Battery life for 13" and 15" Macbook Pro

[hulkk]

The new 13" MacBook Pros without touchbar have more power efficient processors (15 Watts maximum consumption) than the previous generation. Hence, the battery life is pretty much on par with the previous models, even though the battery is smaller.

The new 13" MacBook Pro with touchbar has the same (or smaller) battery as the one without touchbar. BUT the processors consume up to 28 Watts of power when used.

Guys please, check your facts before distributing false information.

TDP's definition according to Intel's specification:
"Thermal Design Power (TDP) represents the average power, in watts, the processor dissipates when operating at Base Frequency with all cores active under an Intel-defined, high-complexity workload."

 

[Nik]

Guys please, check your facts before distributing false information.

TDP's definition according to Intel's specification:
"Thermal Design Power (TDP) represents the average power, in watts, the processor dissipates when operating at Base Frequency with all cores active under an Intel-defined, high-complexity workload."

Base frequency is e.g. 2.6 GHz. It is not the average consumed power when you use the notebook. It throttles the frequency when used less. So what exactly is wrong about my facts? Look up what Base Frequency means first.

 

[lobo1978]

Was you using a graphics intensive app out of curiosity?

For me deciding factor is VM performance (single session Win7 x64). With heavy modelling software VM is sluggish. Sharing CPU and GPU is just too much.

But it is still super fast as a every day computer for semi-intensive tasks. SSD is just blazing fast - I work with huge files and I can feel the difference.

 

[happypappy]

15" TB only using Mail, Safari, Messages & Finder. As I read these forums my battery level is just dropping one by one. This has got to be the worst battery I've ever used in a MacBook. Even when closed, it drains at least 20% overnight. I waited very long for this upgrade and might have to return it for a refund. So upset

 

[marcel500]

15" TB only using Mail, Safari, Messages & Finder. As I read these forums my battery level is just dropping one by one. This has got to be the worst battery I've ever used in a MacBook. Even when closed, it drains at least 20% overnight. I waited very long for this upgrade and might have to return it for a refund. So upset

That's exactly my point!!!!!! ☝️

 

[justinf77]

To those of you having severe battery life problems...

Did you set up your computer as new, or did you do a migration? I set mine up as new and I can't say I've been having nearly the level of battery issues as a lot of people here. I wonder if that's a variable we should be looking at as well.

 

[marcel500]

To those of you having severe battery life problems...

Did you set up your computer as new, or did you do a migration? I set mine up as new and I can't say I've been having nearly the level of battery issues as a lot of people here. I wonder if that's a variable we should be looking at as well.

New...discharging with 10.36 watt

 

[happypappy]

To those of you having severe battery life problems...

Did you set up your computer as new, or did you do a migration? I set mine up as new and I can't say I've been having nearly the level of battery issues as a lot of people here. I wonder if that's a variable we should be looking at as well.

I used Migration Assistant

 

[archimon]

To those of you having severe battery life problems...

Did you set up your computer as new, or did you do a migration? I set mine up as new and I can't say I've been having nearly the level of battery issues as a lot of people here. I wonder if that's a variable we should be looking at as well.

I also used Migration Assistant - what sort of battery life are you getting on your tMBP? 13" or 15"?

 

[justinf77]

I also used Migration Assistant - what sort of battery life are you getting on your tMBP? 13" or 15"?

I'm getting around 8-9 hours with my usual work activity, and I think I would be able to get 10 if I limited myself to just browsing on Safari.

I actually created a macro to test out battery life but haven't had the time to run it yet. Essentially just cycling through multiple tabs in Safari and reloading pages every 20 seconds. Wanted to see how it would last under fully automated conditions.

EDIT - It's the 13" TB model, updated my signature to include that info.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

I've been using Coconut Battery to track power consumption for the last 24 hours. Even with light usage (Safari, Mail, Messages, Calendar) it rarely falls below 5.5 watts, and is often above 6 or even 7. That is the problem right there. To get 10 hours it would need to average 4.9 watts consumption, since the battery is 49.2 watt-hours.

My sense at this point:

• SMC reset does help, but it's temporary and needs to be done repeatedly; there is some issue with power management and these tMBPs
• Even with SMC reset, they still do not get anywhere near 10 hours with normal usage; it's closer to 8 hours, max

Would love to hear from others on these two questions:

1. What kind of battery life are you seeing after SMC reset? I'm not talking about estimates, I'm talking about actual battery life from full charge to discharge.
2. Has the effect of the SMC reset "stuck", or have you had to do it again?
3. What kind of power consumption in watts are you seeing on average (you'll need Coconut Battery or similar to track this)?

