The battery life in MacBook Pro is not 7 hours

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It is a good idea to run the new MBP through several calibration cycles, instructions here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

The calibration helps your computer know when the battery really is low, otherwise it will keep more charge available than it needs to when it shuts down so that it doesn't have to shut off after going to sleep.

Here's another article about helping the MBP last longer when running on battery:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3557


Apple says this about their battery life claims:

About Apple battery life claims
Published battery life is based on a light duty test that involves wirelessly browsing various websites and editing text in a word processing document with display brightness set to the middle setting.

The more intensive the usage of a computer, the faster the battery will drain. For example, while a MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010) used as described above can get up to 9 Hours of battery life, the same MacBook Pro computer continuously playing DVD movies with the display set to full brightness will drain the battery more quickly.


Hopefully this will help you get more enjoyment out of your computer.

Best wishes. Joel.

Message was edited by: Joel Hall

It says it's UP to 7 hours, there is a big difference! I'd recommend turning off processes you don't use. For example I didn't use Bluetooth with mine so I turn it off in preferences and that increased battery life quite a bit. Also the more stuff you have running the less battery life you're going to have. Manage your battery and also maintain it, I'll bet you did not read Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance.

Roger

Mine barely lasts 4 hours. I have wi-fi turned on though so I'm not sure whether that is killing the battery.

D37 wrote:
Mine barely lasts 4 hours. I have wi-fi turned on though so I'm not sure whether that is killing the battery.

I ran mine through the first battery calibration Monday - I got over 7 hours out of my new 15" in regular use: wifi on, Bluetooth off, screen at 1/2 brightness, Safari, Mail, Adium and a few other applications on and off during the day. Was I playing fullscreen videos or editing photos on Photoshop all day? No, but I was doing the kind of stuff I usually do when unplugged.

What did you exactly do for the calibration? Just fully drain it and fully recharge it?

This article:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490

...gives 6 steps, essentially discharge, save everything, let sit for 5 hours discharged, and then recharge.

Ciao. Joel.

What did you exactly do for the calibration? Just fully drain it and fully recharge it?

Why don't you read the article and I'd recommend reading the owners manual that way you can get it straight from the horses mouth.

My new 2.3 17" is doing about 5.5 hrs vs about 7-8 of my previous 2.93 2009 17"

Don't remember having to calibrate my previous mac.... Wonder if Batteries are different... Wonder how 2010 17" compares....

Looking for some type of Battery comparo utility (ala Geek Bench)

The calibration technique is the same with both models. Here is the link on how to calibrate your battery correctly. I'd recommend doing it at least every 2-3 months, put it on your calendar to remind yourself.



http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490



Roger

How long your battery lasts depends hugely on how you use your computer. Your computer (assuming 15 inch) has a 77.5 WHr battery. That means you have enough juice to run the computer for ONE hour at 77.5 W power consumption rate. The MacBook Pro is easily capable of exceeding 77.5 W (I have seen power consumption up to 85 W), which means if you use it aggressively (i.e. compiling code/encoding videos), it could last less than an hour. Now if all you do is browse/email/read with the screen dimmed, you probably only consume around 10 to 15 W, which would easily give you 6-7 hours of usage. For most people it's going to be somewhere in between. I'd guess 3-5 hours is normal.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I "calibrated" by setting the power saver to never sleep and letting the computer sit there over night.....

I must say that it perhaps improved it to 5 hours... so will do again and see....

My main comment though was based on doing a replacement from a 2009 17" to a 2011 17" where I use it exactly the same way.... I use it for work and do the same things (email, browser, etc..) and all I was commenting is that there is a big difference in battery drain... just by looking at the % in upper right... using "seat of the pants" approach.

Mine is terrible. Just bought brand new MacBook Pro 15", SSD (which is supposed to use less power) and when I turn my computer on, fully charged, it says I've got 1:58 worth of power. Running only Mail and with a web browser open.

Is this accurate??

No way should your battery life be that short.

Here are a couple of observations I have made.

1. There are more programs that cause your Mac to go to discrete graphics than you might think...sure Photoshop, but solitaire? I suggest you get GFX Cardstatus. It allows you to see which GPU you are using and which program(s) is/are causing the discrete to operate. I often use the program to force integrated graphics on when I know the program(s) I am using will not need discrete. For example on Skype if I am not making a video call.

2. When I first got my new Mac, the first thing I did was install Adobe Flash blocker on all my browsers (Safari, Chrome). You wouldn't believe how much battery life is sucked out of your MAC when you have two or three sites up with their blasted Flash players all going at once. The great thing about the blockers is that you can opt to run individual flash apps on the page. Not only did this help stop battery drain, but it also sped up my browsing experience and I experience far fewer, if any, browser crashes by Flash. Finally, I get to avoid all the crappy advertisements when I browse!

These are two that I feel might not be answered in reading the owners manual or cycling the battery...

D37 wrote:
Mine barely lasts 4 hours. I have wi-fi turned on though so I'm not sure whether that is killing the battery.

Make sure that you are not using the discrete graphics too. Force it to use the integrated graphics for the longest battery life. I was using VMWare Fusion and found out that makes it switch over to the fast one.

"gfxCardstatus" is a utility that will give you a lot of control over the graphics card. http://codykrieger.com/gfxCardStatus