Q: Battery life dropped considerably on Mountain Lion.

Saidhi, my first macbook had a defective dvd drive, another dead pixels, another fried its nvidia (but lasted 3.75 years). A week ago exchanged a 10 day MBA for a faulty trackpad. It happends. Rest of the time my macbooks have been flawless and i pushed them lots.

So what you got to do is relax, and let the battery loose health. Apple has scripted answers. Once you reach 80% <1000 cycles. I have a feeling you may reach 80% withing two or three dozen cycles maybe? they will automatically replace for free your battery. They are following a chart.  IF the replacement does the same, they will replace, again, automatically, your MBP. Work with them, and use their methods to get it fixed.

Ikaika, ok, so here is your problem. You drain 8% in two hours, or 100% in 25. So one day standby. Thirty times faster then my MBA or MBPs out there. hopefully it is obvious to you. You got a lemon, contact Apple and have it replaced. They may ask you to bring it at a genius store. Or just got at a store. They will run overnight tests. As well, they will leave it on standby. Once they see the same thing you noticed, bing! new macbook for you. Whether defective battery or logicboard, one should not care other then you getting a spec working machine, and Apple generally acts the same.

Apocaly,

Yours is a tricky question, as seen or heard or even tested some interesting things. A battery that was completely messed up calibration wise, by ML, comes to Lion with just remining health and some weird settings. I installed Lion or SL on new batteries and the problem really was gone. However, big point, SL and Lion consume more now then when originally released, as does safari, firefox, chrome. So what we need from you is:

- age of machine, macbook type

- battery info and stats

What am trying to say is that a 2009 MBP, day one, June 2009, powered on, gives you 5 hours. Same machine, new logicboard replacement, new battery, turned on July 2012 and updated to 10.6.8 or 10.7.8 + other software updates will automatically give you some 4 to 4.5 hrs max, as the very OSes changed. that is what I noticed anyway. Just the internet web 2.0 and flash are monster drains these days and glad Apple keeps it from iPads and hopefully they just dissapear.

Beisarius,

Not sure if I have a lemon because this didn't happen before I went to ML. It's got to be something in ML. I get a free MacBook Pro anyway because it's only 2 months old regarless if it's ML or hardware.

Has anyone on here that has suddenly started experiencing battery issues under ML taken their MBP in to the genius bar and had them diagnose the problem as a malfunctioned battery? (I'm assuming so, just haven't been able to make it through all 133 pages of posts)

I have an early 2011 MBP, and upgraded to ML right around the time it was released.  There wasn't any change in battery performance initially, but at some point this past week (not sure when as it's usually plugged in at my desk) I started experiencing the 1% per minute drain others are seeing. 

I'm traveling this coming week, so I took it in to the Apple store yesterday, and the genius ran their diagnostics tool, which showed that there was a problem with the battery (big red X on the battery icon in the diagnostics UI).  He told me that it was really rare to see a battery this new and with as few of cycles as it had manfuntion, but that that's what had happened.  It's not longer under warranty but he said they could replace it for $129, but they didn't have any in stock since they so rarely have issues with them (!?). 

Now that I'm researching the issue on my own I have to wonder if I really have a malfunctioning battery, or if I'm simply experiencing the same issue as everyone else here.  It's strange to me that the problem started occuring so suddenly (I'm wondering if it was right after the 10.8.1 update, but don't know for sure).  I've checked for runaway processes, etc. and that isn't an issue.

Anyone have any advice?  Have the battery replaced next week, or wait it out and see if Apple comes to its senses and makes things right with their customers and addresses this issue?

ApocalyArts wrote:

 

Does anyone know why battery life is messy even though I went back to OS X Lion? I thought that it was clearly not a hardware issue but I'm not so sure about that anymore.

As mentioned earlier, my WAG is this is an SMC issue.  It could easily explain what we're dealing with.

Mountain Lion updated the version of SMC (System Management Controller) on many (all?) of our MacBooks.  The SMC controls power flow and fan speed among other things.  Since SMC is part of the firmware (and has to be flashed to change it) switching back to Lion does not change the updated version of SMC.  This is why we are not seeing a return to "normal" when downgrading to Lion. 

You can find out what version of SMC you have by going to Apple > About this Mac > More info > Hardware Overview.

However that info would only be helpful if we have a list of the original versions of SMC for the various models of MacBooks for a side-by-side comparison.  I've been searching but cannot locate that info.