 

[SamVilde]

Any difference between the 8GB and 16GB models?

 

[marcel500]

I've been using Coconut Battery to track power consumption for the last 24 hours. Even with light usage (Safari, Mail, Messages, Calendar) it rarely falls below 5.5 watts, and is often above 6 or even 7. That is the problem right there. To get 10 hours it would need to average 4.9 watts consumption, since the battery is 49.2 watt-hours.

My sense at this point:

• SMC reset does help, but it's temporary and needs to be done repeatedly; there is some issue with power management and these tMBPs
• Even with SMC reset, they still do not get anywhere near 10 hours with normal usage; it's closer to 8 hours, max

Would love to hear from others on these two questions:

1. What kind of battery life are you seeing after SMC reset? I'm not talking about estimates, I'm talking about actual battery life from full charge to discharge.
2. Has the effect of the SMC reset "stuck", or have you had to do it again?
3. What kind of power consumption in watts are you seeing on average (you'll need Coconut Battery or similar to track this)?

Make sense to me what you are explaining:

1. What kind of battery life are you seeing after SMC reset? I'm not talking about estimates, I'm talking about actual battery life from full charge to discharge. No changes.
2. Has the effect of the SMC reset "stuck", or have you had to do it again? Only did it once
3. What kind of power consumption in watts are you seeing on average (you'll need Coconut Battery or similar to track this)? More than 8 Watt in average.

Just to double confirm, how to perform the reset:
1. Shutdown computer.
2. Connect power cable
3. Shift / Control / Option and Fingerprint button, hold, then release jointly

 

[jacob_w]

I've been using Coconut Battery to track power consumption for the last 24 hours. Even with light usage (Safari, Mail, Messages, Calendar) it rarely falls below 5.5 watts, and is often above 6 or even 7. That is the problem right there. To get 10 hours it would need to average 4.9 watts consumption, since the battery is 49.2 watt-hours.

My sense at this point:

• SMC reset does help, but it's temporary and needs to be done repeatedly; there is some issue with power management and these tMBPs
• Even with SMC reset, they still do not get anywhere near 10 hours with normal usage; it's closer to 8 hours, max

Would love to hear from others on these two questions:

1. What kind of battery life are you seeing after SMC reset? I'm not talking about estimates, I'm talking about actual battery life from full charge to discharge.
2. Has the effect of the SMC reset "stuck", or have you had to do it again?
3. What kind of power consumption in watts are you seeing on average (you'll need Coconut Battery or similar to track this)?

15" w/ TB, 2.6GHz/256GB. I got 6 hours and 50 mins of use yesterday on its 6th charge under normal usage (Spotify, Word, Excel and Safari). Reset SMC a few times but I don't think it made a difference. With my old 15" rMBP, I could stay in the library for 9 hours without a charger.

 

[lobo1978]

To get 10 hours it would need to average 4.9 watts consumption, since the battery is 49.2 watt-hours.

That's NOT how you do this 'math' - to use watts you must take into equation voltage. Use mA and mAh to calculate estimated time. Look for my previous posts (several back in this thread) on how to properly calculate usage.

 

[alldat]

How do I know if I successfully reset the SMC ?

 

[pshifrin]

I have a 13 3.3/16/512. It's 6 days old, all indexing and photos stuff is done. I'm working remotely today. After 1 hour of use: safari, email and some remote access, brightness at 50%, I've used 13% battery and show 6:50 remaining. Not terrible I guess but that seems the be the most i'll ever get out of this. Otherwise, loving this computer.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

That's NOT how you do this 'math' - to use watts you must take into equation voltage. Use mA and mAh to calculate estimated time. Look for my previous posts (several back in this thread) on how to properly calculate usage.

I stand corrected, thanks.

I will stick with Battery Health 2, then, since it shows mA and mAh.

 

[mercedes27]

I have a 13 3.3/16/512. It's 6 days old, all indexing and photos stuff is done. I'm working remotely today. After 1 hour of use: safari, email and some remote access, brightness at 50%, I've used 13% battery and show 6:50 remaining. Not terrible I guess but that seems the be the most i'll ever get out of this. Otherwise, loving this computer.

