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User profile for user: cab5g
cab5g Author
User level: Level 1
48 points

2016 macbook pro 15" with touch bar poor battery life

I just received my new 15" MacBook Pro with touch bar. The battery life is horrible!!! I have Safari open with 6 tabs and with 95% battery, I am told that I have under 3 hours of battery life left! I thought these things were supposed to get 10 hours? I ran the battery down in 3 hours last night only browsing the web. I wasn't watching videos, just browsing. Is there something wrong with my laptop?

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MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS Sierra (10.12.1), 15" with touch bar

Posted on Nov 20, 2016 10:07 AM

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User profile for user: TheMindReise
TheMindReise
User level: Level 1
9 points

Posted on Mar 5, 2017 11:31 AM

Hey everyone,


Received a new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar 15" as well, and like several of you, was shocked by the short battery life, even with the software updates. After some extensive trial and error, I have remedied my battery woes! Sharing out in case it helps any of you.


The largest change in my case was as some suggested, an SMC reset AND a NVRAM Reset. After doing both, my time remaining shot from 3-4 hours to 9-10 hours and even longer with further tweaks. I was shocked, but was able to verify the change based on using the Battery Guru app. The Milliamp output has been cut nearly in half to ~600 and the machine is significantly cooler during light usage. See below.


A little background:

  • As mentioned, my average was 3-4 hours with light usage. This was playing Spotify, writing emails, and surfing Safari only.
  • I have been using Fruitjuice and Battery Guru to monitor and verify usage time and energy output. Both put the machine at roughly 3-4 hours of battery time and on BG, I had an average ~1100 Milliamp output.
  • Assuming the higher output was the screen, kept brightness to 75% and reduced keyboard lighting to its lowest setting.
  • Confirmed Spotlight, Photos and iCloud had finished indexing before making a judgement.
  • Even after all of the above, still 3-4 hours.


But then: I noticed something was amiss when charging the device. The last time I did so, I found the machine running hot and I noticed the fan was going nuts. That lead to the SMC and NVRam reset. After doing so, voila! 9-10+ hours of battery life!


But not only that, I've been able to extend the battery even more so, doing some additional suggestions that the forums have suggested.:


  • Revisited my startup apps in Login Items and removed things like Skype for Business, Adobe Creative Cloud and several update checkers. Though several of these were negligible, some suggested S4B and Adobe may be eating up more resources and some have reported improvements.
  • Due to the recharge incident, I decided to disable Power Nap while on battery. I'm going to see if I run into the issue again while Power Nap is on charge, will report if it occurs again.
  • Download Turbo Boost Switcher to disable Turbo Boost. I found this adds around an hour of battery life back and the milliamp output can drop around 400 during light usage. Performance doesn't seem to be affected when doing light usage. I turn it back on when I'm working on more intensive applications or plugged in.
  • I keep my keyboard lighting low and brightness around 75%.


Anyway, that's been my experience, and I'm now very happy with the machine and thrilled that I don't feel the battery anxiety I once had. It would seem that there is something glitchy in either the hardware and software still, but hopefully it's just a SMC/NVRAM reset fix for many.


Good luck out there.

G

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User profile for user: kedanli
kedanli
User level: Level 1
4 points

Dec 7, 2016 10:34 AM in response to Gianvito Fanelli

Hi,

I have the same Problem. Made an skype call about 70 minutes and the battery dropped from 100% to 48%. Even then I´m at 100 % doing nothing it tells me I have about 5 Hours (15" Macbook pro with amd).


But it has to be a software / firmware bug. I startet Apple diagnostics and after that boot in safe mode. Nothing was found but after another reboot and full charge (100%) the Notebook tells me now that I could expect about 13 hours...

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User profile for user: PaulManning
PaulManning
User level: Level 1
4 points

Dec 7, 2016 11:19 AM in response to cab5g

I share your pain cab5g. I'm hoping that someone at Apple with some answers will reach out to us.

I ordered a top spec machine - £4k worth and can't get above 3 hours battery life...


Day one using it - the battery drained from 100% to 5% in one hour. One. Simply scanning for Malware.


Day two, max 2.5 hours using just Chrome -which is apparently no longer supported by Apple, meaning that a Macbook Pro can't even handle a simple browser.


Day three, max 3hrs - using nothing at all. All apps closed, tested and replicated at the Genius Bar.


This isn't a simple prediction issue, but a full-blown battery issue. The Apple Genius conclusion, despite seeing a max battery life of 2.5 hours? It is "fine" and checked out as in perfect order, even though he stated that it clearly wasn't "fine".


The current suggested solution from Apple? They have extended the warranty to 45 days and asked me to reinstall the OS, applications and files one-by-one to determine the fault. Not only do I not have the time to do this, but surely this is not my responsibility? A £4k fix-it-yourself Macbook Pro? Note the "Pro" please, Apple.


The issue is after a 4 week wait for a custom Mac, having sold the old (much better) model, I'm stuck in an impossible scenario where I can't return this one, nor can I use it, since it dies in under 3 hours (1 if I'm lucky, using any apps).


I asked what my options were. "You could always order another" the helpful Apple store employee said. That would make it an £8k investment, with neither Macbook Pro guaranteed to last more than a single meeting.


I have always been proud to be an Apple 'ambassador'. I have owned every model of Macbook they have ever released, along with every iPad and iPhone. I have personally been responsible for converting over 40 people to Apple products and have a business where my whole team run Apple products at my request.


Please Apple... throw us a lifeline here. A machine which costs me double all other fully-specced models should NOT only last 3 hours. It's a beautiful machine, but terribly flawed and I'm teetering on the verge of my first ever refund.


If that happens, what next? Do I finally leave the ecosystem I've loved for so many years?

My options are not promising...


S.O.S.

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User profile for user: mariano_m
mariano_m
User level: Level 1
4 points

Dec 7, 2016 11:36 AM in response to cab5g

I just had my third Apple Support chat. The chat agent escalated the case to a supervisor, the supervisor said to check out Apple's suggestions on how to maximize battery life, which involves dimming down your screen and shutting off wi-fi. LOL.


I told her that adjusting settings and using my laptop unrealistically will not fix a defective battery. She says there's no evidence to claim that the battery is defective, and that the engineers are trying to determine that as we speak. So I guess we all have to wait it out for either an update or a notice about a Hardware Replacement Program. Very disappointing stuff.

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2016 macbook pro 15" with touch bar poor battery life

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