Probably beaten to death: performance and battery vs. Mavericks?

[mKTank]

So yeah. I'm deeply considering going back to Mavericks due to seemingly short battery life with Yosemite and that really annoying Wi-Fi bug (definitely OS-related, not hardware).

So is there any scientific test out there comparing performance and battery life of these two operating systems? I couldn't find any. What are your personal experiences suggesting?

 

[GGJstudios]

So yeah. I'm deeply considering going back to Mavericks due to seemingly short battery life with Yosemite and that really annoying Wi-Fi bug (definitely OS-related, not hardware).

So is there any scientific test out there comparing performance and battery life of these two operating systems? I couldn't find any. What are your personal experiences suggesting?

The difference in OS X versions has much less to do with battery life than the settings and workload you put on your Mac. There are many factors that impact your battery life. See the BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE section of the following link for details, including tips on how to maximize your battery life.

​

The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[KALLT]

I’m guessing this frosted-glass effect alone will put a strain upon your system. Depending on your hardware, it might just be too inefficient. Have you tried using the system with Accessibility > Reduce transparency enabled?

 

[mKTank]

The difference in OS X versions has much less to do with battery life than the settings and workload you put on your Mac. There are many factors that impact your battery life. See the BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE section of the following link for details, including tips on how to maximize your battery life.

​

The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

I'm using Yosemite just as I used Mavericks.

 

[GGJstudios]

I'm using Yosemite just as I used Mavericks.

That doesn't matter. The point is, there may be apps that run less efficiently and consume more energy under Yosemite than on Mavericks, Spotlight may be indexing, etc. Follow the steps in the link I posted to determine the source of your battery usage.

 

[mKTank]

Well that's kind of the point of this thread...I'm asking whether anybody noticed worse battery life under Yosemite. Bonus points if there's some kind of Anandtech-like scientific test out there because I can't find one.

I appreciate what you're trying to do but the problem is most definitely not usage-related; I'm using my computer now the exact same way and with the exact same settings as I was under Mavericks. I'm just asking others to list their experiences.

 

[GGJstudios]

I appreciate what you're trying to do but the problem is most definitely not usage-related;

It is absolutely usage-related. Some will claim battery life is better on Mavericks and some will claim it's better on Yosemite. That's because their usage is different. You keep asking a question that doesn't have a definitive answer, because you're ignoring the most significant impact on battery life: the settings and particular workload that is unique to each user. The OS version, by comparison, has little or no impact on battery life.

 

[mKTank]

It is absolutely usage-related. Some will claim battery life is better on Mavericks and some will claim it's better on Yosemite. That's because their usage is different. You keep asking a question that doesn't have a definitive answer, because you're ignoring the most significant impact on battery life: the settings and particular workload that is unique to each user. The OS version, by comparison, has little or no impact on battery life.

Ok thanks for your input.

 

[bigchief]

I downloaded Yosemite this past Sunday and battery usage is the same as Mavericks.

 

[newellj]

Apart from the 24 hour period after I installed Yosemite, I noticed no difference in performance or battery life. The first 24 hours or so was pretty bad - lots of system activity and battery drain, probably due to indexing or similar tasks. But you're way beyond that. My rMBP quickly went back to working at least as well as it had running Mavericks. I've also experienced no wifi problems.

 

[yep-sure]

I downgraded from Yosemite to Mavericks about a month ago now, and I'm so glad I did.

The WiFi issues, sluggishness, bugs, and eye strain were all intolerable.

I didn't notice how bad the battery was on Yosemite until I downgraded back to Mavericks and saw how much better it was.

 

[lchlch]

I downgraded from Yosemite to Mavericks about a month ago now, and I'm so glad I did.

The WiFi issues, sluggishness, bugs, and eye strain were all intolerable.

I didn't notice how bad the battery was on Yosemite until I downgraded back to Mavericks and saw how much better it was.

What browser were you using?

 

[yep-sure]

What browser were you using?

Safari.

 

[Ardmanz]

If I was willing to go through the effort (I'm not right now) I would go back to Mavericks.

It was a lot more stable for me. Didn't notice much difference between performance or battery life between the 2.

I'm going to make do until the next OSX is released and hope they fix all the bugs.

 

[Taz Mangus]

If I was willing to go through the effort (I'm not right now) I would go back to Mavericks.

It was a lot more stable for me. Didn't notice much difference between performance or battery life between the 2.

I'm going to make do until the next OSX is released and hope they fix all the bugs.

In what ways is Yosemite less stable, for you, than when you were using Mavericks?

 

[Ardmanz]

In what ways is Yosemite less stable, for you, than when you were using Mavericks?

The 2 biggest things that I can remember right now are:

1. Wifi (especially from sleep). Whenever I bring my mac out of sleep I have to turn off the wifi and turn it back on to reconnect to my network. Strangely, if I have it plugged into the mains I rarely have to do it. This was never a problem in Mavericks.

2. Shutting down. I'd say I successfully manage to shut down my mac 50% of the time. When it doesn't shut down the top bar disappears and it just hangs there. I have to hold the power button to switch off. Again, this wasn't present in Mavericks.

Both of these appear to be quite common problems.

I also have more issues with having to force close apps.

 

[newellj]

The 2 biggest things that I can remember right now are:

1. Wifi (especially from sleep). Whenever I bring my mac out of sleep I have to turn off the wifi and turn it back on to reconnect to my network. Strangely, if I have it plugged into the mains I rarely have to do it. This was never a problem in Mavericks.

2. Shutting down. I'd say I successfully manage to shut down my mac 50% of the time. When it doesn't shut down the top bar disappears and it just hangs there. I have to hold the power button to switch off. Again, this wasn't present in Mavericks.

Both of these appear to be quite common problems.

I also have more issues with having to force close apps.

This is a genuine puzzle to me. If we were talking about Windows machines with widely varying hardware components and drivers, it wouldn't really be a surprise. With Macs, though, you'd think it would be different...

 

[Taz Mangus]

The 2 biggest things that I can remember right now are:

1. Wifi (especially from sleep). Whenever I bring my mac out of sleep I have to turn off the wifi and turn it back on to reconnect to my network. Strangely, if I have it plugged into the mains I rarely have to do it. This was never a problem in Mavericks.

2. Shutting down. I'd say I successfully manage to shut down my mac 50% of the time. When it doesn't shut down the top bar disappears and it just hangs there. I have to hold the power button to switch off. Again, this wasn't present in Mavericks.

Both of these appear to be quite common problems.

I also have more issues with having to force close apps.

Issue #2 and force close apps are definately are not normal conditions. There were things that could have been tried to diagnose what was causing the issues. Just because they don't happen in Mavericks does not mean that Yosemite was causing the issue. There are a lot of factors that can contribute to problems happening with a system. It is not always cut and dry that Yosemite is the cause. Not sure what you tried to diagnose the issue. You would be surprised the issues people have been having in Yosemite that have nothing to do with Yosemite per se. I know becasue I have been helping people solve them. Now I am not saying there aren't true issues with Yosemite it's just a case by case situation. Please don't take what I have stated here as an excuse or reducing what you experienced with Yosemite, as that is not my intent.