It looks very good. And you also have top spec 3,3 i7/ 16GB RAM. I hope I will get at least 7,5hours. Mine spec is only i5 2,9 - the rest is the same.

 

[bizack]

It looks very good. And you also have top spec 3,3 i7/ 16GB RAM. I hope I will get at least 7,5hours. Mine spec is only i5 2,9 - the rest is the same.

I think the difference in battery life will be neglible between processors unless you're doing CPU intensive work.

 

[hulkk]

Base frequency is e.g. 2.6 GHz. It is not the average consumed power when you use the notebook. It throttles the frequency when used less. So what exactly is wrong about my facts? Look up what Base Frequency means first.

You are stating that non-TB would have "more power efficient processors (15 Watts maximum consumption)" vs. the TB would have "processors consume up to 28 Watts of power".

The wattage isn't about maximum consumption, it is about TDP which is about maximum (continuous) average power consumption without throttling.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Ok, I have very good news folks. I used new nonTouch MacBook Pro (base model) through my usual Monday routine. MacBook managed to deliver awesome result! Usually at the end (with 2015 rMBP) I had 70-72% left of battery capacity - today 80%! That's really impressive result.

For me it is indirect proof that there is nothing wrong with battery life of Touchbar version - it will deliver the same as 2015 Pro.

But battery life for non-Touch is outstanding (taking into account reduced battery capacity). I'm very tempted to stick with this bad boy but it is a little to underpowered for my needs. You can feel it is just 15W CPU (like in MacBook Air) when you push it.

I hope this real-life example will help those that OCD over battery life. Trust me there is nothing wrong - and I have my doubts at the beginning too.

Getting good battery usage from the non touch bar is not indirect proof that the battery on the touch bar is fine. In fact, your indirect proof is nothing more than logical fallacy. I realize you meant well. However, logical fallacy is not helpful.

 

[lobo1978]

Getting good battery usage from the non touch bar is not indirect proof that the battery on the touch bar is fine. In fact, your indirect proof is nothing more than logical fallacy. I realize you meant well. However, logical fallacy is not helpful.

As I was saying: "For me it is indirect proof [...]" - you are just hearing my inner commentary. Read with understanding - you will not fall into logical fallacy

When I finally receive Touch version (delivery by 21 Dec) I will have plenty of time to compare. I could line them up and see how they perform. Maybe my experience will help others get over it.

Return window is closing in first week of January 2017 - so no pressure
[doublepost=1479755697][/doublepost]This is base noTouchbar version - please find screenshot attached. The whole frickin day from 8 am to 8 pm. After +12 hrs still 40% left (computer was not active the whole time - see graph from activity monitor. Time on battery 13:16, battery life left 5:10, remaining charge 42%.

Awesome!

 

[badlydrawnboy]

As I was saying: "For me it is indirect proof [...]" - you are just hearing my inner commentary. Read with understanding - you will not fall into logical fallacy

When I finally receive Touch version (delivery by 21 Dec) I will have plenty of time to compare. I could line them up and see how they perform. Maybe my experience will help others get over it.

Return window is closing in first week of January 2017 - so no pressure
[doublepost=1479755697][/doublepost]This is base noTouchbar version - please find screenshot attached. The whole frickin day from 8 am to 8 pm. After +12 hrs still 40% left (computer was not active the whole time - see graph from activity monitor. Time on battery 13:16, battery life left 5:10, remaining charge 42%.

Awesome!

Well, my battery estimate for this 4th cycle seems to have creeped up again. I'm at 46% and it says 4:23 remaining. That would suggest total time of 9.5 hours. Unfortunately I'm using Coconut Battery this time, and it doesn't track the time I've been on battery and I didn't track it manually. I don't think it has been 5 hours. I used it for an hour yesterday, watched a one-hour video, and have used it for maybe 2 hours today. But that's just from memory.

For the next cycle I'm going to use Battery Health 2 and pay attention to the mAH usage.

If I can get 9 hours reliably I'd be perfectly happy. Even 8.5 would probably be fine.

 

[lrremac]

Same boat as a lot of people MBP 13 with TouchBar and I am getting at MAX 5:30hr of battery life, I will be returning this if Apple does not issue some firmware fix? Has anyone heard anything substantial from Apple Support regarding this issue?