Battery life for 13" and 15" Macbook Pro

[DB4AW]

Man choice 4 is looking like the choice we should all make /s

I want 1 to be right

I am considering just lowering my financial exposure to the model line by going to a smaller unit which cost less and the loss I will incur from this debacle is lower

In regards to #4, please speak for yourself. My 2016 MBP experience has been good enough. I'm a longtime Apple customer so I trust them to take care of lingering software issues. Additionally, since I've been heavily investing into the Apple ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook Pro, Apple TV, etc.) for years now, I gotta choose #1. Their hardware and software products have usually worked well together. Prior to Apple, I was a serious Microsoft Windows devotee. But Microsoft finally let me down one too many times and that's why I switched. It started with the iPhone and based on that excellent experience I started considering Apple for my other computing needs. Looking back over the years, Apple has done me right so I won't abandon them now. There is already significantly more to like than dislike about the 2016 MBP. So I trust that they will work out the remaining software issues to ultimately deliver a better if not perfect experience. I could be wrong but based on my prior history with them, I'll give them a chance to make things right.

 

[bizack]

The bulk of the remaining reported battery problems do NOT appear to be hardware related. But mainly issues that can be resolved by upcoming MacOS and/or software updates which Apple is quietly going about doing.

So existing 2016 MBP owners can opt to do either of the below:

1. Keep 2016 MBP snd trust that Apple will address remaining battery issues via upcoming software updates.

2. Return 2016 MBP and wait for Apple to correct the issues before buying the 2016 MBP again.

3. Return 2016 MBP and patiently wait for Apple to release the 2017 MBP which will be a modest update to the 2016 MBP.

4. Return 2016 MBP and choose a notebook from a vendor other than Apple.

Make a choice that best suits your needs.

Of course it's hardware. Compared to the non Touch Bar model, there's a higher wattage CPU, the addition of an OLED 'screen,' an S1 (or something similar) SOC processor for the OLED screen and a lower wattage battery. The math doesn't add up.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

Of course it's hardware. Compared to the non Touch Bar model, there's a higher wattage CPU, the addition of an OLED 'screen,' an S1 (or something similar) SOC processor for the OLED screen and a lower wattage battery. The math doesn't add up.

Yes, but what surprised me is that the difference between the nTB and TB battery life (at least in my case) was not nearly as significant as you'd expect, given what you mentioned.

 

[gui0312]

MBP 15" w/ touchbar. Ok so I downloaded a battery life (Battery Monitor) program from the App Store and it shows that I getting about 5:30 to 6 hours of battery life. I only have Affinity Photo Trial opened in the background since startup but haven't been using it (minimized). I have been on Safari, messages some, and typing a few notes on Bear. Currently at 89%, overnight I left the MBP disconnected at 100% battery and upon waking this morning (roughly 8 hours) it was still at 100% so the battery drain overnight doesn't seem to happening to me. However, I am a bit weary of this short battery life of 6 hours without doing an intensive tasks. When using Affinity Photo yesterday for a couple of hours I had significant battery drop, about 40-50% in a matter of two hours. Does the 13" MBP yield better results with respect to battery life and using any sort of creative apps (photo, movie, etc.)? I don't want to go there as a really enjoy the larger screen!

 

[bizack]

Yes, but what surprised me is that the difference between the nTB and TB battery life (at least in my case) was not nearly as significant as you'd expect, given what you mentioned.

I returned my MBP today (I bought another one the was less specd out). When asked why I was returning it I said the battery life was terrible. They Apple employee just shook his head in agreement and said hopefully they fix the problem. So it seems there are a fair number of returns (at least to the flagship SF store) for this very reason.

 

[malikkamran]

I have 13 tbmbp I have terrible battery life browsing Facebook on safari don't know what to do

 

[deany]

Apple need to increase the return period to say 1st Feb '17 - in a way as to not admit there is a problem.
This gives apple a month to research and fix the issue and not stress folks out as their return date approaches.
Plus helps avoid a stockpile of refurbs.

 

[DB4AW]

I have 13 tbmbp I have terrible battery life browsing Facebook on safari don't know what to do

Simple: For now, unless you're plugged in, avoid using your 2016 MBP to browse Facebook with Safari. But have you tried Firefox or Chrome to see if that makes a difference? Also, there is an app in the Mac App Store named Menutab Pro for Facebook. It costs about $2.99 (free trial version is named MenuTab for Facebook). It actually integrates into the menu bar. You just click on it to access FB. Maybe that might be a good substitute. You don't know unless you try. Btw, you should report the FB issue to Apple just to be sure it is on their fix list.

