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Battery life for 13" and 15" Macbook Pro
- Thread starter fokmik
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I'll try it out later tonight.Trying it out now, hopefully that will help with safari and iMessage randomly using the dGPU. How does gfxcardstatus work? For instance, if I try to render something on iMovie, will it still force the dGPU even when iGPU only is on?
Been following this battery thing off-n-on. Has anyone begun to try and isolate(hardware/software) the cause for the wide range?
Everyone posting in this thread is doing different stuff, with different intensity, and different running configuration (ie not remotely scientific), etc...
Might I suggest, for consistency, people try the looping iTunes movie test (with the configuration(wifi,brightness,etc) for said test, as listed on Apple's website)? And do not extrapolate results based on 'time remaining' or 'percentages'. Report actual time based on when the machine shuts down? (maybe start a new thread for this, or any other particular test to crowd-source some somewhat reliable data).
This does not account for any third party background processes and such, but worth a try instead of people using vague and circumstantial adjectives to describe their usage pattern (light/heavy/etc)
Everyone posting in this thread is doing different stuff, with different intensity, and different running configuration (ie not remotely scientific), etc...
Might I suggest, for consistency, people try the looping iTunes movie test (with the configuration(wifi,brightness,etc) for said test, as listed on Apple's website)? And do not extrapolate results based on 'time remaining' or 'percentages'. Report actual time based on when the machine shuts down? (maybe start a new thread for this, or any other particular test to crowd-source some somewhat reliable data).
This does not account for any third party background processes and such, but worth a try instead of people using vague and circumstantial adjectives to describe their usage pattern (light/heavy/etc)
To my knowledge, it will force the iGPU no matter what. From what I saw from the arstechnica review, browsing the web on the 15, which Im assuming was done via only the iGPU, they obtained numbers comparable to the nTB model which has been praised for its battery.
I installed 10.12.3 beta and haven't seen much of a change as far as power draw is concerned, but I'll keep watching.
I did use it. But I found that if one particular application requires the dGPU, gfxcardstatus cannot force it to use the iGPU.
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I actually replicated the CR Battery Test 4 separate times from full battery to shut off (using Battery Logger). I consistently got between 7 and 8 hours. So I doubt CR's claims. But how did you test? Have you at least tried your looping movie suggestion? What were your actual timings?
Okay, I've been on this thread since page 1. I finally just gave up and decided to keep the TB version. I'm getting about 8 hours on a charge with my typical usage, and I've accepted that. In the majority of situations it's enough, so I'm not going to worry about it anymore.
Now that I've let go of the constant tracking and fiddling I'm actually quite enjoying this machine. It is a step down from my 2013 MBA in terms of battery life, but it's an improvement in every other way.
Now that I've let go of the constant tracking and fiddling I'm actually quite enjoying this machine. It is a step down from my 2013 MBA in terms of battery life, but it's an improvement in every other way.
My first test of light to average use (Handbrake, Safari, 1080p videos streamed over my local network), this will be fine for at least 8 hours...at LEAST.
Unplugged 5 hours ago at 100%...currently at 38%.I could easily get another 2-3 hours out of this.
One thing to note, the brightness is about halfway, which is fine for me. May not be for others and may affect their results.
Unplugged 5 hours ago at 100%...currently at 38%.I could easily get another 2-3 hours out of this.
One thing to note, the brightness is about halfway, which is fine for me. May not be for others and may affect their results.
Glad it finally worked out. 8 hours for normal usage is pretty good. I get similar life and it's fine. I wouldn't call it "giving up". Not sure what you were trying to achieve since you're at 8 hours for normal. Now you get to just enjoy it. I stopped caring after my first few tests came out close enough, but I do keep the Coconut monitor on my menu bar. I admit I still glance at it, but I usually only pay attention when I'm doing something new or going to a new site. Enjoy dude.
Update...battery currently at 23%...I can get at least another 1.5 hours...
[doublepost=1483681604][/doublepost]Last update for tonight. 7 hours...battery is currently at 10%...
People complaining about the battery life are being overly dramatic. Don't know if they fixed something but this new MBP has nearly the same battery life of previous MBPs with a smaller battery.
Don't believe the "hype".
[doublepost=1483681604][/doublepost]Last update for tonight. 7 hours...battery is currently at 10%...
People complaining about the battery life are being overly dramatic. Don't know if they fixed something but this new MBP has nearly the same battery life of previous MBPs with a smaller battery.
