Battery drains fast on Mountain Lion compared to Lion?

I have the same issue in Europe. I have MBP late 2009 with SSD 240GB. While having Snow Leopard my battery life was something around 5hrs. I just updated to Mountain yesterday and I am very disappointed with current battery life (a little more than 2:30 mins). Also the temperature of unibody is considerably hotter that I am used to especially in areas close to display. I am considering to claim back money I spent on mountain lion if they won't fix this any time soon. Does anyone has experience with this? I don't want to waste 2-3 hrs of my battery life because of Mountain.

Guess the best solution is to wait for 10.8.1 wonder when is the release date for that .

Soul.Provider wrote:

Guess the best solution is to wait for 10.8.1 wonder when is the release date for that .

That is the worst solution. According to the rumor mill, 10.8.1 does nothing for battery issues. I have yet to see any evidence of any battery issues that aren't caused by some other problem that can be fixed without a software update. The only problems the update will fix are the problems the update says it will fix. Applying a software update to a system with other unresolved problems will only make it worse.

Etresoft,

So, that's emphatically the WORST thing to do ist it? I think chucking your Mac into a lake would be the worst.

I'm sure you'll take the time to expand on that so we can all understand what you mean.

Can you also explain how a software update would make the battery issue worse, rather than maybe not solving the issue.

FYI, I'll be taking the positive step of updating along with everyone else asap.

Norbert Dentressangle wrote:

So, that's emphatically the WORST thing to do ist it? I think chucking your Mac into a lake would be the worst.

No, that isn't the worst. If you buy a new Mac and don't migrate four years of crud onto it, it will actually perform much better. That is why all the downgraders are so happy with the results of going back to Snow Leopard or Lion. The only way to do that is wipe the hard drive, do a clean install, and reinstall applications. That is probably the most effective way to get the operating system running at maxmimum efficiency. The problem is they never try that on Lion or Mountain Lion 🙂

Can you also explain how a software update would make the battery issue worse, rather than maybe not solving the issue.

Because whatever is going haywire in the operating system could cause the installer to fail and wind up "bricking" the system. Just wait for 10.8.1 to come out. You will see many posts to that effect. Of course, that isn't very likely, but multiply it by a few million people and it will seem like an epidemic of update failures. Those people who have unresolved system problems that are not addressed by the update will be at greater risk for "bricking".

If your scenario is correct then Apple is selling bad machines. My husband and I both bought new MBPs on the same day in June...two months ago. Both were running just fine...100% charge plugged in, 7 hours or more unplugged, running cool to the touch. Now after upgrading to ML, we both have observed the same. While plugged in, our machine drains down to 99 or 98 %, when unplugged within minutes drains down to 87% and is completely drained within 1.5 hours or less. This is with light usage. It even drains in its sleep mode. My computer has started getting very hot and needs to have an external laptop fan under it. As I am typing, my internal fan is getting louder and louder working overtime. Just since I started typing this my battery has drained from 87% to 74%. Now tell me this is a hardware problem that started after the update. Apple needs to fix this. This is my first Apple computer. I switched because I was tired of all the viruses but if this is how Apple machines run I'll go back to PC.

I forgot to mention that I work odd hours (not a regular set hours schedule) and I don't get much time on this machine. I have only added my audiobooks to Itunes and a couple of games that I haven't gotten to play (hidden object games). I spend my time watching netflix at bedtime and checking my email and researching this problem. I still own a PC that I am in the process of backing up and reloading. So I have not transferred loads of crap to this computer and still it is doing the same as all the others have been complaining about. My husband is the same. He has not loaded anything onto his except his Itunes books. The result is the same for him. I do not expect a new computer to do this. It did not start until the upgrade. And by the way, I didn't add anything to my machine until after ML was put on here. I ran it as factory until the upgrade just checking email and watching for the upgrade release.

cryscross11 wrote:

If your scenario is correct then Apple is selling bad machines.

That is the problem with these rant threads - nothing but "me toos". They are a wasteland for diagnosing anything.

While plugged in, our machine drains down to 99 or 98 %

This is normal. While plugged in your battery will drain down to 95% and then charge back up. It is an optimization.

when unplugged within minutes drains down to 87% and is completely drained within 1.5 hours or less. This is with light usage.

What is "light usage"? I suspect you actually have very heavy usage.

It even drains in its sleep mode.

This is normal. It takes battery power to keep the memory alive. If it is draining too much, then there could be a problem that is preventing your machine from sleeping.

My computer has started getting very hot and needs to have an external laptop fan under it. As I am typing, my internal fan is getting louder and louder working overtime. Just since I started typing this my battery has drained from 87% to 74%.

This is a classic sign that your "light usage" is 100% of your CPU - or more. These issues need to be diagnosed in your own thread. As long as you stay in this rant thread - it will never get fixed.

I switched because I was tired of all the viruses but if this is how Apple machines run I'll go back to PC.

So? Why would anyone care if you go back to a PC? You are unhappy with your computer so you are going to punish yourself for it?

Start your own thread. Run Activity Monitor, show All Processes, sort by CPU. Report the results in your own thread. This is a rant thread. Posting here is a waste of your time.

I did a clean install after I tried to calibrate and reset to basic settings (and for a short while I thought I managed to fix it), but the thing goes on the same. Clean install as in formatting the drive and erasing the free space and so on. I tryed as somebody suggesteted before a calibration and a reset after the clean install. But it didn`t work. Battery is dropping fast (it shows only 4.20 hours or so when I unplug it, but it lasts around 3 hours on moderate use), the MBP end 2009 overheats especialy when plugging and unplugging.

