Battery life dropped considerably on Mountain Lion.

My MacBook Pro does not support Power Nap, so there's nothing to disable.

I've tried the SMC/PRAM reset. The only reinstall that I am going to do is to go back to Lion.

BTW, maybe Power Nap IS the problem? Maybe some Apple engineer screwed up the code and Mountain Lion thinks that my MacBook Pro is Power Nap compatible and it's busy trying to do the normal Power Nap stuff while the computer is sleeping? But since my model isn't supported for Power Nap, there's no option to turn it off.

Mark

ScratchSF: thanks for your tips summary. I will have to try those to see if I get better results.

I will also attempt your current and power test when I get a chance. I am currently at 2 cycles/96% of design capacity. Will also try the Wifi test, but do tend to rely on it.

Since my test above was performed while web surfing, I captured a screenshot of the processes while scrolling the thread for this page in Safari. See below.

Here's another screenshot while using another app: Evernote:

Most of the time, my processes are each under 10%, with the following 3 processes taking most of the CPU:

• kernel_task
• WindowServer
• SystemUIServer

Even when not web browsing, Safari Web Content occasionally spikes to 5/10/20%+.

i am having the same problem, although i bought my first mac in sept 2012 (came with mountain lion) so i just assumed they were just exaggerating how long it was supposed to last, but apparently not.

Aswick,

Adding on to ScratchSF's suggestions, I ask that the SMC be performed AFTER wi-fi has been shut off before checking battery life.

If'n ya don't mind.

ScratchSF: Here's what I see for your requested test. Minimal apps, no wifi, Time Machine backups off.

In 10-minute increments:

Starting: 11261 mV, -1530 mA, 6250 mAh, 43% remaining

10 mins later: 11229 mV, -1525 mA, 6265 mAh, 38% remaining

10 mins later: 11179 mV, -1559 mA, 6265 mAh, 34% remaining

10 mins later: 11123 mV, -1596 mA, 6265 mAh, 30% remaining

Bill Jacobs2: Here's what I see for your requested test. Wifi turned off, then SMC. Minimal apps, Time Machine backups off.

Starting: 11671 mV, -1207 mA, 6266 mAh, 58%

10 mins later: 11517 mV, -1264 mA, 6264 mAh, 54%

10 mins later: 11471 mV, -1283 mA, 6244 mAh, 51%

10 mins later: 11432 mV, -1251 mA, 6244 mAh, 48%

Thank you so much for checking, Aswick.

This leaves me puzzling why my customer has this "fix" work for him.

Alas, it leaves you with battery replacement and motherboard replacement as the only two options I've heard to work and tht Apple uses

Aswick, thanks for posting your results, which suggests in the first case that you'd get around 4 hours of battery life and in your second case you'd get around 5 hours. (Calculated by taking mAh / mA ). Doing the math confirms the % remaining you've posted.

I don't have a baseline of what the average mA was like before your upgrade to ML, or what other people experience on ML, Lion, or SL who are getting "normal" battery life. (Are there any readers with a similar capacity battery who can post your mA and mAh readings for a comparison?)

Anyway, in order to get more battery life from the same capacity of battery (and holding voltage relativtely constant), things would need to run on less current. So, the question becomes, IF your average current is highter than what other people are experiencing, then what is going on that is driving up current in ML; and specfically on your machine? (Just for reference, with a 6250 mAh battery, you would average 1250 mA for 5 hours of battery life; 1040 mA for 6 hours; and 890 mA for 7 hours).

There are a lot of answers to this questions; but I'll generalize as 1) things that give off light, 2) things that move, 3) things that transmit, and 4) things that store or process. So, it's possible that ML does something different than the other OS versions with video or backlighting (e.g., things that give off light). It's possible that ML does something different with the cooling fans (which we saw with 10.8.0) or the HD (e.g., things that move). I think we've ruled out WiFi since that was turned off, but we should also check with Bluetooth turned off (e.g., things that transmit). Or, it's possible that they are asking the H/W do do more, driving up the current required for the CPU/GPU, other logic components, and/or memory (e.g., things that store or process).

Note: my list isn't exclusive of everything that could draw current. And I'm not sure how much we are in a position to toubleshoot. But, if Apple is reading this thread, perhaps this might give them some clues as to where to look.

is that all with wifi on?! i have a 2.6 15 inch and im getting 3:30 at most on light chrome usage on 100%

About a month ago, I noticed that my battery life was decreasing by a percent every minute. It came to the point where I could actually watch it go down. I called in Apple and they were kind enough to do some troubleshooting with me on the phone. We reset the SMC and PRAM...but that didn't seem to fix the issue. So, I set up an appointment with the genius at Apple and went in for a check up. They ran a hardware test and saw that everything was running perfectly fine (Logic Board/RAM/HDD/etc). I told them that I wasn't running any heavy applications that could hog up my CPU. In fact, I only browse the web nowadays. Anyway...the genius denied that my computer had problems because the Hardware test he ran "claimed" that the hardware on my computer was looking fine.

