Battery life for 13" and 15" Macbook Pro

[JohnnyGo]

Indeed ! It's clear from my user experience that constant Wifi use (aka video/music streaming, downloading files, cloud syncing) will further limit battery life.

I will try to watch an youtube video for an hour and see what is my battery discharge.

I have to run for an external meeting. But I was able to run the YouTube test for 33 minutes (HD video, full screen, 70% brightness, 50% speakers). Here are the results:

Start @3267 mAh - 78% - 8:56
End at @2944 - 70% - 9:29

After 33 min = 323 mAh = 587mAh per hour

7 ½ hour battery life implied if one would watch YouTube using 100% battery

 

[Gabrielanicolao]

Well, I'm using 13" and 15" Macbook Pro but I have not yet faced any problem.

 

[Roller]

10 hours is a myth if you look at the test conditions apple use. They don't have bluetooth or wifi turned on and when they watch a film they're not doing it like 99% of users do, they're playing a file locally off of the machine.

I think if you're USING your mac, 7 hours is realistically what you should aim for. I don't even get close and my discharge is around 7W.

I've gotten close to 10 hours with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, Mail and Outlook 2016 actively updating, Evernote and a file-sharing service syncing, working in MS Word, and even a few software installs. Brightness was down a few clicks from the top. I don't dispute that you and others are getting less, but it shows how idiosyncratic this is. Slight changes in usage can have a significant impact on battery life.

 

[ibizarocks]

I've gotten close to 10 hours with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, Mail and Outlook 2016 actively updating, Evernote and a file-sharing service syncing, working in MS Word, and even a few software installs. Brightness was down a few clicks from the top. I don't dispute that you and others are getting less, but it shows how idiosyncratic this is. Slight changes in usage can have a significant impact on battery life.

15 or 13"?

 

[DB4AW]

I am still not satisfied with the battery. I normally got 6.5-7 hours with regular use. Can I get a replace? I bought it exactly one month ago.

Normally Apple's return policy is 14 days from the date of receipt. However, Apple's holiday return policy clearly states that "Items purchased at the Apple Online Store online that are received between 11/10/16 and 12/25/16 may be returned through 1/8/17." Here is the link: http://www.apple.com/shop/help/returns_refund

 

[rickeames]

So I just watched my MBP drop 25% in an hour. I'm on a 15" (2.9/460/1TB) and just running InVision in a webpage with Adobe Cloud running in the background, Slack, and Spark. That's a ridiculous drop for 1 hour. I'd like to see if anyone has swapped out a MBP and gotten much improved battery life before I bother upending the better part in a few days of backing up, waiting, swapping out, etc.

 

[DB4AW]

Based on what I've read and my experience, let's put the 2016 MBP battery life issue in perspective. If your new 2016 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar averages between 7 and 8 hours battery life on light usage (web surfing, email, video watching, music playing, word processing, etc) then that is pretty good. If you get more then 8 hours then that is even better. Between 6 and 7 hours is a grey area that you can choose to live with or not. If you're getting less than 6 hours then Apple Support should be contacted. Seriously. But remember that this battery life should only be expected with what Apple considers light usage. Light usage is pretty much what we do on tablets. Web surfing, email, word processing, playing music and movie playing, etc. You wouldn't use a tablet to edit 4K video. It's not yet designed or built to handle that. Also, games can tax a tablet's battery just as it does the MBP. The more graphics that game has to move around the more battery that will be expended.

The point that I'm trying to make is to expect better battery life from your MBP when doing tablet like stuff. For anything more intense, your powerful MBP notebook computer can handle it (unlike a tablet) but it will be at the expense of battery life. You just have to expect and accept that. But you know what. That's why Apple supplies us with a power adapter for when we need more than battery power. My MBP is mostly used at home. When I'm home my MBP is plugged in (unlike a tablet) and battery life is obviously not an issue. For those times that I might take my MBP out with no access to AC power, I know not to use my MBP to do anything that might tax the battery. If you do then you should probably carry a spare power adapter and make sure you have access to a proper AC outlet.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

I've experienced a noticeable increase in battery life, both in terms of actual usage (6-6.5 hours to 7-7.5 hours) and charge lost during sleep (from 3% per hour to probably 0.5% per hour).

However, this is still under what I was hoping for—at least 8 hours, and preferably 8.5-9.

Will be a tough decision on 1/7... go with the convenience of TouchID and 1Password and live with 7-7.5 hours (sure to decline over time), or get the 13" non-TB and get 9-9.5 hours.

I don't need more than 2 ports and I don't need the extra processing power with the TB version, so it really comes down to that.

 

[Woodcrest64]

My bad. You have to maintain 7.6watts or less on the new 15" MacBook Pro touch bar to get the 10 hours. The battery is rated for 76 watt hours. The older retina MacBook Pros are rated for 95 watt hours.

The 13" non touch MacBook Pro has a 54.5 watt hour battery. The touch version has 49.2. This is why you could see better battery life on the non touch 13" model assuming you maintain the same amount watts while using the machine. So to get 10 hours you need to burn no more than 4.9 watts on the touch 13" model and 5.4 watts on the non-touch 13" model.