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brettlj - the problem seems to be associated with the ML update.  So, you might be able to help educate your "Genius", who may not be fully aware of this issue, and have them replace your battery for free.  Because your battery worked under the previous OS, it is unlikely that a battery issue, on its own, is the cause of the problem.

richsadams - you can find some information on the firmware here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1237 .  While I agree it could be a firmware issue, most machines coming from lion (if they have been updated after last November) didn't receive the firmware push as part of the ML update.  So, it seems to point to something within ML itself rather - or to a part of the firmware what wasn't previously invoked under SL or Lion.

Not saying it couldn't be the battery and not saying it couldn't be the firmware.  But am saying that the thing that seems to have trigged this is ML.  I'm optimistic Apple will lick this.

Hi

I have a RMBP which it says the age is 2.6 months having done 38 cycles.

When I look at battery stats the battery health fluctuates considerably within a the space of a minute going from 99.7% to 100.7%. Now it is settled at 100.5%. How can this be? Should I take my laptop into apple? I have noticed considerable change in battery life since updating to mountain lion.

I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks

ScratchSF wrote:

 

richsadams - you can find some information on the firmware here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1237 .  While I agree it could be a firmware issue, most machines coming from lion (if they have been updated after last November) didn't receive the firmware push as part of the ML update. 

Thanks for the reference, noted it a couple of months ago.

However I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that the SMC wasn't updated on "most machines"...reference?  Machines that were updated with the Power Nap feature (part of ML) have an updated version of SMC.

Good question.  My conclusion is based on the observation that the last firmware update for most of the MBP line was last November (based on the dates given by the links to each of the firmware updates).  So, my conclusion of "most people" is based on that observation alone - that the firmware has been out there since November and many people have been using it on Lion with better battery performance than with ML.  If it were purely firmeware, then the poor battery behavior would be on both OSes.  That's not to say it isn't firmware related; either through configuration or thorugh feature in the firmware that ML uses that were not previously used by Lion.  But since a lot of people in this thread have said they were on Lion and now have poorer battery life under ML, it suggests that the version of the firmware, at least on its own, isn't the problem.  The more I think I about this, the more I think it is a configuration file or a settting within a configuration file that is at issue.  That's not to say that, ultimately, it's not code related.  But something else seems to be the trigger.

Ikaila777 - I would tend to agree with you.  Sorry Chris...every problem is not due to having a lemon from Apple (based on your data).  I'm on my second Macbook Pro 15HR in a month and I'm still having a draining problem while it "sleeps".  The configurations were changed from a 7200 drive to a SSD that improved my live battery performance (as it should) but still it lost over 11% during sleep overnight.  This is roughly the same result as the previous unit.  I can close my 4 year old Dell and loose nothing.  Eventually I'll get a Macbook that has the battery drain issue fixed.

i have MBP 13 i7 2012, i have same problem with battery, 4hr on ML, before this with lion i have 7-8hr. will apple will fix this. sad with my first apple product maybe will back to windows again if apple not fix the problem.

I've been following this thread since it's inception and finally decided to downgrade to Lion... I can honestly say that my battery life HAS gone up.. but I'm only getting around 3.5-4 hours on my MBA mid-2011, which is about 1 hour or so less than I got before I upgraded to ML. Strangely enough, according to coconut battery my MBA is actually using about the same power usage as it was on ML. I just wish I could get a refund on ML... I'll be following this thread to see when it's actually safe to upgrade.

Walshy, it is odd enough you should bring it at an Apple store. Should not report over 100%

Hey Lonepeak

Business def:: lemon= "poorely performing business or investment." Automotive: "car that causes more trouble that it is worth." 1906 def: "thing that proves to be defective, imperfect, or unsatisfactory." so on..

So your Dell does not drain. The two MBAs I tested did not drain. Nor do most MBPs out there with ML. Yours looses 11% a night (5 days standby). So you are describing a lemon, just not calling it by its name. Causes you trouble, is imperfect, unsatisfactory, does not match the rest. You can try figuring out firmware or not, but it works for so many units except yours.

I would not waste a second and have it replaced.  Your MBP, if a 2011 or 2012, is designed for 20-30 days standby. Why it drains, unknown, that is Cupeprtino's job to fix these in the supply chain. Only thing that matters is your getting one that does not. Am not sure what the modifications did, so can't speculate as to effect of HDD swap.

ML drained 5-10 % an hour for a 2008 and a 2009 I tried. Lion and SL did not. My conclusion was that those macbooks can not handle ML that's all. But a 2012 machine is a different story.

Time is precious. If you love fiddling with OS and hardware as I do, keep at it. If you just want a working MBP, have it replaced.