Yosemite Battery Drain

I am on a 2010 MacBook Air with the same problem. I'm thankful at this point to even have my computer working at all. I've spent no less than 10 hours trying to fix the vast number of problems that are clearly evident with Yosemite:

Wifi issues

Email issues

Battery issues

There are also no less than another half dozen graphical interface items that need to be addressed as well. Apple has never been perfect, but they have never put out a piece of software this problematic for so many before. What is offensive though is their complete and utter silence on the entire issues. I've been in Apple stores in 3 countries in the last 10 days and all of the employees are readily aware of these problems and freely admit they have no solution to offer. Apple has an obligation to tell their customers what is going on, the fact that a Beta version of 10.10.1 is already in developers hands where the company instructed them to focus on mail and wifi issues clearly shows that company knows they have a problem.

I have the same late 2013 retina laptop.

Same issues - battery level dropping 1% every minute after upgrading to Yosemite from Mavericks.

I don't use the Calendar however I noticed three services were all using more CPU than any others; Calendar Agent, AddressBookSourceSync and Openvpn-service.

My solution:

1. Turn off all calendar syncing by going to System Preferences > Internet Accounts and un-ticking Calendar (I use Google Calendar anyhow).

2. Top menu Finder > Go > Go to Folder ''~/Library/Calendars" and delete all the files in there- yer, I'm ruthless like that!

3. Top menu Finder > Go > Go to Folder "~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook" and deleted everything in there too.

4. Restarted calendar so it resets itself.

5. Reboot.

Result is that my three hogs have all been silenced - AddressBookSourceSync seemed to be using Openvpn-service was stuck and I guess the same for the calendar.

Battery life is back to 7 hours+ where it should be and the laptop is no longer on fire. I hope this helps someone 🙂

Upgraded to Yosemite 2 weeks ago. Battery has drained like mad. at least 1% to 3mins run for not doing anything.

Macbook Air is only 5 months old. Was fine and perfect until this upgrade. Brought to apple care centre 3 days ago. Got it checked and diagnosed. Was told all hardwares were working fine and this should be software issue. Solutions given:

- Wait until the next upgrade for Yosemite is available and probably they would fix this issue

- Downgrade my OS back to Mavericks. I am thinking about the amount of data that I need to back-up before doing this

Anyone kind enough to share any possible solution? Seems like Apple is not responding on this.

Finding and fixing the problem would be a better idea than reverting but if that's what you want to do.

Make a complete backup (Time Machine or a clone) then erase the drive and reinstall Mavericks (did you keep a copy?), then restore your data.

Hi Csound1,

I think my case is the cause of an antivirus. It's a MacBook Air mid 2013 and it's a work computer. I get up to 13 hours plus on my Air which makes me very proud of this machine for work all day but after Yosemite update, I now get a meagre 2-3 hours. I noticed a problem thou, they was an update from our IT department for the Antivirus (Mcafee) which kept failing then later stopped working then started working. After that, battery life plummeted.

Now am going to take it off and hope it's the problem as i've checked apps consuming significant energy and none and also checked activity monitor.

Will report back.

Also having the same issue as everyone else here! its been a stressful month or so... Don't know what apple are doing to fix this or if they are trying at all!!!

Had my battery last about 4-6hours before, now its down to a measly and useless 1-2 hours.

I have warranty on my retina macbook but i know there is no point in taking it to the apple store, they will just waste my time and not know whats wrong.

Its blatantly a software update to the new OS X that we need that will hopefully have a fix in it for this problem!

Just getting tired of waiting and waiting to hear of when the update is due!

Killer Nads wrote:

Also having the same issue as everyone else here! its been a stressful month or so... Don't know what apple are doing to fix this or if they are trying at all!!!

Had my battery last about 4-6hours before, now its down to a measly and useless 1-2 hours.

I have warranty on my retina macbook but i know there is no point in taking it to the apple store, they will just waste my time and not know whats wrong.

Its blatantly a software update to the new OS X that we need that will hopefully have a fix in it for this problem!

Just getting tired of waiting and waiting to hear of when the update is due!

That won't be pre-announced, you'll just have to wait.

It's unlikely that an update will fix the problem so post back when you're ready to actually deal with it.

How do you mean that an update won't fix it? Isn't it clearly a Yosemite issue? Im doing or running nothing different from before!

Btw, here is a copy of EtreCheck that i just did:

Problem description:

Battery drain down to below 50% since upgrade

EtreCheck version: 2.0.11 (98)

Report generated 12 November 2014 11:10:14 am GMT

Hardware Information: ℹ️

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012) (Verified)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro10,1

1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core

8 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information: ℹ️

Intel HD Graphics 4000 -

Color LCD spdisplays_2880x1800Retina

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - VRAM: 1024 MB

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.10 (14A389) - Uptime: one day 1:26:8

Disk Information: ℹ️

APPLE SSD SM256E disk0 : (251 GB)

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Macintosh HD (disk1) / [Startup]: 249.77 GB (15.87 GB free) (Low!)

