Macbook Pro Retina battery problem?

We need to put a lid on this discussion. This forum is not intended for bickering or personal attacks.

I'd suggest for those involved to unplug and take a walk or work it off. There's a whole big world out there, go out and enjoy it.

That's the point you haven't shared any experience. You have shared your hypothesis. And you really are starting to act a little queer. I hope this topic gets locked just so I don't have to continue this anymore.

Continue what exactly.

my online research has led me back to this solution several times. i will try it.

Thanks to MikeeBee8This helped me a great deal. From less than 3 hours, to now more than 8 hours. THANK YOU!

That actually worked went from maximum of 5 hours to a maximum of 8 in a time of about 10 minutes without the hassle of trading in or repairing.

This thoughtful reply worked for me as well. Thank you!

MikeeBee8 wrote:

I was getting just under 3 hours battery life. After a diagnostic test in the Apple Store I found that my battery was physically fine.

I recommend trying all 3 of these suggestions. Resetting the SMC and PRAM worked for me. I'm now getting 7 hours.

Reset PRAM

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

Reset SMC

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

If you've used Migration Assistant this could work

http://www.cultofmac.com/178092/this-simple-terminal-command-could-more-than-dou ble-your-retina-macbook-pros-battery-life/

I hope this helps

Mikee

Worked for me too, with full battery

Was 2hr 15 remaining

Reset PRAM - 4hr 15

Reset SMC - 7hr 38

Thanks 🙂

siriusendeavor wrote:

This thoughtful reply worked for me as well. Thank you!

MikeeBee8 wrote:

I was getting just under 3 hours battery life. After a diagnostic test in the Apple Store I found that my battery was physically fine.

I recommend trying all 3 of these suggestions. Resetting the SMC and PRAM worked for me. I'm now getting 7 hours.

Reset PRAM

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

Reset SMC

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

If you've used Migration Assistant this could work

http://www.cultofmac.com/178092/this-simple-terminal-command-could-more-than-dou ble-your-retina-macbook-pros-battery-life/

I hope this helps

Mikee

So this answer got the job done. 7+ hours right now after doing this. Awesomeness!

MikeeBee8 wrote:

I was getting just under 3 hours battery life. After a diagnostic test in the Apple Store I found that my battery was physically fine.

I recommend trying all 3 of these suggestions. Resetting the SMC and PRAM worked for me. I'm now getting 7 hours.

Reset PRAM

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

Reset SMC

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

If you've used Migration Assistant this could work

http://www.cultofmac.com/178092/this-simple-terminal-command-could-more-than-dou ble-your-retina-macbook-pros-battery-life/

I hope this helps

Mikee

My battery life was the same 2.5 hours that everyone else is describing when I first started to really use my machine after installing all my apps, configuring mounts etc.

I too was a bit worried that I would be having a drive to the apple store to get it looked at. I tried zapping the NVRAM, PMU, Delete the desktop plist. But none of them worked.

I did see another thread that asked others to monitor the actual power draw in the "System Information" app, and applied some pretty rudimentary math to establish how much life is left it the batteries based on the power being pulled.

I was surpised to see that my machines was pulling close to 3000mA, when others had said until normal conditions it should be less than 1000mA (you can check yours "About This Mac/More Info/System Report/Hardware/Power/Battery Information/Amperage").

Killing apps I was able to see that what was caning the power on my machine was ARD (apple remote desktop). I quit that and things went back to normal, 10+ hours reported on a full change. Wanting to be able to remote my other boxes, I also tried the build in Screen Sharing app (CMD+K/VNC:.... ) to see what it's behaviour is like and it too bumped the power draw up to the high 2000's.

Anyhow, I have only had the Retina for 3 days, so I will continue to investigate, but I don't think it is a hardware bug, and more likely a software/firmware issue. I think the guys that had no problems after zapping the settings probably aren't running the same apps as me.

IF anyone else is using VNC, ARD, Screensharing, can you try not having it running in the background and post if you see any better behaviour?

My machine is pulling 4715mA, I'm not even running any apps. Not sure which 'background' apps I can kill

Apple are replacing my machine (due to a few reasons), I'll see what the new one is like.

Christian, is there any chance that you could give more detailed info on your solution? I've been having the same issue but I don't understand the terms and steps in your post clearly. I get the main idea but unsure how to implement on my machine.

Not sure that this will help anyone but my battery was lasting for about 2.5 hours which was unacceptable. After several lengthy calls with Applecare phone support we discovered that I had 2 processess that were constantly running at 100%. These processess caused the computer to be very hot to the touch and consequently made the fans kick in using even more power. The processess were both sync related and were a direct result of me using Google calendar. Although I don't have a 100% solution (as iCalexternalsync still keeps launching itself occasionally) if I ensure that the processess are under control I am back up to +8hours.

Hope this helps a little.

This simple procedure can help you find those processes using more than their share of compute power:

Runaway applications can shorten battery runtime, affect performance, and increase heat and fan activity

Look for the processes in double-digits (above 9 percent CPU).

Odd enough, i got a new HDD this weekend and even tho i restored it to my TM, my battery life has been so much better.