The issue though like Johnnygo mentioned is you start doing anything where the processor is running anything semi to intensive tasks, the watts start climbing! If you browse the web with websites that keep the load down or use Apps that are light enough to keep the CPU almost idling then you will be fine.

Like I said download coconut battery and have it set for the amount of watts your MacBook Pro is using. That is a much better way to gage how long your machine is going to last.

 

[JohnnyGo]

Just to remind everyone, once again, the battery for the tbMBP is smaller by 20% if compared to the 2011 MBA with 11" screen. To expect more than 4-5 hours under heavy load is not rational.

Could Apple have crammed in more battery? Possible but not likely nor without other costs (excess heat, throttling, etc). Shoulda/woulda is second guessing.

Maybe in 18 months they can redesign the batteries and give it 10-20% more battery capacity. That would still not achieve 10 hours under medium/heavy load. We need to adjust our expectations accordingly.

 

[DB4AW]

I've experienced a noticeable increase in battery life, both in terms of actual usage (6-6.5 hours to 7-7.5 hours) and charge lost during sleep (from 3% per hour to probably 0.5% per hour).

However, this is still under what I was hoping for—at least 8 hours, and preferably 8.5-9.

Will be a tough decision on 1/7... go with the convenience of TouchID and 1Password and live with 7-7.5 hours (sure to decline over time), or get the 13" non-TB and get 9-9.5 hours.

I don't need more than 2 ports and I don't need the extra processing power with the TB version, so it really comes down to that.

Your battery life is actually not so bad. With further OS updates, Apple might be able to make some additional improvement. But I would take the MBP to Apple so they can check the batttery and rule out any defects. If you have a defective battery then have them give you a replacement MBP. Also, are you really doing anything with your MBP that requires much longer battery life? If you're using it mostly at home then keep it plugged in and carry spare AC adapter when you travel. And if you make your case to Apple appropriately, you might be able to wrangle an additional AC adapter out of them. It's much cheaper for Apple to freely give you a spare adapter then lose their entire sweet profit margin on a MBP return.

 

[havenyoung]

Just to remind everyone, once again, the battery for the tbMBP is smaller by 20% if compared to the 2011 MBA with 11" screen. To expect more than 4-5 hours under heavy load is not rational.

Could Apple have crammed in more battery? Possible but not likely nor without other costs (excess heat, throttling, etc). Shoulda/woulda is second guessing.

Maybe in 18 months they can redesign the batteries and give it 10-20% more battery capacity. That would still not achieve 10 hours under medium/heavy load. We need to adjust our expectations accordingly.

From the Mark Gurman article this morning, it looks like they tried to fit in a bigger battery shaped similar to what's in the 12-inch MacBook but a failed key test rolled them back to the square design. That might explain all those "gaps" we see between those batteries. I'm wondering how long it will take them to finally put that new battery into the MBP. 18 months seems too long if they already have the design in hand, unless that failed test is so crucial that they have to completely redesign it again.

 

[bizack]

Just to remind everyone, once again, the battery for the tbMBP is smaller by 20% if compared to the 2011 MBA with 11" screen. To expect more than 4-5 hours under heavy load is not rational.

Could Apple have crammed in more battery? Possible but not likely nor without other costs (excess heat, throttling, etc). Shoulda/woulda is second guessing.

Maybe in 18 months they can redesign the batteries and give it 10-20% more battery capacity. That would still not achieve 10 hours under medium/heavy load. We need to adjust our expectations accordingly.

If you read the front page article, they (Apple) were intending for a much larger, terraced design similar to what's in the MacBook. The iFixit teardown clearly shows that the non Touch Bar version is making maximum use of available space while the Touch Bar version is not (and is using an odd combination of different sized batteries). I feel for the Engineering team that had to backtrack and redesign the battery layout (and possibly other components).

 

[DB4AW]

If you read the front page article, they (Apple) were intending for a much larger, terraced design similar to what's in the MacBook. The iFixit teardown clearly shows that the non Touch Bar version is making maximum use of available space while the Touch Bar version is not (and is using an odd combination of different sized batteries). I feel for the Engineering team that had to backtrack and redesign the battery layout (and possibly other components).

I don't feel sorry for that engineering team. Their initial design that failed the "key test" cut short the potential battery life of my 2016 MBPwTB. They suck! If only Steve Jobs had been around to straighten them out.

 

[dof250]

The beta from today brings my 15" MBPtb back to 3-5watt idle usage (brightness around 75-80%). I'm happy with it!

 

[meteoreos]

Getting 10 hours on my 15", mainly Safari, iTunes and Netflix. Mine was shipped with the latest Sierra update FWIW.

 

[aioriya]

Normally Apple's return policy is 14 days from the date of receipt. However, Apple's holiday return policy clearly states that "Items purchased at the Apple Online Store online that are received between 11/10/16 and 12/25/16 may be returned through 1/8/17." Here is the link: http://www.apple.com/shop/help/returns_refund

Oh man! The extended return policy only applies to online orders!!? :/ I really want to return my Macbook pro 13' TB and replace it with a 2015 model.

