Q: Lion - Horrible MacBook Pro Battery Life

Apple has really dropped the ball on this one and I'm just going to have to return this MBP and get my $4k back.   I have 2 MBP's, 3 MBA's, a MacBook, and an iMac.  This MBP 15 is the most expensive laptop I've purchased from Apple and has been the biggest let down.

Don't do it!  Scour Lion and install SL, then wait.  That's what I'm doing. OS 10.8 can't be far ahead.  One OS shouldn't be reason to give up on Apple.  We need to make our case with Apple, that's for sure.  But not abandon the brand.  That would leave it at the mercy of iOS fans.  Never! 

Thanks for the tips on removing that file.  Yep, I downloaded some audio app years ago and it still lingers on my system.  I deleted it, but it didn't really help. 

@Bob Jacobson:  Thanks for the encouragement, but I guess I'm just too frustrated.  The battery time is my biggest issue, but not my only issue.  I also have issue with the 1680x1050 resolution on this thing.  Everything is so small, but if you don't go with the native resolution then everything is washed out.  I can't go to the standard display because I need the antiglare.  This really is the first time I've purchased a new computer from Apple and have not been completely thrilled.  I'm a huge fan and have at least 7 macs, as well as 2 iPads, 3 iPhones, and a couple of iPods.  I'm not giving up on Apple, but I can't let them have my $4k unless I'm completely thrilled, and I'm not.  I'm completely frustrated.

I still think the MAC has "other" issues. I am getting the 7 hours still. However, I was at work today on power. I disconnected the power and shut all my apps down. At full charge it settled on 6 hours or so after 5 mins. With apparently nothing running. I logged out and re-logged in holding down shift (no startup programs) and it leapt to 10 hours + I logged out and re-logged in normally and it stayed settled on 10 hours (with my startup programs running).

I do believe, there are some applications I run (VMWare or office or Twitter or Adium) or something in Apple / drivers etc., that do not shut down properly in the O/S.

This might make sense to those of you that remember the GFXcardstatus bug whereby, even when you closed it, it would prevent the graphics card switching until you rebooted. All around the GPU again!!

Perhaps then, in addition to these drivers I've deleted, there are apps, under LION that do not shut down properly or leave something running.

This might then also explain why, when I shutdown my machine overnight, if "something" appeared to be running, the computer would eat 8-10% battery life overnight.

The mystery deepens! Thoughts?

Yes, you read this correctly, my machine showed a 15hrs and 06 mins tonight. Sure, coming up after idle but hey, it's a first.... by a long shot in 5 months! Shows it can "think" it can do it!!!!!

Well getting rid of the AdobeSync thing has definitely made my MBP run quietly and no fans blowing. But my battery life is still not great.

When I unplugged my Mac tonight charged at 97% (plugged in all night) Energy Saver preference said i was 97% charged wth 2.04 hours of battery life!

That is weird.. Less life than I had prevously with hot MBP and fans running etc.

Yes, there have to be more hidden things OR  applications that do no quit graciously as Franc-iPhone suggests

Anyone know what this file is?

net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist

I'm using Stuffit.  Could that be it?

Please post only your real battery life instead of the calculated one.

That is the real issue.

@franc iphone: if you still have such a battery drain when the laptop is left in sleep mode for a long period, then I doubt the issue is solved.

I also have issue with the 1680x1050 resolution on this thing.  Everything is so small, but if you don't go with the native resolution then everything is washed out.  I can't go to the standard display because I need the antiglare.

This is a general issue with MacBook Airs, too, not a Lion issue per se -- except that the MPA owners on another forum dealing with resolution expected Lion to solve the problem.  Sadly, it did not.  There's no easy workaround to this issue anymore than there is for the battery issue.  It seems as if the misdesigns are piling up rather than being fixed, which is not good.  Apple's solution for sure, if it doesn't want to make itself the target of a savvy computer manufacturer with a new OS, is not to put all of its eggs in the iPhone and iPad baskets.  It's to make top-notch computer products includiing OSs that deal with things like flexible resolution.

I had an interesting shuttle ride to the Consumer Electronics Show yesterday.  In back were three iPhone/iPad users discussing their devices' performance.  It turned out that two didn't know how to work the Settings and as a result were getting poor battery performance as well as having apps.  The third guy fortuntaely knew enough to adjust their settings or the poor kids would have been running suboptimal for the rest of their i-existence.  iCloud was just a big question mark for them, how it works.  That also is not good.  Wrong direction. 

But what humans do they can undo.  Apple will get a second wind once Steve Jobs' mystique fades and the company realizes it has to become highly innovative again, not just build products efficiently and cheaply.  As to the battery issue, I note I'm not doing grand with SL, either.  Better than the Lion reports, but not that much better.  The seven- and eight-hour charges are becoming less frequent. As I write, my MPA fully charged is reporting 6:00 even with the usual background processes turned off and about 90% capacity still available.  It should be around 6:30-7:00 at least.

htmanning wrote:

 

Anyone know what this file is?

 

net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist

 

I'm using Stuffit.  Could that be it?

Nope, not StuffIt. SIMBL is a bundle loader. It's commonly used to extend Safari. So if you ever installed PithHelmet, for example, you'd have SIMBL loaded.

http://www.culater.net/software/SIMBL/SIMBL.php

Also, you were asking about com.rogueamoeba.hermes.plist. That's a part of Audio Hijack Pro, from RogueAmoeba. I think it's what allows you to start capturing audio from other applications, but I'm not 100% sure.

Rayced, I concur, the overnight battery drain is indicative of some resource running. A bug or otherwise. Nothing else can account for that higher percentage. BTW - I have been getting a real 6-7 hours. The 15 hours I showed my task bar showing to me, is indicative that NOTHING else is running when my machine is idle. This is a pattern I have seen for 5 months but it never got anywhere near this.

Franc_Iphone wrote:

 

Rayced, I concur, the overnight battery drain is indicative of some resource running. A bug or otherwise. Nothing else can account for that higher percentage. BTW - I have been getting a real 6-7 hours. The 15 hours I showed my task bar showing to me, is indicative that NOTHING else is running when my machine is idle. This is a pattern I have seen for 5 months but it never got anywhere near this.

Well good to know you've finally got a good real battery life, though.

Ok, guys, I NEED HELP!

I think I did. Boo-Boo. I deleted everything from those two folders Mentioned a few posts ago and now my mob does not start anymore. what I get is a grey screen and the Apple "hourglass" spinning for over 15 minutes, but the OS is not loading.

how can I bring my computer back to life? And no, I cannot find now the original OS disc.

Any idea? Please help!

Thanks in advance.

I'd just use Time Machine if I were you.

Ok, excuse my ignorance, but how can I do this? I do have a backup on an external disc, but can I restore only the files I deleted?

Other than this solution, any other thoughts?

Thanks again,

L

Yes, you can just put the deleted files back.

Have a look at

"Restoring data from Time Machine backups"

here:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/17262837

I guess you will have to boot from the recovery partition (command-r) to get this done.