 

[bizack]

Apple need to increase the return period to say 1st Feb '17 - in a way as to not admit there is a problem.
This gives apple a month to research and fix the issue and not stress folks out as their return date approaches.
Plus helps avoid a stockpile of refurbs.

I think we'll just have to settle with the 5-8 hour battery life. It's becoming quite clear that some other battery/power arrangement was planned but not implemented so that Apple could meet the holiday sales. If you look at the battery in the Retina MacBook, it's insanely optimized for space. Apple even said this is what they were planning on doing moving forward with their laptop battery tech. Looking at the teardown of the new MBPs, its basically a step backwards (although the non Touch Bar model makes pretty good use of space - the Touch Bar models have lots of deadspace, which is very unlike Apple).

 

[justinf77]

Hi everyone,

I've had the 13" TB since mid-November. Tried all of the updates/fixes and my battery life has ranged from 6.5-7.5 hours on average.

I decided to buy a nTB version to compare. I've now gone through two cycles (after indexing finished) and have gotten 8 hours on each.

Definitely better than the TB, but not as big of a difference as I expected. If I really only get 0.5-1 hour more of battery life with the nTB, I think I'll stick with the TB version. I'd be willing to give up an hour of batter in return for TouchID + 1Password.

If the difference were more like 2 hours, I'd probably go with the nTB. But it's not seeming like that's the case.

One thing worth pointing out: on both the nTB and TB, I am still seeing a significant battery drain during sleep that doesn't seem right. For example, today I put the nTB to sleep with 22% and came back three hours later and it was down to 15%. My guess is that if I just used either machine straight through without putting it to sleep, I'd get another hour of battery life.

I could've written this post myself. Also had both, and also found that the non-TB model wasn't THAT much better in terms of battery life. Was quite surprising actually. I decided to keep the TB model because Touch ID is such a killer feature on a laptop and it's worth the extra cost to me. Still not a big fan of the touch bar itself though to be honest, haven't found much use for it and I'm accidentally hitting it all the time.

 

[JohnnyGo]

I think we'll just have to settle with the 5-8 hour battery life. It's becoming quite clear that some other battery/power arrangement was planned but not implemented so that Apple could meet the holiday sales. If you look at the battery in the Retina MacBook, it's insanely optimized for space. Apple even said this is what they were planning on doing moving forward with their laptop battery tech. Looking at the teardown of the new MBPs, its basically a step backwards (although the non Touch Bar model makes pretty good use of space - the Touch Bar models have lots of deadspace, which is very unlike Apple).

If Apple ever develops similar terraced batteries for the MBPs in the future, I am sure that apple will offer some upgrade option for early buyers of the 2016 MBP. If not, third party sellers will in 2 years offer replacement battery packs with more capacity. I'm fine either way.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

I could've written this post myself. Also had both, and also found that the non-TB model wasn't THAT much better in terms of battery life. Was quite surprising actually. I decided to keep the TB model because Touch ID is such a killer feature on a laptop and it's worth the extra cost to me. Still not a big fan of the touch bar itself though to be honest, haven't found much use for it and I'm accidentally hitting it all the time.

Exactly. I switched back to the TB version today. I'm at 50% and I've been on battery for 4:40. On this cycle it seems the TB is going to get even better battery life than the nTB version did. Go figure!

If the nTB does have an edge, it's not significant enough to justify giving up TouchID. Like you, I remain skeptical that I'll ever use the TB much; keyboard shortcuts are just so much faster in almost every situation. I have found a few apps that it may be useful with, like switching from one week to the next in Fantastical 2, some editing features in PDF Expert, etc. But TouchID + 1Password alone justifies the TB version for me.

Furthermore, now that I've had a chance to use this machine more in my day to day flow, I realize that 7-8 hours of battery life is sufficient in 99% of situations. It's more than enough for working at a cafe for a few hours outside of my office or home office. I do travel a lot on airplanes, but it's almost always possible for me to plug in on the plane now (I typically fly economy plus or business class, and the seats usually have outlets). So the times when I'd need a full 8-10 hours of battery life are pretty rare.

