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Battery Life....or lack there-of

post #1 of 4
4/27/10 at 11:40pm
Thread Starter 
I just got a new core i7 MBP w/ 8GB RAM and was expecting great things from the new so-called 8-10hr battery.... but if my battery icon is correct, then my battery is either defective or the purported long battery life is BS.

When my MBP is fully charged it says I have 7.58hrs remaining......20min later it says I have 3.22hrs left.....????? What gives?

Maybe there are things I can do that will maximize the battery life but I thought I was already doing that....am I missing something? Am I the only one experiencing this dilemma?

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Coffee is for Closers

MBP 15" Core i7 Hi-Res Anti-Glare, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD
iPad 64GB
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Coffee is for Closers

MBP 15" Core i7 Hi-Res Anti-Glare, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD
iPad 64GB
Reply
post #2 of 4
4/28/10 at 5:58am
What are you doing with it in those 20mins? Have you opened a program that makes the 3rd party graphics chip kick in (and thus reduce battery life)?
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post #3 of 4
4/28/10 at 6:31am
Thread Starter 
I was strictly web browsing....I'm not a gamer and I haven't installed any production software yet....so I dont know why the battery isn't performing as it should be.
Coffee is for Closers

MBP 15" Core i7 Hi-Res Anti-Glare, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD
iPad 64GB
Reply
Coffee is for Closers

MBP 15" Core i7 Hi-Res Anti-Glare, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD
iPad 64GB
Reply
post #4 of 4
4/28/10 at 8:23pm
Your battery and indicator probably needs to be calibrated. There is info on the apple support site but basically, you let it completely die, then you let it sit for at least 2 hours, then you plug it in again and let it charge completely. I think you are supposed to leave it plugged in for several hours after its full too... The battery indicators are rarely accurate out of the box.

Also, Your going to have to turn your screen brightness down below 50% to get 8-10 hours. I've found that webpages with flash tend to be the biggest battery culprit even during a light load. When I'm trying to maximize battery life, I always keep an eye on the Activity Monitor and kill unnecessary programs thats hogging CPU cycles. You should also turn bluetooth off when your not using it.

It takes some vigilance on your part to really get 8-9 hours out of these batteries. It's definitely possible, so I wouldn't say the advertising is deceptive. You just have to monitor your system more closely and learn it's limits. Hope thats helpful!
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