Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

My battery in my MBP Retina is very poor

The energy saver is the default in settings (Brightness is about 1/3) and in a full charge the time shows 2.5 hrs. I am just surfing the web with no other programs open and BT off. I have put this to the test and am getting terrible life out of my new unit.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jun 24, 2012 6:25 PM

Reply
30 replies

Jun 24, 2012 6:34 PM in response to kdamghani

You're the first Retina Owner that has time showing in their battery meter. Are you sure you have the Retina Version?


In any event, see what you have loading in your login items and delete the ones that you don't need.


Open up activity monitor and under all processes, see what using most of your % CPU and highlight the one that's using over 20% and hit quit process.


See if that helps your battery life.

Jun 24, 2012 6:41 PM in response to Bimmer 7 Series

If you click on the battery icon on the top, it shows the time. Yes I am sure it's the retina, paid $2800 for the 2.6ghz. I have checked activity monitor on this and am clear of any programs. Just got off the phone with applecare and they stated that I have a bad battery and they are replacing my MBP retina through the apple store.

I have also noticed this thread in the meantime: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4029822?answerId=18652096022#18652096022

Jul 6, 2012 8:59 AM in response to kdamghani

Odd. I have the MBP Retina 2.6 ghz and while haven't "timed" the life of the battery, I've found that with normal use - some browsing, some intense photoshop use, full brightness, watching a streaming movie, I have been getting around 5+ hours before it starts squawking to be recharged. I wonder if there is an issue with the battery or with the units themselves. have you checked with your store yet?

Jul 10, 2012 1:30 AM in response to kdamghani

I had the same poor battery life problem with my Retina, after a week of use, could only get 2-2.5 hours out of it. I called the people at apple express lane, and the guy said to:


shut the mac down

then press the power button

then straight after you have turned on

Press Option-Command-P-R until you hear startup sound a second time.

Then release all keys



This completely solved my problem, now seeing 6-7 hours battery life, and incidently my mac is a lot cooler now too.


Hope this helps somebody :-)

Jul 11, 2012 12:53 PM in response to kdamghani

I would like to know more about this issue, I found several other threads with the same issue and it seems like you guys are a few of many who could resolve this issue.


At first I didn't really bother about the battery I was just a bit annoyed that my new rMBP got as hot as my old MacBook5,1. After reading a few posts on this support forum I realize I too have a poor battery experience.


Yesterday I went from fully charged to 50% within two hours and under the period I only used Safari and Terminal. When I checked the time left in the menu bar I jumped back and forth from 8:56 to 2:20. Today when I got home I used only Safari, Terminal and TweetBot. When I launched Screen sharing over my wifi I went from ~50% to 37% in about 20 minutes.


Should I consider this normal? Why doesn't more people post or complain if this is a rather big issue? And yeah, I tried both of your tips with the reset and to delete the file and relaunch the dock.

Jul 11, 2012 7:27 PM in response to Swrt

Hello,

I was having the same problem, brand new Reitna Macbook, had all my stuff migrated and my battery life was never over 2:30hrs.

Apparently, there was a process in Activity Monitor named "bash", which was on top of my CPU usage list.I killed that process, uninstalled an app "send to kindle" and rebooted; I got up to 8 hr battery life. It now works perfectly. It also runs a lot cooler.

I wish that app gets updated, as I used it a lot.

P.S. I read about the problem of the Kindle app somewhere I cant find now.

Check your activity monitor for any unusual items there.

Jul 16, 2012 2:39 AM in response to ugotSURBed

I had the same problem. Also after transferring with migration assistent. I entered the lines in Terminal (I never come as deep in the system as that). And it worked!!! On the screen 10.5 hrs to go. May wishfull thinking, I will see. Anyhow thank you very much.

What is happening in my Macbook if you fill out this lines in Terminal. Can you correct this command and can it happen again after reboot?

Jul 17, 2012 12:36 AM in response to kdamghani

Yes! I too was disapointed with my new MBP retina being at 50% after a couple hours of surfing. After doing a "option-command-P-R" to reset my PRAM and NVRAM (fyi - I too used migration assistant) I have been on it for 7 hours (low light) with 3:05 showing left!! (btw-I didn't do the terminal fix as shown here)


It initially read over 11 hours immediately after restarting after the command. After performing the O-C-P-R I had grey screen breifly and then it appeared to reboot again at which point the fan was very loud for about 5 seconds or so, I haven't heard the fan since and it is also not buring my lap as it did when I first used it.


Very happy...things are right again in the world.

Jul 23, 2012 8:53 AM in response to CardinalPilot

I got 9 hours working time with my machine yesterday, on battery, doing mainly MS Word, reading Email and a bit of web browsing. I will be happy with that level of battery life when using the laptop for meetings. However, unless Apple addresses the battery capacity under graphics intensive work, my suggestion is to keep your new Macbook Pro plugged in if you want more than a few hours of use under battery in those conditions.

My battery in my MBP Retina is very poor

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.