Obviously, this IS a problem. I would add that every people I know having MPB and upgrading to ML enounterd exactly the the same problem. Maybe Apple will have this issue in mind for the next ML upgrade.

Etresoft,

I think Apple would care. That Macs are better than other systems is what the company's success is built on.

Sir, it is you who is ranting and should leave this thread. Folk here have a common problem, so why should they not compare notes. If it only serves to reinforce the fact that many people haw the same lroblem, then it is good for something and Apple will take note.

Perhaps you find it hard to back down from your position which seems to be that all over the world a simultaneous battery hardware issue sprung up overnight, coinciding with a new software release.

Contrary to what anyone will admit to at Apple, they will be busy trying to fix this and minimize the collateral damage to their reputation. This is from a Mac user of some twenty years, so I have had a long relationship with the brand.

Norbert, he's not worth it. He's going for the points. It's almost like with these guys, it can never be an Apple problem - it has to be the user. You've invested a lot of time in this but the fact was, before the update all was fine. I just never get these people. No matter how many times you tell them, there's no CPU activity with the battery drain, they keep pointing to CPU activity.

Norbert Dentressangle wrote:

Etresoft,

I think Apple would care. That Macs are better than other systems is what the company's success is built on.

Sir, it is you who is ranting and should leave this thread. Folk here have a common problem, so why should they not compare notes. If it only serves to reinforce the fact that many people haw the same lroblem, then it is good for something and Apple will take note.

Perhaps you find it hard to back down from your position which seems to be that all over the world a simultaneous battery hardware issue sprung up overnight, coinciding with a new software release.

Contrary to what anyone will admit to at Apple, they will be busy trying to fix this and minimize the collateral damage to their reputation. This is from a Mac user of some twenty years, so I have had a long relationship with the brand.

@ Etresoft

You may not realize that the way you are jumping on every other person that land here whith your derogatory and preposterous assumptions (I repete - assumptions) recommends you to a quiet place rather then a postion of tehnical wisdom.

Did you ever ask ask for any data (do you realy know what to ask?) and people didn`t respond to you?

I think Norbert D is right. Just complaining is a good way to make known a problem.

Having already been in the "Lion - horrible MBP battery" thread, which reached hundreds of (mostly useless) pages, I do not understand why it always has to be "war", i.e. choose a side and entrench.

There are many causes for shorter battery life, some down to the hardware not being as compatible any more than it was with its original OS loaded, some down to more processes/features being run, some down to runaway processes (even a clean install won't be an objective comparison, if you enable something like iCloud, which collects your old, legacy calendars, etc. from the internet - I've had a runaway CalendarAgent there too, right after a clean install and enabling iCloud).

I've installed Lion and ML umpteenth times and can say that if my MBP runs hot, it's very likely a runaway process. If it stays cool to the touch (or warmish with light use [Safari without Flash, or other plugins and no self refreshing pages and Mail], but never gets more than 5 hrs. after installing a new drive and not enabling iCloud, there is a definite difference on how MY MBP8,2 (which came with SL loaded and ran above 7 hrs reliably) reacts to Lion AND ML.

So yes, some people here most likely have a real problem with their hardware/software combination, while others have runaway processes and it does need weeding out. A common symptom does not necessarily mean the same illness, as we should all know from medicine.

etresoft...It is you who needs to leave this "rant session". You are of no help as this is not a hardware problem but something to do with the software compatibility. Obviously. You say that my CPU usage is 100% or more for my computer to get hot but the monitors show me that I am running at 5-25% CPU and 40% memory. From what I have observed, I think it has to do with the graphics that causes the drainage. I have noticed a larger than normal increase in any program using any graphics of any kind. I don't know for sure but this is just an observation...I noticed a spike in this a few times but put it aside as normal as they were just spikes at the time.

The optimization makes sense with the drainage with the plug in as long as it doesn't drop below 95%. I haven;t left is on long enough to drop below 98 to see.

And as for an earlier comment from you that Apple is not investigating this as a problem with the upgrade, they have not publically announced it yet but they have reached out and asked for information in what is happening so they can get to the bottom of this. The first thing that came up on my list of searches a few minutes ago was just that. So I do look for a fix from them in the near future...but it will take time to look into everything in this operating system just as it took time to create it. So patience is a virtue.

Etresoft…

My computer - a mid-2010, 15in MBP - is running at about 2% CPU usage (not a lot). I have my display brightness at half and my keyboard backlight off. I currently have iTunes (not playing), Safari and, of course, Finder running. My battery is healthy, 94%...

Yet, I'm losing just under a percentage of battery life per minute. Given that's 100% and there are 60 minutes in an hour, I have just over an hour and a half on a single charge. That's extremely fast. When I'm using more programs, the battery is run down even faster, obviously.

Even when my MBP is asleep, my battery not only drains significantly, but completely out within a day (24 hours)... this isn't a configuration (besides Mountain Lion) gone awry. I haven't downloaded anything besides music since I've upgraded.

Before I upgraded to Mountain Lion, I was getting at least 6 hours per charge. My computer isn't getting overly hot, I'm not using my computer heavily (i.e. more than 4 active programs, not many videos, not high CPU usage, etc.).

So, go ahead and tell me that I'm doing something wrong.