Brand new 15" Macbook Pro Retina - Battery life only 4 hours, not 9 like they claim

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited November 2015

Hi,

 

3 days ago I purchased the highest end Macbook Pro 15".  The computer is amazing, fast, and light.  However, one of the main reasons I upgraded from my 3 year old Macbook Pro was due to the claim of up to 8 hours of life (using wireless web or itunes).  I am getting a little over half that with just email (Apple Mail program) and Safari open.

 

I've had my computer diagnosed at the Apple store and it checked out.  I've had a couple of calls with their level 2 tech support and they went over activity monitor items with me and tried a bunch of things, but the battery is still only doing about half of what Apple claims.  How is this possible?

 

http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs-retina/      <- see the battery life info. there.

 

Is anyone else having this issue with the newest model Macbook Pro's?

What do you suggest?

 

Thanks,



Russ

«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
  • Reply 2 of 28

    I am using it lightly with mainly just Safari and Mail open.  Of course wi-fi is activated, but on Apple's site, they say that the battery is rated at 8 hours for this model with wi-fi use.  Is anyone else having this issue?

  • Reply 3 of 28
    marvfoxmarvfox Posts: 2,275member

    Apple never tells you the truth about the battery life in their computers . They always exaggerate somewhat I owned MBP and Airs and I know from experience.

  • Reply 4 of 28

    maybe you open too much apps, or you just need to check the battery and change the other one 

  • Reply 5 of 28

    Hi Russ,

     

    Not sure if you've been able to resolve your problem, but I was having the EXACT same issue. When I first brought the new Macbook home the battery life was as claimed but after having installed Office Suite, Adobe CS etc the battery life plummeted to only 3 hours on wi-fi even if I was only running a browser and Skype.

     

    I was about to take it back to the Apple Store, but decided to try a few settings changes first and the incredibly simple thing that worked for me: Under energy saving preferences I checked the box to activate the "Power Nap".

     

    I now easily get 7+ hours on wi-fi (on my 2.6 ghz model they only claim 8, so close enough!) while running multiple browsers, Photoshop, FTP etc etc.

     

    Hope it works for you!

     

    Cheers, Julie

  • Reply 6 of 28

    Julie,



    Wow, thanks!   I just did that and it increased the battery life by almost double.  Thank you very much for sharing!

     

    -Russ

  • Reply 7 of 28

    Hi there, 

    I have the same problem and I live in Bulgaria where the nearest Apple Center is 140 km away from me. I have the same early 2013 Mac Book Pro Retina display. But the battery lasts  no more than 2 hours. I use on line video clips, Skype, Video player for movies and browse the Net.... Did you find any solution to fix that. I just click on that Power Nap, and started to pray it will help ....

    Thanks

    Apia

  • Reply 8 of 28
    marvfoxmarvfox Posts: 2,275member

    Flash when you view videos takes up a lot of battery usage.What browser do you use?

  • Reply 9 of 28
    varnau wrote: »
    Hi Russ,

    Not sure if you've been able to resolve your problem, but I was having the EXACT same issue. When I first brought the new Macbook home the battery life was as claimed but after having installed Office Suite, Adobe CS etc the battery life plummeted to only 3 hours on wi-fi even if I was only running a browser and Skype.

    I was about to take it back to the Apple Store, but decided to try a few settings changes first and the incredibly simple thing that worked for me: Under energy saving preferences I checked the box to activate the "Power Nap".

    I now easily get 7+ hours on wi-fi (on my 2.6 ghz model they only claim 8, so close enough!) while running multiple browsers, Photoshop, FTP etc etc.

    Hope it works for you!

    Cheers, Julie

    Hi Julie,
    No offense intended, but I'm afraid that by enabling the feature power nap you will achievie the excact opposite. The battery of your MacBookPro Retina 15" will definitely drain faster with this feature enabled. Here's the reason why: While sleeping your Mac executes several tasks in the background when power nap is enabled.
    It's easy to comprehend that a Mac that is doing stuff eats more battery then one that is in deep sleep mode.
    Please have a look at this website where Apple explains the power nap feature: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5394
    "About Power Nap

    While sleeping, Power Nap allows your Mac to do things like periodically check for new mail, calendar, and other iCloud updates. When plugged into AC power, Power Nap can also perform things like Time Machine backups to an AirPort Time Capsule and download OS X software updates while your Mac sleeps.

