Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

precision01

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 16, 2014
111
87
I have a macbook pro 15" late 2016 (512gb ssd and radeon pro 455) for about a month, and since the beginning I've been experiencing a significative battery draining when on sleep mode.

It drains an average of 15-20% every 10 hours.

My old 13" Retina MacBook Pro used to drain 1-2% of battery in the same period.

For the record, it happens even after a fresh restart os macOS, with no open apps, bluetooth and wifi disabled, and with all energy saver settings enabled, with the exception of power nap.

I even tried to disable iCloud Drive sync and it still drains the same amount of battery.

Does anyone have this issue too?

Just for curiosity, I've contact apple phone support and the "specialist" said the following: "Since your macbook is cutting edge, it uses a lot of power for the great hardware it has. You can't compare your old 13" MacBook Pro with this one. Energy usage is way higher on your new macbook, even when in sleep mode. So, you should shutdown the machine as much as you can to save energy."

ahhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!!!
 

joleel7

macrumors member
Aug 19, 2008
90
26
I do.. Connected to my external monitor and the Belkin ethernet + my chrome opened.
 

sunapple

macrumors 68030
Jul 16, 2013
2,856
5,504
The Netherlands
External monitor shouldn't be an issue, ethernet not sure. I know the Apple Digital AV adapter uses a lot of power in sleep mode, also my USB hub with a USB DAC attached connected via Apple USB-C to USB-A adapter can drain the battery.

Maybe try unplugging any external devices and see how it goes. I personally have my power adapter attached all the time at my desk, could also help :D
 

ihatetoregister

Suspended
Sep 13, 2016
269
178
Oslo, Norway
Same here. 4% in 1h30.
I was connected to an external display, which was turned off (not on sleep, but turned off); so I don't think this is the reason.
 

Creep89

macrumors 6502
Mar 9, 2012
314
407
I always disconnect my external display and USB-C to LAN+USB adapter. Otherwise my 15" doesn't go into sleep mode and gets really hot. It's getting even hotter than normal use. I don't know what my MacBook is doing while it's supposed to sleep, but damn this thing is burning energy. Never had such issues with my 15" late 2013. I could've left all cables connected and it would go to sleep. But not on my new MacBook. Really annoying.
 

thesaint024

macrumors 65816
Nov 14, 2016
1,073
888
suspension waiting room
I have a macbook pro 15" late 2016 (512gb ssd and radeon pro 455) for about a month, and since the beginning I've been experiencing a significative battery draining when on sleep mode.

It drains an average of 15-20% every 10 hours.

My old 13" Retina MacBook Pro used to drain 1-2% of battery in the same period.

For the record, it happens even after a fresh restart os macOS, with no open apps, bluetooth and wifi disabled, and with all energy saver settings enabled, with the exception of power nap.

I even tried to disable iCloud Drive sync and it still drains the same amount of battery.

Does anyone have this issue too?

Just for curiosity, I've contact apple phone support and the "specialist" said the following: "Since your macbook is cutting edge, it uses a lot of power for the great hardware it has. You can't compare your old 13" MacBook Pro with this one. Energy usage is way higher on your new macbook, even when in sleep mode. So, you should shutdown the machine as much as you can to save energy."

ahhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!!!
That is an awesome response from Apple. Your macbook is cutting edge and has great hardware! Haha. Anyway, I noticed that iMessage notifications were waking up my MBP. The cheap fix is to force hibernate with a command line change. Then it won't wake up when you get notifications. I imagine with your 15" versions, it may be waking up dGPU as well when you are connected to an external monitor. I have not done this yet so I can continue to troubleshoot and look for other solutions. Command line: sudo pmset -b standbydelay 300
 

precision01

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 16, 2014
111
87
You guys don't happen to have an adapter or hub connected to your computer that could cause the battery draining?

No, I don't have anything connected.
[doublepost=1483389789][/doublepost]
I'm starting to wonder if I have one of those battry defect or if it's "normal" ...

Me too. I think I have a defect battery. 15-20% is too much, especially after some people here saying they are experiencing 4% or less.
[doublepost=1483390205][/doublepost]
That is an awesome response from Apple. Your macbook is cutting edge and has great hardware! Haha. Anyway, I noticed that iMessage notifications were waking up my MBP. The cheap fix is to force hibernate with a command line change. Then it won't wake up when you get notifications. I imagine with your 15" versions, it may be waking up dGPU as well when you are connected to an external monitor. I have not done this yet so I can continue to troubleshoot and look for other solutions. Command line: sudo pmset -b standbydelay 300

I will try that. But I bet it is a software issue. I will try apple's specialist magic trick to shutdown the machine and check how much battery is drained.
 

ihatetoregister

Suspended
Sep 13, 2016
269
178
Oslo, Norway
Some updates : I had it on sleep for about 50mn earlier, running almost the same exact setup / softs / tabs than on my earlier try, and this time no battery drain at all.