Core Storage: disk0s2 250.14 GB Online

USB Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Applications/InsomniaX.app

[loaded] org.binaervarianz.driver.insomnia (1.0.0d1) Support

[not loaded] org.binaervarianz.iokit.insomnia (1.0.0d1) Support

/Applications/Plex.app

[not loaded] com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.1) Support

/Applications/SyncMate.app

[not loaded] com.eltima.SyncMate.kext (0.2.5b15) Support

/Applications/Toast 10 Titanium/Toast Titanium.app

[not loaded] com.roxio.BluRaySupport (1.1.6) Support

[not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (2.0) Support

/Applications/Utilities/DiskWarrior.app

[not loaded] com.alsoft.Preview (4.3) Support

/Applications/VMware Fusion.app

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmci (90.1.1) Support

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmioplug (0073.02.98) Support

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmnet (0073.02.98) Support

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmx86 (0073.02.98) Support

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vsockets (90.1.5) Support

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.1.6) Support

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (4.1.6) Support

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (4.1.6) Support

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.1.6) Support

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.Belcarra.iokit.USBLAN_netpart (2.0.2) Support

[not loaded] com.Belcarra.iokit.USBLAN_usbpart (2.0.2) Support

[not loaded] com.RemoteControl.USBLAN.usbpart (2.0.6) Support

[loaded] com.logmein.driver.LogMeInSoundDriver (4.1.46f67) Support

[not loaded] com.makemkv.kext.daspi (1) Support

[not loaded] com.tomtom.driver.UsbEthernetGadget (1.0.0d1) Support

/System/Library/Extensions/Belcarra.USBLAN_netpart.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] com.belcarra.iokit.netpart.panther (1.6.1) Support

/System/Library/Extensions/Belcarra.USBLAN_usbpart.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] com.belcarra.iokit.usbpart.panther (1.6.1) Support

/System/Library/Extensions/RemoteControl.USBLAN_usbpart.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] com.RemoteControl.USBLAN.panther (1.6.1) Support

Startup Items: ℹ️

VirtualBox: Path: /Library/StartupItems/VirtualBox

Startup items are obsolete and will not work in future versions of OS X

Problem System Launch Agents: ℹ️

[failed] com.apple.AirPlayUIAgent.plist

[failed] com.apple.bird.plist

[failed] com.apple.CallHistoryPluginHelper.plist

[failed] com.apple.cmfsyncagent.plist

[failed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist

[failed] com.apple.EscrowSecurityAlert.plist

[failed] com.apple.icloud.fmfd.plist

[failed] com.apple.Maps.pushdaemon.plist

[failed] com.apple.pluginkit.pkd.plist

[failed] com.apple.recentsd.plist

[failed] com.apple.sbd.plist

[failed] com.apple.security.cloudkeychainproxy.plist

[failed] com.apple.spindump_agent.plist

[failed] com.apple.telephonyutilities.callservicesd.plist

[failed] com.apple.xpc.loginitemregisterd.plist

[loaded] com.paragon.NTFS.trial.plist Support

[loaded] com.paragon.NTFS.upd.plist Support

Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[failed] com.apple.AssetCacheLocatorService.plist

[failed] com.apple.ctkd.plist

[failed] com.apple.GSSCred.plist

[failed] com.apple.icloud.findmydeviced.plist

[failed] com.apple.ifdreader.plist

[failed] com.apple.nehelper.plist

[failed] com.apple.periodic-daily.plist

[failed] com.apple.softwareupdate_download_service.plist

[failed] com.apple.systemstats.analysis.plist

[failed] com.apple.tccd.system.plist

[failed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist

[failed] com.apple.xpc.smd.plist

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

[loaded] com.divx.dms.agent.plist Support

[loaded] com.divx.update.agent.plist Support

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

[running] com.kodak.BonjourAgent.plist Support

[invalid?] com.logmein.LMILaunchAgentFixer.plist Support

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeingui.plist Support

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagent.plist Support

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagentatlogin.plist Support

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist Support

[loaded] com.realvnc.vncserver.peruser.plist Support

[not loaded] com.realvnc.vncserver.prelogin.plist Support

[invalid?] com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd.plist Support

[running] com.tvmobili.artwork.plist Support

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist Support

[running] syncmateStarter.plist Support

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[invalid?] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support

[running] com.ciphergraph.ciphergraphhelper.plist Support

[running] com.crashplan.engine.plist Support

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist Support

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinserver.plist Support

[invalid?] com.logmein.raupdate.plist Support

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist Support

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist Support

[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist Support

[loaded] com.realvnc.vncserver.plist Support

[running] com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd.plist Support

