Apple issues MacBook Air SMC update to fix battery drain issues

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited June 2014
Apple on Monday released a new system management controller (SMC) for its MacBook Air line of ultraportables, targeting an issues related to unexpected battery drain experienced by some mid-2013 models.

MBA


According to the brief release notes, Apple's MacBook Air SMC Update version 2.0 targets a power handling issue that appears to be limited to mid-2013 MacBook Air models.

Specifically, the update addresses an issue that "may cause the battery to drain faster than expected when the lid is closed." A number of threads on Apple's Support Communities forum attested to the battery drain problem, with one of the larger discussions suggesting the issue is OS-related.

Last October, Apple issued MacBook Air SMC Update version 1.9, which addressed a serious issue where the battery would unexpectedly stop functioning or would not be recognized by the system.

Apple's MacBook Air SMC update requires OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 or later, or OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 or later to run. The download comes in at 804KB and is available from Apple's support website.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    darklitedarklite Posts: 229member

    What's the picture got to do with this?

     

    And what's wrong with that guy's hand?

  • Reply 2 of 26
    mazecookiemazecookie Posts: 163member
    I have a 2013 13" MBA with Yosemite installed.

    Tried to run the SMC update, and I get the error "this update is already installed on your computer".

    I guess they prepackaged that into 10.10.
  • Reply 3 of 26
    right_said_fredright_said_fred Posts: 803member
    Clearly he's offering the air up to Zeus, so that lightening will restore power
  • Reply 4 of 26
    flashfan207flashfan207 Posts: 291member
    I also have a 2013 MBA and have indeed noticed a slight power drain, especially recently. I thought it was because of the heavy workload I subject the laptop to, and a possible resultant damage to the battery. Fingers crossed the update fixes it and I'm just paranoid. I love this thing too much to be having battery issues!!
  • Reply 5 of 26
    lance newcomblance newcomb Posts: 14member
    Yet they won't fix the damn finder.
  • Reply 6 of 26
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,040member

    Probably a different engineering team.

  • Reply 7 of 26
    sevenfeetsevenfeet Posts: 465member

    Updated my wife's 2013 MBA with no install issues.

  • Reply 8 of 26
    theirongianttheirongiant Posts: 76member
    They issued a new SMC controller FIRMWARE. A new controller (hardware) would require a factory recall.
  • Reply 9 of 26
    inoseyinosey Posts: 89member
    lance newcomb wrote: »
    Yet they won't fix the damn finder.
    What is wrong with Finder?! Why does everyone say that? Finder is amazing, it works way better than stinking Explorer.exe. So I don't see the need to fix it. There's nothing they could do better. It's fast, safe, and intuitive.
  • Reply 10 of 26
    curtis hannahcurtis hannah Posts: 1,833member
    To increase the already amazing battery life on it.
  • Reply 11 of 26
    lance newcomblance newcomb Posts: 14member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by iNosey View Post





    What is wrong with Finder?! Why does everyone say that?

    It won't remember window settings, it randomly sizes the name column (often far off screen, especially in searches) and the "labels" were made useless after 10.6.

  • Reply 12 of 26
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by Lance Newcomb View Post

    It won't remember window settings...

     

    Works fine here.

     

    ...it randomly sizes the name column...


     

    So manually resize it.

     

    …the “labels” were made useless after 10.6.


     

    Nope.

  • Reply 13 of 26
    lance newcomblance newcomb Posts: 14member

    I wasn't talking to you, troll. I don't care, at all, about anything you have to say.

    Don't bother replying to any of my posts, I have added you to my block list.

  • Reply 14 of 26
    benjamin frostbenjamin frost Posts: 7,203member
    right_said_fred wrote: »
    Clearly he's offering the air up to Zeus, so that lightening will restore power

    Or he’s offering it up for a backup to the cloud with a Thunderbolt connection.
  • Reply 15 of 26
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by Lance Newcomb View Post

    I wasn't talking to you, troll.

     

    Then don’t post publicly. Stop being a complete fool.

     

    I don't care, at all, about anything you have to say.


     

    Almost as classic as “I’m leaving, therefore I’m right,” is the standard “I don’t like you, therefore anything you say is automatically invalidated.”



    Get over it.

     

    Don't bother replying to any of my posts, I have added you to my block list.


     

    Good for you. EVERYTHING YOU HAVE SAID IS WRONG. I WILL REPLY TO EVERY LAST ONE OF YOUR POSTS.

  • Reply 16 of 26
    right_said_fredright_said_fred Posts: 803member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Benjamin Frost View Post





    Or he’s offering it up for a backup to the cloud with a Thunderbolt connection.

    good one!

  • Reply 17 of 26
    inoseyinosey Posts: 89member
    lance newcomb wrote: »
    It won't remember window settings, it randomly sizes the name column (often far off screen, especially in searches) and the "labels" were made useless after 10.6.
    Seems that all of those work for me. It remembers my window settings, never resizes the name column, and I used labels a good bit till tags came along. Sounds like a problem with your preferences, I'd clear your preferences cache and see if that fixes it.
  • Reply 18 of 26
    lance newcomblance newcomb Posts: 14member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iNosey View Post





    Seems that all of those work for me. It remembers my window settings, never resizes the name column, and I used labels a good bit till tags came along. Sounds like a problem with your preferences, I'd clear your preferences cache and see if that fixes it.



    Nope. Its a problem with 10.9 and 10.10 on my 2008 Mini, 2012 Macbook air and 2013 iMac even with a clean install on all 3.

  • Reply 19 of 26
    chiachia Posts: 713member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Lance Newcomb View Post

    I believe you don't understand what is being discussed here.

     

    Neither do you as you're grumbling about Finder issues in a thread unrelated to the Finder.

  • Reply 20 of 26
    lance newcomblance newcomb Posts: 14member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ChiA View Post

    Neither do you as you're grumbling about Finder issues in a thread unrelated to the Finder.


     

    Obviously not as I was replying to a question on the subject to which I commented earlier.

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