Don't believe the "hype".
I'm also not seeing much of a change in power draw. Initially I saw spotlight and mds and mds_store processes taking up a lot of CPU but they've since subsided and the power draw is still pretty mediocre (avg 13W with light use).
I'll watch, but not for much longer... it may be time to just save money on a 2015 model.
Yeah mine is fine, too.
Using 10.12.2.
But I also don't expect it to last long while doing heavy renderering with CPU/GPU.
Thats normal!
[doublepost=1483697458][/doublepost]Maybe these battery measurement tools are the culprit. Heh
Personally, I am not ready to write all these issues off as purely a software problem. The problem space can be pretty large. For example, if Apple did their testing on a limited production run systems and something changed. For example, a new stepping of the processor that now has an errata. It's happened with Intel before. Or, any other component with an internal defect. Who knows. I will wait and see.
That's possible. I also think that people are hyper sensitized because the battery capacity in these laptops is considerably less than in previous MacBook Pros, so any increase in power draw due to hardware or software is more noticeable.
Sierra beta 10.12.3 has seemed to resolve my high battery draw on light usage...went from averaging 15-20w+ on light use to 6-12w on the same usage patterns. I am yet to test a full cycle, but early estimates put my 15" battery around the 8 hour mark which is acceptable.
I am still experiencing battery drain while in sleep though, about 1.5% per hour.
More info here: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-light-use-2016-15-mbp.2026010/#post-24158685
I am still experiencing battery drain while in sleep though, about 1.5% per hour.
More info here: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-light-use-2016-15-mbp.2026010/#post-24158685
Yesterday I finally got my MBP. One of the first thing I did was to kill almost everything related with the power nap.
I charged to 100%, disconnect, close the lid and went to sleep.
7 hours later... still on 100%.
But keep in mind that I didn't left any active apps overnight.
What specifically did you do? I'm only aware of one setting in Energy Saver related to Power Nap. Did you also do a terminal command to reduce the "hibernate" time?
[doublepost=1483713046][/doublepost]I'm curious if anyone has systematically tested the difference in battery life they get using Chrome vs. Safari? If Chrome does run the battery down more, how significant is it for you?
I've noticed some difference, but it doesn't seem as significant as others have suggested.
I didn't change anything with terminal. I remember that I pointed somewhere that only "find my mac" should wake my MBP and nothing else.
Where is this link?
"Might I suggest, for consistency, people try the looping iTunes movie test (with the configuration(wifi,brightness,etc) for said test, as listed on Apple's website)?
I don't own a 2016 MacBook Pro (after careful consideration, I bought a new 2015 model instead).
But...
... since reduced battery life seems to come as a result of discrete GPU usage, perhaps Apple ought to consider releasing some software by which the user could disable the discrete GPU (and then run only with integrated graphics).
It could be in the form of a preference pane with a menu bar icon to indicate on/off status for the discrete GPU.
Perhaps it could also be configured to indicate (when not disabled) just when the discrete GPU was "active" (vis-a-vis integrated graphics).
This would give the user the opportunity to temporarily disable the discrete GPU to conserve power when desired...
But...
... since reduced battery life seems to come as a result of discrete GPU usage, perhaps Apple ought to consider releasing some software by which the user could disable the discrete GPU (and then run only with integrated graphics).
It could be in the form of a preference pane with a menu bar icon to indicate on/off status for the discrete GPU.
Perhaps it could also be configured to indicate (when not disabled) just when the discrete GPU was "active" (vis-a-vis integrated graphics).
This would give the user the opportunity to temporarily disable the discrete GPU to conserve power when desired...
I haven't tested (waiting on a replacement). I was just pointing out that it seems like a big waste of time/energy for people to be reporting and complaining about non-standardized/non-scientific results.
One person reports they get 14hrs based on their usage pattern, and another person gets worked up and upset because they get 5hrs based on a totally different usage pattern.
You managed to replicate CR's tests? Did you have a local server cache some sites and then cycle through them or something to that effect?
IMHO, when it comes to web-browsing power usage the following variables probably matter:
-the browser
-the list of sites used to test
-the ads which show up on each
-whether or not an ad blocker is used
(Thats one reason I prefer the iTunes movie playback test as it's a bit more standard with minor variations depending on the codec,etc)
Cheers
ps>> i'D imagine that having FileVault, TimeMachine, etc...turned on would impact results.
[doublepost=1483727619][/doublepost]
Bottom of this page (point #2) http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/
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