Apple's fourth beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.3 warns if display brightness affects MacBook ba...
In a bid to extend battery life, the latest beta of macOS Sierra introduces a new option to the Mac's battery menu that will reduce the brightness of the display if it is above 75 percent.
Released to testers last week, the fourth macOS Sierra 10.12.3 beta adds "Display Brightness" as one of the options within the battery menu. First spotted by MacRumors, the warning only appears if the MacBook is set to a display brightness above 75 percent, with it unavailable if the user has selected a lower brightness setting.
Clicking the Display Brightness warning will automatically lower the brightness of the screen down to 75 percent. The setting also reduces down to 75 percent if the beta is installed on a MacBook with a higher brightness level already set.
The new option expands the usefulness of the battery level, which already warns users of apps that are drawing significant amounts of power.
The USB-C based 2016 MacBook Pro has received stiff criticism since its launch, with some owners complaining about a lower battery life than anticipated, though Apple apparently has not seen any real trend in battery issues. As Apple uses 75 percent as the setting for its own battery life tests, it is plausible some who tend to go brighter may see power durations get closer to what they expected using the setting.
Battery life issues have also affected Consumer Reports, which recently changed its stance and is now recommending the new MacBook Pro to consumers. After failing in the initial tests and the discovery that a hidden setting in Safari affected battery life, the product testing group tried again using a macOS 10.12.3 beta, with the software changes preventing the unexpected battery drain.
Released to testers last week, the fourth macOS Sierra 10.12.3 beta adds "Display Brightness" as one of the options within the battery menu. First spotted by MacRumors, the warning only appears if the MacBook is set to a display brightness above 75 percent, with it unavailable if the user has selected a lower brightness setting.
Clicking the Display Brightness warning will automatically lower the brightness of the screen down to 75 percent. The setting also reduces down to 75 percent if the beta is installed on a MacBook with a higher brightness level already set.
The new option expands the usefulness of the battery level, which already warns users of apps that are drawing significant amounts of power.
The USB-C based 2016 MacBook Pro has received stiff criticism since its launch, with some owners complaining about a lower battery life than anticipated, though Apple apparently has not seen any real trend in battery issues. As Apple uses 75 percent as the setting for its own battery life tests, it is plausible some who tend to go brighter may see power durations get closer to what they expected using the setting.
Battery life issues have also affected Consumer Reports, which recently changed its stance and is now recommending the new MacBook Pro to consumers. After failing in the initial tests and the discovery that a hidden setting in Safari affected battery life, the product testing group tried again using a macOS 10.12.3 beta, with the software changes preventing the unexpected battery drain.
Comments
If your argument is that my feature request shouldn't be honored because it has less impact on battery life than a full monitor, then you could make the same argument for removing the features allowing me to turn off the keyboard backlight, or even power nap. The fact of the matter is that lights on my laptop are on unnecessarily because I'm not using them.
As for my use case being atypical, why is Apple still promoting LG's external monitor for the new MBP if supposedly very few people are using it as a desktop?
(Edit: splitting sentences into paragraphs and fixing one incomplete sentence)
I know 2 people now opting for iPad Pro's over the Macbook Pro's. These are people that Apple directly targeted as a demographic for the Macbook. I was actually quite surprised.
Both didn't care about the processing power, thinness, or screen color gamut at all. They wanted battery life and accessibility. Both scoffed at the new Macbooks as providing neither - so settled for a change in how they work - than buy something insanely expensive that misses the mark completely on their needs.
One is buying 2 of them to leave in different locations so he doesn't need to worry about transporting them - says it's still half the price.
Top complaint about iphones as well is battery life.
If Apple came out with a Macbook that had 24 hour life, usb, sd slot... but was a few mm thicker... I bet they would slay it in sales.
They have compromised everything for thin. They went too far. Their phones are bending ffs. Software gimicks compromising brightness now. It's a gong-show.
Question is, are they going to pull it back?
The iPad Pro is advertised as the exact same battery life as the MacBook Pro, 10 hours. The iPhone 7 Plus though, gets 21 hours. I'm just speculating but I think people who spend more than 10 hours a day using their devices away from a power outlet are probably considerably less common than you think. Besides I see charging all over the place these days, even on airplanes and at the gates, which was about the only time I used to run low on power, long travel days.
BTW no professional notebook/laptop gets 24 hours of battery life. The ThinkPad X gets 11. I'm not an engineer, but I suspect in order to get 240% more battery life, you'd probably need it to be more than just a few mm thicker. Also I don't think Apple removed the USB-A or the SD card reader for thinness. They got rid of it to move the ball forward in wireless connectivity and those legacy ports were determined to be much less useful, especially going forward, however Apple does provide a solution for those who need them in the form of adapters.
The rest of your post is bullshit. The new MBP is regularly providing 8-10hrs of battery for most people. How is that horrible? It's better than the vast majority of laptops on the market, and there is no rational reason not to buy a MBP because of battery life.
I do. I'm a software developer, and when I'm not working on my desktop I take the portable. No surprise one of the reasons I buy MBPs is for their thinness -- which directly equals less mass and lighter weight. The power-to-weight ratio is excellent.
But "Ive is obsessed with thinness!" wha wha. Get over it, it's not for you. Move on.
But but but -- somewhere there must be a scenario that proves Apple doesn't know what it's doing, is DOOMed, and is run by upselling bean-counters.
You do realize the absurdity of claiming Apple is screwing up because their customers are now buying other Apple products, right!?
If you can't back that up, then i'm going to say that's just bullshit you made up. Because it's pretty clear -- most people need cars, not trucks. Sales of desktops aren't growing. So it makes perfect sense to build both, which Apple does. Their notebooks are the best on the market, so to say they hate the form factor is simply idiotic -- they sell both, and their notebooks are the best in the industry. Copied by all.