[running] com.tvmobili.tvmobilisvcd.plist Support

[loaded] net.sourceforge.MonolingualHelper.plist Support

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist Support

[loaded] YandexDiskHelper.plist Support

[loaded] YandexDiskInstaller.plist Support

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

[loaded] com.kodak.KODAK AiO Annual Opt.plist Support

[loaded] com.kodak.KODAK AiO Firmware Updater.plist Support

[loaded] com.kodak.KODAK AiO Software Updater.plist Support

[running] com.kodak.StatisticCollection.plist Support

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.diskSpaceWatcher.plist Support

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist Support

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist Support

[running] com.picturelife.sync.plist Support

[running] com.plexapp.mediaserver.plist Support

[not loaded] com.synology.CloudStation.plist Support

[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist Support

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist Support

[running] org.xbmc.helper.plist Support

User Login Items: ℹ️

Air Video Server Application (/Applications/Air Video Server.app)

Twitter ApplicationHidden (/Applications/Twitter.app)

Caffeine Application (/Applications/Caffeine.app)

SleepLess Application (/Applications/SleepLess.app)

MyTomTomSA Application (/Applications/MyTomTomSA.app)

VMware Fusion Helper Application (/Applications/VMware Fusion.app/Contents/Library/VMware Fusion Helper.app)

Connect360Helper Application (/Users/[redacted]/Library/PreferencePanes/Connect360.prefPane/Contents/Resourc es/Connect360Helper.app)

TomTomHOMERunner Application (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/TomTom HOME/TomTomHOMERunner.app)

Android File Transfer Agent Application (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Google/Android File Transfer/Android File Transfer Agent.app)

AppTrap Application (/Users/[redacted]/Library/PreferencePanes/AppTrap.prefPane/Contents/Resources/ AppTrap.app)

Dropbox ApplicationHidden (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Knock ApplicationHidden (/Applications/Knock.app)

Google+ Auto Backup ApplicationHidden (/Applications/Google+ Auto Backup.app)

SpeechSynthesisServer Application (/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks /SpeechSynthesis.framework/Versions/A/SpeechSynthesisServer.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.0 Support

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.2.0 Support

OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 Support

Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 4.3.1f1 - SDK 10.6 Support

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.09 - SDK 10.6 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.223 - SDK 10.6 Support

DivX Web Player: Version: 3.2.3.1164 - SDK 10.6 Support

LogMeIn: Version: 1.0.935 - SDK 10.7 Support

Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.223 - SDK 10.6 Support

LogMeInSafari32: Version: 1.0.935 - SDK 10.7 Support

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.7

OnLiveGameClientDetector: Version: OnLiveGameClientDetector 1.0.0 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.09 - SDK 10.6 Support

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 71 Check version

Safari Extensions: ℹ️

QPush - Push Text and Links to iPhone

Ultimate Status Bar

Add To Amazon Wish List

SimilarWeb

Facebook Photo Zoom

CouchPotato-1

Download Shuttle

AutoPagerize

1Password

AdBlock

Synology Download Station for Safari

FlashToHTML5-1

Awesome Screenshot

Twitter for Safari

Save to Pocket

clea.nr Videos

YoutubeWide

2Prowl

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

AppTrap Support

Connect360 Support

Flash Player Support

Java Support

NTFS-3G Support

Paragon NTFS for Mac ® OS X Support

Perian Support

Trusteer Endpoint Protection Support

Time Machine: ℹ️

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: ON

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 249.77 GB Disk used: 233.90 GB

Destinations:

Time Machine Backup [Network]

Total size: 9.90 TB

Total number of backups: 62

Oldest backup: 2013-10-29 7:15:37 am +0000

Last backup: 2014-11-09 7:29:51 pm +0000

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 9.90 TB > (Disk size 249.77 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

13% tvmobilisvcd

4% iOS Simulator

3% Dropbox

2% WindowServer

1% backboardd

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

481 MB Safari

163 MB Xcode

86 MB Finder

77 MB Skype

77 MB WindowServer

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

71 MB Free RAM

2.22 GB Active RAM

2.17 GB Inactive RAM

1.48 GB Wired RAM

28.94 GB Page-ins

437 MB Page-outs

That's a lot of failures on one Mac.

Backup, erase and reinstall, leave all the 3rd party stuff (esp: Soundflower) off for no

In short so much is out of whack it's time to do it again without the system modifications. Currently you are not running Yosemite, you are runnng a modified version of Yosemite.

Backup, erase and reinstall, leave all the 3rd party stuff (esp: Trusteer and Soundflower) off for now. Test before putting them back

Thanks for your advice. However, that just isn't possible for me right now. I am a iOS Contractor so i use my Macbook daily. Don't want to risk running into any further issues while I'm in the middle of a contract for the next few months.