 

[havenyoung]

Oh man! The extended return policy only applies to online orders!!? :/ I really want to return my Macbook pro 13' TB and replace it with a 2015 model.

Of course it applies to retail purchase as well. No mention of "online only".

 

[erniea]

I have a MacBook Pro 15 2016 2.9 i7 Radeon 460m 1TB.
The new developer beta of Sierra 10.12.3 that was released today has solved my battery woes.

I used to get an average of 3-5 hours. Light use, email, browsing would fetch 5 hours while using my design applications would only give me at most 3 hours.

My complaint to Apple had gotten serious enough that I got a call from Apple Engineering. I was assigned an engineer to figure out the problem which led to my exchanging my first ordered mbp. Sadly the second new laptop still exhibited the same battery performance. I'm still in contact with Apple Engineering.

Until today's 10.12.3 Beta release.

I've been using my laptop now for over 3 hours on battery. I still have 66% left or 6 hours 41 minutes according to Activity Monitor and the app Battery Health 2.

 

[aioriya]

Of course it applies to retail purchase as well. No mention of "online only".

Holiday Return Policy
Items purchased at the Apple Online Store that are received between November 10, 2016 and December 25, 2016, may be returned through January 8, 2017. Please note that all other terms and conditions provided in the Apple Online Store Sales and Refunds Policy are still applicable with respect to such items purchased. All purchases made after December 25, 2016 are subject to the Standard Return Policy.

There doesn't seem to be a mention of the policy for apple store purchases but I would think the same policy should apply as well.

 

[Mais78]

How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/how-apple-alienated-mac-loyalists

In the run-up to the MacBook Pro's planned debut this year, the new battery failed a key test, according to a person familiar with the situation. Rather than delay the launch and risk missing the crucial holiday shopping season, Apple decided to revert to an older design. The change required roping in engineers from other teams to finish the job, meaning work on other Macs languished, the person said. The new laptop didn't represent a game-changing leap in battery performance, and a software bug misrepresented hours of power remaining. Apple has since removed the meter from the top right-hand corner of the screen.

 

[havenyoung]

Holiday Return Policy
Items purchased at the Apple Online Store that are received between November 10, 2016 and December 25, 2016, may be returned through January 8, 2017. Please note that all other terms and conditions provided in the Apple Online Store Sales and Refunds Policy are still applicable with respect to such items purchased. All purchases made after December 25, 2016 are subject to the Standard Return Policy.

There doesn't seem to be a mention of the policy for apple store purchases but I would think the same policy should apply as well.

Yes I get what you mean.
They probably only bother to mention Apple Online Store because it is where the statement is located. If you want to make sure that Apple Retail Store has the same return policy, then just call them or simply go to an Apple Store and ask any employee to confirm. It's really not that difficult.

 

[bizack]

Yes I get what you mean.
They probably only bother to mention Apple Online Store because it is where the statement is located. If you want to make sure that Apple Retail Store has the same return policy, then just call them or simply go to an Apple Store and ask any employee to confirm. It's really not that difficult.

Yes, it applies to in-store purchases. The reason the online store is mentioned is because your purchase date will be different from your receive date. I just returned a MBP that I purchased in-store and used the extended return period to do this (also, any Apple Store Employee will tell you about the extended return period).

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Your battery life is actually not so bad. With further OS updates, Apple might be able to make some additional improvement. But I would take the MBP to Apple so they can check the batttery and rule out any defects. If you have a defective battery then have them give you a replacement MBP. Also, are you really doing anything with your MBP that requires much longer battery life? If you're using it mostly at home then keep it plugged in and carry spare AC adapter when you travel. And if you make your case to Apple appropriately, you might be able to wrangle an additional AC adapter out of Apple. It's much cheaper for them to give you that then lose their sweet profit margin on a MBP return.

Actually today has been significantly worse. I'm at 59% after only 1:42 on battery, with some periods of my MBP being asleep in between.

I did a 30-min video conference in Chrome, otherwise just normal productivity software stuff.

This is pretty disappointing.

I have an iMac as my main computer; the MBP is specifically for travel and working outside of my home office, so battery life is paramount. I will probably return this and get the non-TB version.

 

[Woodcrest64]

I have a MacBook Pro 15 2016 2.9 i7 Radeon 460m 1TB.
The new developer beta of Sierra 10.12.3 that was released today has solved my battery woes.

I used to get an average of 3-5 hours. Light use, email, browsing would fetch 5 hours while using my design applications would only give me at most 3 hours.

My complaint to Apple had gotten serious enough that I got a call from Apple Engineering. I was assigned an engineer to figure out the problem which led to my exchanging my first ordered mbp. Sadly the second new laptop still exhibited the same battery performance. I'm still in contact with Apple Engineering.

Until today's 10.12.3 Beta release.

I've been using my laptop now for over 3 hours on battery. I still have 66% left or 6 hours 41 minutes according to Activity Monitor and the app Battery Health 2.

I may be wrong but at your current 10.2 watts of power usage you won't make it past 5 hours of remaining life for a grand total of 8 hours. I know it says 6.5 but I don't know how accurate that is. I'd try to run it down to 5% and see how long you can go for. Thanks for sharing your stats. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.