Apple issues MacBook Air SMC update to fix battery drain issues

AppleInsider · June 9, 2014 4:31PM

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.

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.

darklite · June 9, 2014 4:42PM

What's the picture got to do with this?

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

mazecookie · June 9, 2014 4:47PM

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.

right_said_fred · June 9, 2014 4:47PM

Clearly he's offering the air up to Zeus, so that lightening will restore power

flashfan207 · June 9, 2014 5:16PM

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!!

lance newcomb · June 9, 2014 5:49PM

Yet they won't fix the damn finder.

mpantone · June 9, 2014 6:23PM

Probably a different engineering team.

sevenfeet · June 9, 2014 7:37PM

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

theirongiant · June 9, 2014 7:44PM

They issued a new SMC controller FIRMWARE. A new controller (hardware) would require a factory recall.

inosey · June 9, 2014 8:52PM

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.

curtis hannah · June 9, 2014 9:35PM

To increase the already amazing battery life on it.

lance newcomb · June 10, 2014 8:18AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iNosey

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.

tallest skil · June 10, 2014 9:09AM

Originally Posted by Lance Newcomb

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.

lance newcomb · June 10, 2014 9:18AM

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.

benjamin frost · June 10, 2014 9:24AM

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.

tallest skil · June 10, 2014 9:41AM

Originally Posted by Lance Newcomb

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.

right_said_fred · June 10, 2014 11:11AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benjamin Frost

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

good one!

inosey · June 10, 2014 3:11PM

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.

lance newcomb · June 10, 2014 5:23PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iNosey

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.

chia · June 10, 2014 9:09PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lance Newcomb

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.

lance newcomb · June 11, 2014 5:57AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiA

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.

Paste

Apple issues MacBook Air SMC update to fix battery drain issues

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