Killer Nads wrote:

Thanks for your advice. However, that just isn't possible for me right now. I am a iOS Contractor so i use my Macbook daily. Don't want to risk running into any further issues while I'm in the middle of a contract for the next few months.

Bad choice in my opinion, backup regularly, your Mac is not running normally.

Well i do have a regular Time Machine backup running at home which is done daily on my NAS server. So i should be ok there. But what do you mean that its not running normally? Anything specifically wrong? Ive been using it like this for years!!! Have never had an issue, have switched over from 1 other MacBook in the past few years to this one only. Have never had to do a fresh install either, always Restored from Time Machine Backup. The only issues I've encountered are with the battery because of this upgrade!!!

Killer Nads wrote:

Well i do have a regular Time Machine backup running at home which is done daily on my NAS server. So i should be ok there. But what do you mean that its not running normally? Anything specifically wrong?

Note where it says [failed]

Problem System Launch Agents: ℹ️

[failed] com.apple.AirPlayUIAgent.plist

[failed] com.apple.bird.plist

[failed] com.apple.CallHistoryPluginHelper.plist

[failed] com.apple.cmfsyncagent.plist

[failed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist

[failed] com.apple.EscrowSecurityAlert.plist

[failed] com.apple.icloud.fmfd.plist

[failed] com.apple.Maps.pushdaemon.plist

[failed] com.apple.pluginkit.pkd.plist

[failed] com.apple.recentsd.plist

[failed] com.apple.sbd.plist

[failed] com.apple.security.cloudkeychainproxy.plist

[failed] com.apple.spindump_agent.plist

[failed] com.apple.telephonyutilities.callservicesd.plist

[failed] com.apple.xpc.loginitemregisterd.plist

[loaded] com.paragon.NTFS.trial.plist Support

[loaded] com.paragon.NTFS.upd.plist Support

Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[failed] com.apple.AssetCacheLocatorService.plist

[failed] com.apple.ctkd.plist

[failed] com.apple.GSSCred.plist

[failed] com.apple.icloud.findmydeviced.plist

[failed] com.apple.ifdreader.plist

[failed] com.apple.nehelper.plist

[failed] com.apple.periodic-daily.plist

[failed] com.apple.softwareupdate_download_service.plist

[failed] com.apple.systemstats.analysis.plist

[failed] com.apple.tccd.system.plist

[failed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist

[failed] com.apple.xpc.smd.plist

That's an enormous number of failures for one machine, you can choose to do nothing but I would not make that choice.

Hi Killer Nads,

I had normally 4hours for browsing and video. Now barely 1,5 hours for browsing. If I wanted to watch video than around 1hr only.

Turned of transparency (I found this hint on various forums) and now my battery is calculated to 3:50. Tried for browsing - it go fast down to 3:30 hrs but than it seems to be fine and it really lasts for around 3 hours. However, as soon as I turn video than the drain is again huge and black screen happens in 70 minutes or less.

For all, although there might be some incompatible apps draining battery etc. the true root cause is called - Yosemite. It all leads to some low level grafical matters as turning off transparency helps yet playing video kills.

I have skipped Mavericks due to reading about many issues and thought to upgrade to next version which happened and now I am getting back to stable Mountain Lion. There is no point to spend time on forums trying to find remedy which does not exist. I am consumer and I want working product - that was the reason I moved from Windows to Apple back in 2008. It is 2014 and I found myself spending my valuable time exactly on the same things as I did on Windows.

Hi cibitibi,

Sorry but I don't agree that the problem is Yosemite for everyone. It might be for you as it seems you have carried out some tests. I think as long as each user carries out detailed tests to confirm it's Yosemite, then we can say it's Yosemite but not to generalise it for everyone. You have to understand that  implements cutting edge technology and sometimes the apps on our Macs have not caught up yet, in which case it's not Yosemite that's at fault. One of the big pluses for  is that they own their hardware and software so in core functionality and design, they don't have to wait for others. In fact pushing cutting edge technology actually forces some to move faster to keep up. They are not at the cutting edge in everything, but for a lot of stuff that makes a computer work smoothly, they are. However the problem might be with Yosemite like you said in your case and maybe others with similar cases or others who have done tests and found it to be the same conclusion but definitely not for all.

I can't imagine my computing life without  but then if there was no , maybe some other company would be doing what they now do. But it always boils down to preference at the end of the day. I also came from a windows life back in 2008 and  has just made me so happy ever since. They do have their annoyances but far less than my experience with windows. Right now I really don't like outlook which my organisation uses but glad we are moving to Google Apps next year. It's not perfect but better than outlook and for me personally, better than  Mail, although am yet to try Mail on Yosemite.