Macbook Pro is slow on battery

Question

Level 1

10 points

Macbook Pro is slow on battery

Hi everyone,

My Macbook Pro (mc724) was too slow on battery (unplugged) because of kernel task. I solved it by moving this file to another directory:

/System/Library/Extensions/IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/ACPI_SMC _PlatformPlugin.kext/Contents/Resources/MacBookPro8_1.plist

After applying that solution CPU usage of kernel task became normal. But yet my macbook pro is slower on battery compared to plugged mode. It is not that slow like it was slow when kernel task had a lot of CPU usage but again it is slower when it's unplugged compared to when it's plugged.

I asked for solution and some were saying that when i unplug my macbook pro, OSX will try to use less resources (compared to plugged mode) to save energy and make battery life longer. And they were saying that it will be fixed when i try these commands:

sudo pmset -a dps 0
sudo pmset -a reduce 0

but output of both commands was this:

Usage: pmset <options>
See pmset(1) for details: 'man pmset'

and when i checked it's man page out i didn't found any of words "dps" or "reduce" in options. So how can I set those settings (to prevent osx from using lower resources when it's on battery)?

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Mar 24, 2016 4:43 AM

Reply

Answer 1

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Mar 24, 2016 5:03 AM in response to theMasoud

Try a SMC reset:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 2

theMasoud Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 24, 2016 10:37 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Dear OGELTHORPE,

Thanks for your reply, I Did a SMC Reset right now, but it wasn't helpful.

Reply

Answer 3

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Mar 24, 2016 10:52 AM in response to theMasoud

How have you measured the performance differences when running under AC vs. battery?

In System Preferences>Energy Saver, there are settings that will reduce battery consumption but they should not have any affect on CPU usage. I am wondering what is the status of the battery? Perhaps running an Apple Hardware Test may provide a clue. Another option may be a reinstall of the OSX.

Unless one is using some very resource intensive applications and stressing the capacity of the MBP, i have never detected any performance differences with AC vs. battery power in my MBPs.

Reply

Answer 4

theMasoud Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 24, 2016 11:11 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Thanks again Dear OGELTHORPE,

My measurement is all Intuitive. When my macbook pro is unplugged, apps take longer duration to start and some itunes animations are slower and all apps work slower...

I Also checked Preferences>Energy Saver out. But there were not much options there; Things like display and computer sleep time.

The only option there that was look like to be about performance/resources was "Put hard disks to sleep when possible" checkbox which was unchecked on both battery and power adapter.

Also this OSX is a fresh new one. My first action after installing a fresh version of OSX was applying the fix about that kernel task problem and this problem begun right after that time.

Reply

Answer 5

theMasoud Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 25, 2016 3:38 AM in response to theMasoud

What about pmset command? does anyone have any idea about why those options (reduce, dps) are missing?

Reply

Answer 6

theMasoud Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 1, 2016 7:24 AM in response to theMasoud

Here it is the screenshot from Intel Power Gadget for mac, before and after plugging the macbook pro to AC power:

The CPU frequency was 0.8GH when macbook pro was on battery. And after i plugged my macbook pro to AC power it suddenly increased to 2.35GH!

You can see that OSX reduces the frequency of CPU when macbook pro is on battery. I just want to prevent OSX from doing that.

Reply