After a couple days of stress, I called in Apple and decided to escalate the issue to the Senior Advisors. They asked me to calibrate the battery and gave me specific instructions on how to do so. I followed their directions hoping that it could hopefully improve my estimated battery time (which it didn't work unfortunately). They then told me that IF the calibrating process didn't help, I should start timing the battery life and report it to them immediately. Apple has advertised a 7+ hour battery life and I was only getting 1 hour in real life. I called them up and they set up an appointment for me to FINALLY get my battery replaced. A couple of days after I got it replaced, I noticed the same issues again. But this time...with an additional problem! I noticed that I am getting a buzzing/hissing/high pitched whiney noise coming from the upper left hand corner of my MBP (where the magsafe connects). It was not the fans or the hard drive spinning...I can assure you that! I only hear the noise when I plug in my charger and start loading/working with my MBP (i.e.. clicking on links/scrolling down web pages/working in general with the computer).

ANYWAYS...

I've tried the following....

-Reset PRAM and SMC (4-5 times as instructed by an Apple genius)

-Did a clean install of Mountain Lion (10.8.2) (I did this 3 times....very frustrating)

-Downgraded to the latest version of Lion (still got only 1 hour of battery life)

-Replaced my battery (Apple was so kind to get my battery replaced, but unfortunately, it still didn't work)

-Checked to see whether or not Spotlight was indexing (wasn't indexing)

-Checked Activity Monitor to see if I was running applications that could be CPU intensive

Some things you should know...

-Every time I use my computer, my battery HEALTH/Capacity decreases by one percent

-I am only browsing the Internet and experiencing quick decreases in battery life....that is why I'm concerned

-I have a 2.4 GHz 17" Antiglare MBP (October 2011 model) which I purchased 7 months ago

-Apple replaced my Logic Board in the summer because there was a red light coming from the headphone jack everytime I unplugged my headphones.

-I am only running Chrome and It's showing that I only have 2 hours left maximum on full charge and once it reaches to about 80%, I get about 1 hour of battery life.

-Once again, I'm getting approximately 1 hour of battery in real life. It goes down 1% every minute or two.

-I am running 10.8.2 and I've been having this problem since 10.8.1.

Apple senior advisors have been telling me that this could be a hardware issue..and because of that I have to take it to the store for check up AGAIN. My advisor told me that I should definitely get my Magsafe adapter replaced ASAP because that could be the reason why I'm experiencing my battery issues.

Sooooo.......I'm going to go ahead and see what happens. Perhaps 10.8.3 update will fix this? HOPEFULLY!

What should I do? I would really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.

A-3, would be interested in you running similar tests as aswick did so that we have a better understanding of your power consumption (e.g., mA and mAh). Would also be interested in knowing your battery capacity (both current and original).

The fact that you're getting such low battery life suggests either A) your battery capacity (current capacity) is pretty low versus your original, or B) a very high current drain. The fact that it doesn't keep charging to it's previous level, I'm going to (assume) is associated with a charging problem - although it might be related to the rate in which the battery is discharging. In either case, if you can post your metrics, that would be helpful.

Hi, i have a MacBook5,1 13" unibody alluminium late 2008 with 8GB of RAM (it should to support only 4GB, but 8GB at currently supported). I have a 1 years old original battery (gen 2012). I have the original 250GB HD (late 2008) and it somedays, from 2008 to today, for 2-3 seconds, emit a bad sound but without aftermath (the HD status is good).

The battery life is horrible from Lion (same in Mountain Lion) but i think that this is not completely due to the OS.

Well, i have tried:

PRAM reset

SMC reset

Clean install of SnowLeopard

Clean install of MountainLion

Clean install of MountainLion and recover of all datas from TimeMachine

So... the battery life is not good everywhere. Maybe the problem is in the EFI? I have no idea!

Apple please help us.

i also have a MacBook5,1 13" unibody alluminium late 2008 with 6GB of RAM. Had been running Mountain Lion for several months and all was okay. Now, I have the same problems as A-3. Battery drains very quickly. Went to Apple Genius Bar and was given the same advice as A-3 was given. I did SMC, PRAM update, reinstalled Mountain Lion. looked at System Report processes. Nothing seems to work.

ScratchSF: Thanks for your reply. I would have to disagree with your assessment, however. If I am losing 5-6% of my new battery every 10 minutes under normal use, then I am completely drained in about 3 hours.

Since my original post (and only 3-4 times of use since), I am now down to 94% of design capacity on the new battery.

I don't use Bluetooth (turned-off). I also tweaked the "Energy Saver" settings, attempted your suggestions, and found more ML fixes on the Internet based on console log errors. No noticeable change in battery usage.

One thing I have noticed that I have in common with the last two postings is that I am also running with additional memory (8gb in my MBP). Could this be the reason?

I also noticed another thing about my Power settings. Previously I had Energy Saver / Battery settings as

Computer Sleep 15 minutes

Display Sleep 10 minutes

For some reason, when running a maintenance procedure a couple of weeks ago I set the Battery settings to

Computer Sleep Never

Display Sleep 15 minutes

Now, today, I changed them back to

Computer Sleep 15 minutes

Display Sleep 10 minutes.

I'll see if that makes a difference. However, that does not explain why I happened to see the more extensive battery draining only 2 days ago.