    When your compatible Mac goes to sleep, Power Nap still works to do the following:

    Mail - Receive new messages.
    Contacts - Your Contacts update with any changes you may have made on another device.
    Calendar - Receive new invitations and calendar updates.
    Reminders - Reminders updates with any changes you may have made on another device.
    Notes - Notes updates with any changes you may have made on another device.
    Documents in your iCloud account - iCloud pushes any edits you made to a document to your Mac notebook.
    Photo Stream - Your Photo Stream updates with new photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
    Find My Mac - Locate a lost Mac notebook even when it’s sleeping.
    VPN on demand - Corporate email updates securely.
    Mobile Device Management - Remotely lock and wipe the computer. ..."
    That's the reason why power nap is disabled by default when you are using the MacBook on battery. It must have been some kind of wishful thinking that you thought you retina MacBook would last hours longer with power nap enabled. I'm sorry to say that this is absolutely impossible.
    [cheers
    Vincent
  • Reply 10 of 28

    Hi Vincent,

     

    I'm not sure the point of your post as you don't offer any alternative solution to the problem, or even an instance of this solution having not worked, which could have been helpful for some users (eg. maybe it depends on what software you've installed etc), but merely your theory on why it shouldn't work.

     

    I'm not an expert, so I'm not going to bother disputing your theory, but what I do know from actual first-hand experience is that this is neither "impossible" nor "wishful thinking" on my part.

     

    Before I changed that one setting--and ONLY that one setting--the battery life on my brand new Macbook was abysmal, and afterwards (and still today nearly one year later) the battery life is as promised by Apple.

     

    No offense intended, but frankly I don't care what settings you prefer to use, activating the power nap worked for me so I thought I'd share the tip in case it might help other users. It seems to have done the trick for the original poster.

     

    Cheers, Julie

     

    ps. If you somehow thought that simply disputing the solution would be helpful to other users, a more polite and less arrogent way to have made your point would have been to say something like, "That's interesting that this seems to have worked, are you sure you didn't make any other settings changes that could have accounted for the improvement because it doesn't make sense to me. My understanding of Power Nap is....."

  • Reply 11 of 28

    hi there

    you will never know what the real useing hours of your battery for you have different programs on your computer,but i believe your battery really got some trouble for is using hours is too short.

  • Reply 12 of 28

    i have the same issue. i called the mac guys, and i am getting a replacement mac sent me to as we speak

     

    i am wondering if we have the same symptoms..

     

    goto about this mac

    goto more info

    then system report

    then on the left, power. 

     

    my full charge capacity is about 8500

    but the mac guy said it should be about 7500.. 

     

    and thus they are sending me a new mac.

     

    i wonder what your full charge capacity is

  • Reply 13 of 28

    Remember Apple never tells you the truth about the battery life in their computers

  • Reply 14 of 28

    puccaso, my full charge capacity is at 8650, so I'm thinking I may have the same issue as you did. My MBP is a i7, 15", 16GB, 512GB SSD, and I've recently noticed I'm only getting about 2 hours on battery. (I normally run on power.) The bottom of the case has been getting overly hot as well. I'll be talking with Apple support tomorrow.

  • Reply 15 of 28



    Well, I can't really agree with what you've said. I have a 13" rMBP (end-2012), claimed to have a battery life of 7 (seven) hours with "normal usage". By normal usage, they mean iTunes usage, e-mailing, surfing over the internet. When I turn down the screen brightness to approx. 35% (and disable auto brightness), I really can use it for 7 hrs. Bluetooth is always on (bcz. I'm used to a BT mouse...), BTW. Naturally wi-fi is always on... My battery is still relatively new at 92 cycles count. I usually drain the battery down to 5-10% before I start charging.

  • Reply 16 of 28
    souravsourav Posts: 1member
    I am having the same problem just over 5 hours of battery life.... this began after updating to os x 10.10.3.. I called apple support today they asked me to completely discharge the battery to 0% and then charge it again to 100% then use it completely again. If I get 8+ hours then its ok and if less then it is a problem....

