Battery life for 13" and 15" Macbook Pro

[BondFancy]

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...

Download gfxCardStatus, the most recent version on git, supports Sierra. Forcing iGPU only seems to help.

 

[Sanpete]

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)?

Probably talking about footnote 2 here:

http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/

Edit: I see the above was already given.

I informally tested my 15" yesterday with normal web browsing and a couple streamed HD basketball games. I got over 11 hours before I got to 5%, when I plugged it back in. I normally don't keep the screen very bright, though.

 

[lobo1978]

Hi, I decided to find out new beta 10.12.3 (b2) and battery is awesome - I am more than happy. 10.12.2 changed a lot for me but now when just browsing and usual light usage (mail.app, Safari, Dropbox, BT, Wifi etc.) power consumption is very low.

I strongly advise anybody with battery life problems to get newest beta.

 

[ipodlover77]

Hi, I decided to find out new beta 10.12.3 (b2) and battery is awesome - I am more than happy. 10.12.2 changed a lot for me but now when just browsing and usual light usage (mail.app, Safari, Dropbox, BT, Wifi etc.) power consumption is very low.

I strongly advise anybody with battery life problems to get newest beta.

View attachment 682135

Actual battery life is not the same as estimated battery life though.

What is your actual usage time?

 

[lobo1978]

What is your actual usage time?

I know that battery estimates are bulls***t - point is that before 10.12.2 I was getting 6 hrs tops with full load... Battery life was crap. But after recent update and now beta battery life is awesome. I cannot complain.

I'm getting more than 10 hrs easily with mail + Safari + Word +Excel + Dropbox syncing + BT (mouse, transfers etc.), with heavy workload 7-8 hrs = most of the time I can get through the whole workday without charge.

Battery life is slightly better than MBPr 13" 2015 - which is now my parter computer (after I get 2016). She is getting similar or worse battery life (laptop is 1.5 years old - battery at 93%). Having them side by side, I can observe how much power 2016 and 2015 are using -- and 2016 TB is more efficient.

 

[JackDaniels3]

At this point I'm okay with my battery time.

 

[jun180]

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.

Tonight I will be try disable all notifications and see if this helps with the sleep drain issue. Can you elaborate on what steps you took to kill anything related to power nap please?
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Hi, I decided to find out new beta 10.12.3 (b2) and battery is awesome - I am more than happy. 10.12.2 changed a lot for me but now when just browsing and usual light usage (mail.app, Safari, Dropbox, BT, Wifi etc.) power consumption is very low.

I strongly advise anybody with battery life problems to get newest beta.

View attachment 682135

I am seeing the same improvement using the 10.12.3 beta.

Can I ask what app is displaying the battery percentage and draw in your screenshot?

 

[BondFancy]

Battery life is much improved by turning off the key backlights and using gfxcardstatus (forcing iGPU), now getting around 10 hours again.

 

[Samtb]

Are people experiencing varied battery life or are people experiencing low battery life across the board? Mine loses 1% around every 2 minutes running Spotify in the background and doing light web surfing. Is that particularly bad or is it the average with the 15 inch 2016 mbps?

 

[titleistman18]

Are people experiencing varied battery life or are people experiencing low battery life across the board? Mine loses 1% around every 2 minutes running Spotify in the background and doing light web surfing. Is that particularly bad or is it the average with the 15 inch 2016 mbps?

My 13" is about the same as that... 1% every 1-2 minutes.

 

[Sanpete]

Are people experiencing varied battery life or are people experiencing low battery life across the board? Mine loses 1% around every 2 minutes running Spotify in the background and doing light web surfing. Is that particularly bad or is it the average with the 15 inch 2016 mbps?

Yes, that's particularly bad. Most people use about 10% or less an hour. But a significant minority report energy losses like yours.

 

[thesaint024]

Are people experiencing varied battery life or are people experiencing low battery life across the board? Mine loses 1% around every 2 minutes running Spotify in the background and doing light web surfing. Is that particularly bad or is it the average with the 15 inch 2016 mbps?

Bad, very bad. Spotify is using your dGPU. "Light" web surfing may not be that light depending on sites visiting. Oddly websites vary quite a bit in power usage. Adblockers.

My 13" is about the same as that... 1% every 1-2 minutes.

Don't know why your 13" would lose this kind of battery. Again, bad, very bad! Sorry, I know you've been on this thread awhile, just don't remember your particular circumstances. This thread grows faster than I can keep up.

Agree with @Sanpete. You should be seeing 10% an hour give or take doing light tasks. If not, get Coconut and see what it is. Then you can go from there.

 

[Samtb]

Bad, very bad. Spotify is using your dGPU. "Light" web surfing may not be that light depending on sites visiting. Oddly websites vary quite a bit in power usage. Adblockers.


Don't know why your 13" would lose this kind of battery. Again, bad, very bad! Sorry, I know you've been on this thread awhile, just don't remember your particular circumstances. This thread grows faster than I can keep up.

Agree with @Sanpete. You should be seeing 10% an hour give or take doing light tasks. If not, get Coconut and see what it is. Then you can go from there.

Just noticed it's when Spotify's window is open, it's consuming a lot of energy especially when browsing in it. If it's minimised and just playing music, the issue doesn't occur.

