Why does the battery last nowhere near 9 hours on my new macbook pro?

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Level 1

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Why does the battery last nowhere near 9 hours on my new macbook pro?

I have a 6 month old macbook pro 15 in retina. Tech says the battery can last up to 9 hours surfing the web. My computer lasts nowhere near that even if I am only using safari and my brightness is down as far as it goes with all other applications closed. I just don't get why it dies so quickly, I turn off bluetooth, dropbox, anything that could be running and it will last maybe 4 -5 hours surfing the web, (not watching videos). Does anyone get close to 9 hours?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Jul 2, 2015 10:39 PM

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Answer 1

seventy one

Level 7

27,424 points

Jul 2, 2015 10:54 PM in response to gbhowell

It may seem a touch negative, but I view any claims like that as I would the claims by motor manufacturers of the number of miles per gallon. We don't know the full conditions of testing but I guess for a brand new machine, fresh out of the box, nine hours may well be achievable.

But it doesn't take long to build up a level of background usage, not always easily spotted.

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Answer 2

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jul 3, 2015 3:35 AM in response to gbhowell

You have used the correct words, "UP TO", not 'will'. To make such a claim, Apple uses the least resource intensive criteria that does not reflect 'real world' operating conditions. Over the years my experience has shown that if I get 60%-70% of the advertised battery run time, I am satisfied. Naturally that can be radically affected by the applications that one is using.

Ciao.

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