Before that I had 4% lost in 1h30 minutes.

What gives ?
 

joleel7

macrumors member
Aug 19, 2008
90
26
I have the same experience as well so far no battery drain but I am monitoring the behaviour.. May be the OS finished all the process or index I did see activities in console after the MBP slept.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ihatetoregister

joenor

macrumors newbie
Dec 22, 2016
10
10
Both me and my wife had this problem with our 2016 MBP 13". A lot of power seemed to drain in sleepmode during the night.

I ignored it, hoping that "the internet" would find a solution.

After a couple of weeks, both my and my wife MB, suddenly stopped using power in sleep mode, and are now behaving like my 2013 MBA 13".

My thought would be that they both used power while new, because of some indexing or "something too technical for me" that macOS needed to do before it could relax. I dont know, but the problem sorted itself out after a while, so if you have new Macs I suggest you try waiting a little bit and see. Its worth a shot.
 

joleel7

macrumors member
Aug 19, 2008
90
26
OK here is break I have chrome and mail client running with USC-C to ethernet cable connected.

Battery status with MBP sleep

1. Jan 4 9:42 PM 100%
2. Jan 5 5:38 AM 94% quit mail client and put the MBP to sleep again.
3. Jan 5 4:43 PM 77%

Console show no activity until 5:44 PM not sure if previous log had been purged.. I will monitor a little more before my return date is up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: precision01

precision01

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 16, 2014
111
87
After 3 days os testing, I've found something intriguing.

In my tests, the start point is about 90% battery, with default energy settings and power nap disabled.

Average battery drain for 8 hours with MBP turned off: 2%.
Average battery drain for 8 hours in sleep mode (bluetooth and wifi enabled): 15%.
Average battery drain for 8 hours in sleep mode (bluetooth and wifi disabled): 4%.

So, if I disable wifi and bluetooth the average in the same 8 hours drain drops to a satisfactory 4%.

This didn't happened with my old Retina Macbook PRO 13" Late 2013. I had the same battery drain both with and without wifi and bluetooth enabled.

So, my preliminary conclusion is that Macbook Pros 2016 do not really sleep as it should, but if they have a internet connection they are busy doing something instead of sleeping.

I strongly believe this is a serious software issue and Apple should address it ASAP.
[doublepost=1483621786][/doublepost]
Both me and my wife had this problem with our 2016 MBP 13". A lot of power seemed to drain in sleepmode during the night.

I ignored it, hoping that "the internet" would find a solution.

After a couple of weeks, both my and my wife MB, suddenly stopped using power in sleep mode, and are now behaving like my 2013 MBA 13".

My thought would be that they both used power while new, because of some indexing or "something too technical for me" that macOS needed to do before it could relax. I dont know, but the problem sorted itself out after a while, so if you have new Macs I suggest you try waiting a little bit and see. Its worth a shot.

After more than 1 month nothing has improved. So, I don't think more time would address the issue in my case.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheHoffman

joleel7

macrumors member
Aug 19, 2008
90
26
OK i rebooted my MBP yesterday before I put it to sleep and I disconnected all usb c cables and there is no battery drain issue for me.. 100% after 8 hours, I will test again tonight without rebooting.
 

BlueGoldAce

macrumors 68000
Oct 11, 2011
1,951
1,455
I get the same problem, and it is not consistent. Yesterday I my machine drained 2% overnight, but today I woke up to see a 12% drain.

I believe it is a software issue, as it isn't consistent.
 
  • Like
Reactions: precision01

jun180

macrumors regular
Apr 27, 2010
138
108
Same issue, consistently drains battery on sleep.

A few days ago, I was at 40% before going to sleep, and woke up about 10 hours later with 5% remaining...i.e. a 35% drop. I was actually shocked, and it's the second time it has happened. I usually lose about 10-15% over 8 hours. The inconsistency is worrying...

EDIT: This is a 2016 15" base model with the 460.
 

BondFancy

macrumors 6502
Jun 26, 2016
341
386
Same here, I left my ethernet adapted connected and after 8 or so hours of sleep it dropped to 80%.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.