    I would say that os x 10.10.3 , the new Photos app and the safari has something to do with the battery impact. and another interesting problem that I am having is that when I reboot my macbook pro the battery life on the login screen is 3% lesser than that of the desktop screen... so I guess They would replace my macbook pro...
  • Reply 17 of 28
    samesame Posts: 1member

    I'm having the exact same issues, from zero battery to full charge takes two hours, but it drains in four hours or so. My last macbook pro 15" from 2008 lasted 7 years (with a logic board replacement and one hard drive crash) and the battery  lasted for about 3 of those years. Even when the battery was performing it's worst it lasted longer than that of this new macbook pro 15" (2015). The reason I bought the new macbook pro was because it was advertised as a high performance machine with a long battery life. If I knew the battery life would be this poor unless I dimmed the screen and turned off the basic functional features of the computer like wifi, updates, itunes, etc. then I simply would have purchased an iMac.

     

    Thanks for your recommendations Julie, but I've had this computer for only a few months and the current battery performance which requires that I disable certain features and use the computer at a less than optimal performance level in order to gain a paltry couple of hours of additional battery life, does not bode well for the long-term battery health of this laptop.

     

    I'm returning this computer.

     

    Do you all have any suggestions for a laptop, mac or otherwise that has a truly decent battery life on wifi, with normal screen brightness, and without having to disable certain processing features?

  • Reply 19 of 28
    maxitmaxit Posts: 222member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

    Do this.




    did you read the link you posted ? There's nothing to help OP....

  • Reply 20 of 28
    maxitmaxit Posts: 222member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ruzzell View Post

     

    I am using it lightly with mainly just Safari and Mail open.  Of course wi-fi is activated, but on Apple's site, they say that the battery is rated at 8 hours for this model with wi-fi use.  Is anyone else having this issue?


    Absolutely not on any  MacBook Pro I used since 2009 model ...

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by marvfox View Post

     

    Apple never tells you the truth about the battery life in their computers . They always exaggerate somewhat I owned MBP and Airs and I know from experience.


     

    Plain false. Apple is quite accurate on battery life of their devices.

    Every review showed that.

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by varnau View Post

     

    Hi Russ,

     

    Not sure if you've been able to resolve your problem, but I was having the EXACT same issue. When I first brought the new Macbook home the battery life was as claimed but after having installed Office Suite, Adobe CS etc the battery life plummeted to only 3 hours on wi-fi even if I was only running a browser and Skype.

     

    I was about to take it back to the Apple Store, but decided to try a few settings changes first and the incredibly simple thing that worked for me: Under energy saving preferences I checked the box to activate the "Power Nap".

     

    I now easily get 7+ hours on wi-fi (on my 2.6 ghz model they only claim 8, so close enough!) while running multiple browsers, Photoshop, FTP etc etc.

     

    Hope it works for you!

     

    Cheers, Julie


     

    Power Nap should obtain the opposite effect....

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by VincentCologne View Post





    Hi Julie,

    No offense intended, but I'm afraid that by enabling the feature power nap you will achievie the excact opposite. The battery of your MacBookPro Retina 15" will definitely drain faster with this feature enabled. Here's the reason why: While sleeping your Mac executes several tasks in the background when power nap is enabled.

    It's easy to comprehend that a Mac that is doing stuff eats more battery then one that is in deep sleep mode.

    Please have a look at this website where Apple explains the power nap feature: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5394
    "About Power Nap



    While sleeping, Power Nap allows your Mac to do things like periodically check for new mail, calendar, and other iCloud updates. When plugged into AC power, Power Nap can also perform things like Time Machine backups to an AirPort Time Capsule and download OS X software updates while your Mac sleeps.



    When your compatible Mac goes to sleep, Power Nap still works to do the following:



    Mail - Receive new messages.

    Contacts - Your Contacts update with any changes you may have made on another device.

    Calendar - Receive new invitations and calendar updates.

    Reminders - Reminders updates with any changes you may have made on another device.

    Notes - Notes updates with any changes you may have made on another device.

    Documents in your iCloud account - iCloud pushes any edits you made to a document to your Mac notebook.

    Photo Stream - Your Photo Stream updates with new photos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

    Find My Mac - Locate a lost Mac notebook even when it’s sleeping.

    VPN on demand - Corporate email updates securely.

    Mobile Device Management - Remotely lock and wipe the computer. ..."

    That's the reason why power nap is disabled by default when you are using the MacBook on battery. It must have been some kind of wishful thinking that you thought you retina MacBook would last hours longer with power nap enabled. I'm sorry to say that this is absolutely impossible.

    [cheers

    Vincent

     

    Correct.

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