - 13 hours plus, and I appear to have been the one who got the dud.

Do any of you get a movie of 2 hours plus from a DVD and only make a small dent in your battery, or watch Flash clips/movie online and not see that percentage bar go down in 1 or 2 minute increments?

If anyone has sussed out a way of making this thing work better, it would be great to know. Thanks

Physical media is dead buddy. DVD playback and burning will obviously drain you battery, the usual recommendations when you want to save power are: dim the screen and turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when not needed.

Anyway, you should enable the HTML5 YouTube player or install ClicktoFlash. H.264 playback is the best way to save power.

 

[thundersteele]

I use it for business, but would be nice to watch the odd DVD and a bit of YouTube, however, I don't/can't because of the battery!

I don't know about DVDs, but I get 3-4 hours out of my battery if I watch youtube videos. That's ok for me.

There is the secondary problem with youtube using flash, which is not very efficient. Youtube has finally realized this problem and is working on providing html5 video playback.

 

[MarcErland]

I have a 2010 MBP 13".. Used it everyday, charged it everyday.. And I can fall asleep with a couple of movies running via VLC on repeat and wake up 6 hours later with it still on and Playing. Of course my screen brightness is set to 2-3 "Blobs" but still!!

 

[Peter Franks]

Physical media is dead buddy. DVD playback and burning will obviously drain you battery, the usual recommendations when you want to save power are: dim the screen and turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when not needed.

Anyway, you should enable the HTML5 YouTube player or install ClicktoFlash. H.264 playback is the best way to save power.

H.264? what comes in that format?
Is click to flash the same as enabling the html5? Does html5 use less than flash?

I don't know about DVDs, but I get 3-4 hours out of my battery if I watch youtube videos. That's ok for me.

There is the secondary problem with youtube using flash, which is not very efficient. Youtube has finally realized this problem and is working on providing html5 video playback.

I do only use WiFi if that's a big factor, but then if I wasn't on battery I'd be plugged in power wise too as well as net wise, if you know what I mean

I have a 2010 MBP 13".. Used it everyday, charged it everyday.. And I can fall asleep with a couple of movies running via VLC on repeat and wake up 6 hours later with it still on and Playing. Of course my screen brightness is set to 2-3 "Blobs" but still!!

You're just trying to make me jealous aren't you?

 

[iKIKO]

Just a quick question to anyone with a mid 2011 i5 13", or the like.

Is it just me or does the percentage by the battery go down at a rate of absolute knots when viewing YouTube, or playing DVD, Flash etc. I know Flash is a killer, but DVD, burning etc kills my battery which wasn't ever great to start with, anyway.

Are there any tips other than 'quit' whatever else is open.

It's the only really disappointing aspect of my MBP. Battery is total rubbish. Always has been. I've viewed so many topics about battery on here and on Apple's site, and it would appear that so many of you have a great battery life, 7 - 13 hours plus, and I appear to have been the one who got the dud.

Do any of you get a movie of 2 hours plus from a DVD and only make a small dent in your battery, or watch Flash clips/movie online and not see that percentage bar go down in 1 or 2 minute increments?

If anyone has sussed out a way of making this thing work better, it would be great to know. Thanks

flash player is a battery killer, try the click to flash safari plugin, it works perfect for me. it can save you battery life when surfing and stuff

 

[thundersteele]

I do only use WiFi if that's a big factor, but then if I wasn't on battery I'd be plugged in power wise too as well as net wise, if you know what I mean

Yeah, hard to get youtube without wifi. The Wifi itself is not a big deal.

Video players vary a lot by efficiency, both the online (flash vs. html5 vs. other formats) and offline (VLC and others...).

 

[The Economist]

H.264? what comes in that format?
Is click to flash the same as enabling the html5? Does html5 use less than flash?

Hi Peter. All of YouTube's videos are in H.264, well except really old videos uploaded in 2006. H.264 is used when viewing YouTube on the iPhone, remember how there's no Flash installed on iOS? ClickToFlash gives you access to those same H.264 videos.

You will not only save power but you will also skip advertisements because they don't work when playing the video in H.264. H.264 is natively supported by Safari and your Mac, Quicktime uses that codec and it's part of HTML5. HTML5 will always consume less power than Flash, it's a long story.

The HTML5 player in YouTube is not the same thing as ClickToFlash, that player is kind of clunky and ugly and last time I used it, there was no full-screen option!

Give ClickToFlash a try, it is awesome. It can also be found at Apple's website. Just scroll through the list.

 

[GGJstudios]

GGJ has linked me to battery pages before

Yes, I have, a few times. It would be helpful if you would take the time to actually read it this time. If you do, you will have the answers to your questions.

but like I say, no 2 batteries are alike

For the purposes of the discussion in this thread, yes, they are all alike. The same principles hold true and the same care, use and troubleshooting applies to all Apple notebook batteries. Yours is not a unique case.

That percentage goes down far too quickly for my liking

The drain on your battery is directly related to the settings you've chosen and the apps/widgets/processes you have running, just like everyone else's battery.

Is it just me or does the percentage by the battery go down at a rate of absolute knots when viewing YouTube, or playing DVD, Flash etc. I know Flash is a killer, but DVD, burning etc kills my battery which wasn't ever great to start with, anyway.

If you would actually read the link below, you would know that there are many factors that impact your battery life, including Flash on websites and other multimedia operations. See the BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE section of the following link for details.

This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​