 

[DB4AW]

If Apple ever develops similar terraced batteries for the MBPs in the future, I am sure that apple will offer some upgrade option for early buyers of the 2016 MBP. If not, third party sellers will in 2 years offer replacement battery packs with more capacity. I'm fine either way.

Apple would have no reason to be so generous. Despite what you may have read, Apple didn't promise consumers a new type of longer lasting battery in the 2016 MBPs. They claimed that we can expect up to 10 hours under certain conditions which Apple testing and some buyers have achieved. As for replacing the battery packs, the iFixit teardowns of the 2016 13" and 15" MBPs already indicated that would be rather difficult to do. Below are links to each respective tear down:

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Touch+Bar+Teardown/73480#s148072

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Touch+Bar+Teardown/73395

 

[vinsalducci]

...BUT THEY PROMISED!

As you so accurately said, they didn't promise or guarantee anything. And without trying to sound shrill, I'm a little surprised people are acting as butt-hurt about this battery none sense as they are. Obviously the more you try to do with a laptop, the faster the battery will discharge.

I have a 13" tbMBP. Original MacOS install with 10.12.2. I've been getting between 6 and 10 hours on battery since the day I bought it. I forced myself to stop staring at the battery % meter weeks ago, and have been immeasurably happier.

I did, however, install Juice, a battery meter from Github that shows you the battery left with emoji, or with a custom prompt. Pretty cool.

My battery levels are now (each is for a 10% range):

Full up
Styling
Cruising
Rolling along
Half way
Less than half
Maybe Charge
Probably Charge
Definitely Charge
F*KT

 

[bizack]

Apple would have no reason to be so generous. Despite what you may have read, Apple didn't promise consumers a new type of longer lasting battery in the 2016 MBPs. They claimed that we can expect up to 10 hours under certain conditions which Apple testing and some buyers have achieved. As for replacing the battery packs, the iFixit teardowns of the 2016 13" and 15" MBPs already indicated that would be rather difficult to do. Below are links to each respective tear down:

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Touch+Bar+Teardown/73480#s148072

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Touch+Bar+Teardown/73395

Well, they're certainly concerned enough to address Consumer Reports' review. I actually don't think I've read a single review where the reviewer was able to achieve 10 hours of battery use. Battery life was a big selling point for Apple laptops, and now that comparable laptops are getting the same or better, the price difference becomes a much bigger issue for many people. I've gone through three of these machines, and none of them went past 8 hours of _extremely_ light usage (doing any development work dropped the battery life down to 3-4 hours or less).

 

[gui0312]

Has anyone with a 15 MBP w/ touch bar gotten anything like 8 hours of battery? In comparison how did the 15" MBP of 2015 perform battery wise? I've never had a 15".

 

[vinsalducci]

Well, they're certainly concerned enough to address Consumer Reports' review. I actually don't think I've read a single review where the reviewer was able to achieve 10 hours of battery use. Battery life was a big selling point for Apple laptops, and now that comparable laptops are getting the same or better, the price difference becomes a much bigger issue for many people. I've gone through three of these machines, and none of them went past 8 hours of _extremely_ light usage (doing any development work dropped the battery life down to 3-4 hours or less).

All you need to know about the Consumer Reports review is the ridiculous time spreads that they got in their battery testing. 16 hours in one test, then 4 in the next. One of the basic requirements of any scientific testing method is reproducibility of results. This as much as anything to me calls into question the accuracy of their testing.

Will the MacBook Pro get 10 hours of battery life ALL THE TIME? No. If you're not happy with the performance you're getting, get a different computer.

To suggest that Apple as foisted upon the buying public a product they know to be suboptimal and flawed is highly unlikely.

 

[gui0312]

All you need to know about the Consumer Reports review is the ridiculous time spreads that they got in their battery testing. 16 hours in one test, then 4 in the next. One of the basic requirements of any scientific testing method is reproducibility of results. This as much as anything to me calls into question the accuracy of their testing.

Will the MacBook Pro get 10 hours of battery life ALL THE TIME? No. If you're not happy with the performance you're getting, get a different computer.

To suggest that Apple as foisted upon the buying public a product they know to be suboptimal and flawed is highly unlikely.