 

[thesaint024]

Just noticed it's when Spotify's window is open, it's consuming a lot of energy especially when browsing in it. If it's minimised and just playing music, the issue doesn't occur.

I'm no 15" with dGPU expert, but apparently you need to get gfxCardStatus and force iGPU. Even after you close Spotify, it could keep it running for some reason. Also, get an adblocker for browsing. With your level of power loss, it sounds like dGPU is always running and it shouldn't be.

 

[Samtb]

I'm no 15" with dGPU expert, but apparently you need to get gfxCardStatus and force iGPU. Even after you close Spotify, it could keep it running for some reason. Also, get an adblocker for browsing. With your level of power loss, it sounds like dGPU is always running and it shouldn't be.

When I open activity monitor, Spotify has an energy impact of around 60 when browsing in it. Safari running a you tube video in HD is around 10. It also claims Spotify is not using dGPU while safari is. I can hear the fan going after running Spotify or playing a video on safari. The energy impact also briefly spikes to about 60 when loading a webpage on safari.

I'm guessing this is all a software fault and there's nothing wrong with the hardware?

 

[thesaint024]

When I open activity monitor, Spotify has an energy impact of around 60 when browsing in it. Safari running a you tube video in HD is around 10. It also claims Spotify is not using dGPU while safari is. I can hear the fan going after running Spotify or playing a video on safari. The energy impact also briefly spikes to about 60 when loading a webpage on safari.

I'm guessing this is all a software fault and there's nothing wrong with the hardware?

Yes, that is the logical conclusion. Battery is the battery. Your gpu is running for no good reason. That is activated by software. Spotify and Safari need to be updated to use iGPU. If you run your MBP without those, say another browser like Opera, you can prove this out yourself. Not saying you should do that longterm, but at least you'll know there isn't any hardware issue if you get close to claimed battery life. Just alter your workflow for one cycle and see if it works. If not, back to the drawing board to see what is using battery. Apple should fix this so that workarounds aren't necessary on their default programs, but at least you'll know.

 

[Theophil1971]

At this point I'm okay with my battery time.

View attachment 682146

Ya, that's about what I'm experiencing too. Anywhere between 9 and 11 hrs. Good by me...
I am curious, though, about 10.12.3. I probably won't do the beta. Anyone have a clue as to when it'll actually release?

 

[skids929]

At this point I'm okay with my battery time.

View attachment 682146

How is your Safari only using that many watts? Thats super light usage. And for some stupid reason my time on battery reading says 26:23. What in the sam hell is that all about.

 

[DB4AW]

No local server cache. My app used Safari to fetch the web pages over the Internet with 10 sec wait between each webpage load. After all 10 pages are loaded, my app quits Sarari and reloads all 10 pages again continually until my MBP shut off. This was the CR test. Btw, my screen was at 75% brightness and I'm using FileVault encryption. My testing was done on a maxed out 15" 2016 MBP. I consistently got between 7 and 8 hrs. I could have probably done better if I lowered the screen brightness and used a local server like CR did.

 

[MrGuder]

So there is nothing in settings or Activity Monitor that allows you to force iGPU? You have to download a 3rd party software? Am I reading this correctly?

 

[DB4AW]

So there is nothing in settings or Activity Monitor that allows you to force iGPU? You have to download a 3rd party software? Am I reading this correctly?

Yes. Why surprised? It would appear that Apple doesn't want most people tampering with the integrated/discrete graphics card switching.

 

[person123]

I wish Apple made a statement regarding the battery life of the TB model.

I went from nTB to TB and now after using it for a while I realize I just can't live with the 5 - max 6 hours under normal usage.

nTB model gave me 10+ hours with the same usage. Apple is seriously disappointing with this one.

I have the nTB and the battery is a bit of a disappointment. what brightness did you use?

 

[Mixolyd]

My MacBook is constantly waking whilst in sleep mode with the lid closed.
It keeps saying this is the reason
localhost kernel[0]: (AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver) [HID] [ATC] AppleDeviceManagementHIDEventService:rocessWakeReason Wake reason: Host (0x01)

Anyone know what this is and how I can stop it?

Did you figure this out? I'm having same issue. Wakes up my nTB macbook multiple times per hour

 

[iumylime]

is this normal? i'm watching videos on youtube, screen 50% brightness, volume 50%. laptop fully charged, battery unplugged for ~1 hour, started watching videos maybe 40 minutes ago? i have 4:42 left?

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update- still watching videos. time on battery 1:32, time left 3:30

 

[lobo1978]

Can I ask what app is displaying the battery percentage and draw in your screenshot?

It is Better Battery from App Store
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Anyone have a clue as to when it'll actually release?

Taking into account all "bad press" (and blind bit***g) Apple is getting, with competition meddling and adding oil to fire, trust me they are working on it 24/7

This is beta2 though I don't think they will release it very soon. I'm on/off with beta versions and never run into problems. Before trying don't forget to backup! You can always go back.
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update- still watching videos. time on battery 1:32, time left 3:30

Jesus - you have google chrome THE notorious power hog...

Read "some" posts to "solve" it. By some I mean million...

On the other hand watching flash youtube videos will never give you much battery life with new Intel CPU - they are optimised for HTML5.

One more thing - I snapped my AM while watching youtube @MacRumors