While I agree with your first points I have to respectfully disagree with your final points as far as Apple putting out a product with certain claims they knew wouldn't achieve. There has been many reports of issues with battery sourcing when manufacturing the MBP's and that they elected to go with a subpar solution to get the product out in time for the holiday season. Granted, this may be the case and Apple all along knew they would just need to update software for better battery optimization. I hope they release an update as I really love my MBP15.

 

[Qwe9203]

Has anyone with a 15 MBP w/ touch bar gotten anything like 8 hours of battery? In comparison how did the 15" MBP of 2015 perform battery wise? I've never had a 15".

It's bad, with a few tabs open and youtube videos playing in the background 14% in 20 minutes on the 2016 15" gimmick bar edition.

Otherwise it's a great computer. For any work you will want to be near a power socket.

 

[Creep89]

Has anyone with a 15 MBP w/ touch bar gotten anything like 8 hours of battery? In comparison how did the 15" MBP of 2015 perform battery wise? I've never had a 15".

Yes. Force iGPU, low brightness and > 8h is easily possible. This only applies to light usage of course. I have no issues with battery life, it's the same compared to my old 15" late 2013.
But there is definitely a bug regarding GPU switching I think. Sometimes the dGPU still consumes > 10W even if the iGPU is running.

 

[gui0312]

Yes. Force iGPU, low brightness and > 8h is easily possible. This only applies to light usage of course. I have no issues with battery life, it's the same compared to my old 15" late 2013.
But there is definitely a bug regarding GPU switching I think. Sometimes the dGPU still consumes > 10W even if the iGPU is running.

How do you force the iGPU? Can you switch it on and off on the fly? I use photo editing app, should it be on or off for that? Thanks!
[doublepost=1483149549][/doublepost]

It's bad, with a few tabs open and youtube videos playing in the background 14% in 20 minutes on the 2016 15" gimmick bar edition.

Otherwise it's a great computer. For any work you will want to be near a power socket.

Are you thinking of returning it?

 

[DB4AW]

Has anyone with a 15 MBP w/ touch bar gotten anything like 8 hours of battery? In comparison how did the 15" MBP of 2015 perform battery wise? I've never had a 15".

Yes I have. I even replicated the CR Battery Test on my 2016 MBP 4 times. I consistently got between 7 and 8 hours during each test. In fact, I ran same exact test on my 2014 MBP and got between 4 and 5 hours. So the battery life is decent enough for me especially since I plan to keep it mostly plugged in within a dedicated workspace at home for serious professional work that I do like programming. But for casual browsing, email, reading, video and music playing as I move about my home, that is why I have an iPad as well. I don't try to use the MBP like a tablet. It's not really meant for that.

 

[Precursor]

Yes. Force iGPU, low brightness and > 8h is easily possible. This only applies to light usage of course. I have no issues with battery life, it's the same compared to my old 15" late 2013.
But there is definitely a bug regarding GPU switching I think. Sometimes the dGPU still consumes > 10W even if the iGPU is running.

Currently on 10 hours, 50 minutes with 6% remaining. Light use, of course
Current battery max: 7002 mAH (105% of design capacity)

specs on my sig

 

[DB4AW]

Well, they're certainly concerned enough to address Consumer Reports' review. I actually don't think I've read a single review where the reviewer was able to achieve 10 hours of battery use. Battery life was a big selling point for Apple laptops, and now that comparable laptops are getting the same or better, the price difference becomes a much bigger issue for many people. I've gone through three of these machines, and none of them went past 8 hours of _extremely_ light usage (doing any development work dropped the battery life down to 3-4 hours or less).

Some reviewers did get up to 10+ hours. Check out Rene Ritchie's review. He raves about it:

[doublepost=1483157301][/doublepost]Phil Schiller's recommendations to new 2016 MBP buyers: http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/mac/phil-schiller-2016-macbook-pro/
For those still having problems, you can private message him so he and his team can assist you.

 

[Hybrid087]

Recently picked up a 2016 15" and have been pretty happy with battery life.

90% of my time on a computer is spent running Capture One, Lightroom, Photoshop, mail, and streaming Spotify in the background and I'm getting around 6 hours of on-screen time. I bet if I was using it for casual computing it'd be closer to the 8 hour mark.

The machine it's replacing is a maxed 2013 15" MPB and quite honestly I've never had more than 4 hours doing the same tasks and my battery health is a 92% so I consider the new machine is pretty respectable.