2016 macbook pro 15" with touch bar poor battery life

I just bought new MacBook Pro 15 inch with touch bar. My battery life is horrible. Only 4 hours with browser using and no flash player...

Apple says 10 hours battery life for new MacBook... Its really funny.

After letting it sit on the power cable and powered on for a night or two, the battery life will increase exponentially.

Just be patient. Don't watch the rice cook.

Set the power settings to keep the laptop on when its on adapter. and let it sit overnight. for two to three days while it indexes files, sorts photo tags, and other background processes.

I've been using GFX CardStatus along with iStat Menus and noticed something happening all the time (although I can't quite figure out what causes it other than it's usually in Safari): GFX reports that I'm using integrated graphics (as does activity monitor) but iStat shows power draw of over 10 watts from the GPU. Usually, when the GPU isn't active, there is a fraction of a watt, if any, being drawn there. iStat is very thorough in it's reporting. Definitely something wrong here. sign out or reboot resets it back to normal.

top of the line model, with 460 GPU.

When the GPU is not active (aka, when I keep an eye on it and make sure I keep it from 'sticking'), I can get 10 hours no problem.

Yes, exactly the same situation here. Discrete GPU was draining 10W while Intel GPU was working. Tried to get some reproducible results. Switching the GPU properly with FCP was not reproducible all the time. In the moment I'm relatively free from the 4h@100%-Problem. I found out, that maybe PHPStorm, a JAVA based IDE, had caused this state. By closing this App, waiting a bit and opening it again, I was able to stop that. So if Safari is the troublemaker, do you have any activated plugins like JAVA or FlashPlayer? Maybe they have to be blamed for that...

I actually think MyLifer is on to something here. There is a definite difference between my battery life after owning my late-2016 15" MacBook Pro for about a month than when I first starting running it. I can routinely get 8-10 hours of activity, depending on what activity I'm doing. Photoshop definitely lesses battery life, but that's to be expected.

After using my new MacBook Pro for about 6 weeks, I'm happy with my purchase and the battery life I'm getting compared to my early-2010 15" MacBook Pro.

Which GPU? I'll check on the java thing. Good call. Now that you mention it, i see some very odd behavior in safari where the discrete GPU switches on just for a moment and then switches back, often with banner ads.

I have the 460 as many other folks with this problem do. My currently-unsubstantiated theory is that the OS cannot release these chips from system usage consistently and effectively. I can recreate this problem by opening google maps in Safari (which engages the discrete GPU via WebGL), using it for a minute or two, and then closing just the tab (not safari). The system thinks the GPU is no longer engaged (reports intel graphics) but the AMD GPU continues to draw power until safari is quit completely. I have also noticed this after disconnecting my external display. Logging out and back in resolves it.

Cab I totally understand your frustration. Purchased 1st one prior to Thanksgiving tried it and returned it after Christmas. The machine is a beautiful piece of machinery. It was to have been my 10th MBP. However, right from the start noticed battery issues. Didn't even migrate from prior MBP just started on a clean slate. While just browsing the internet the battery died after 4hrs. Spoke to support and was informed many others had called in regards to hardware issue. I tried to explain it was hopefully a software issue. After finding out Consumer Report for the 1st time ever didn't recommend a MBP I took it back. A couple weeks passed and read after a software update Consumer Reports would now recommend it. However the thing I failed to notice the Consumer fix from Apple would be several weeks away. Then I purchased another 15.4 MacBook with touch bar. Hopefully this would be better. No such luck after having downloaded the beta Sierra OS that supposedly fixed the battery issue for Con Reports no dice. Just running Pages and no internet nor any other program running per activity monitor the time remaining on battery no longer displayed. However clocking it on the iPhone discovered that I was only getting 3-4 hrs max. Not sure what's up but will wait to buy this MBP WITH touch bar after the fix is realeased by Apple. The tech on the chat asked about installing Beta Sierra and Pram clearing. I informed him I had done both and he recommended exchanging it @ Apple Store. At this time I returned it begrudgingly since I really like the cutting edge features and the sharp look. Recommend waiting for fix to be issued for battery before investing in the new MBP with touch bar. Will be checking for fix so I can pick it up for 3rd time and last time. Apple typically makes a very dependable machine. Still have a functioning G4 that is decades old and an original iPod that plays very well.

Sad to hear, Ramljm. I'm waiting for Apple to finally reveal what the bug was they have found. That would give us users the opportunity to see if that is the problem their machine is or was struggling with.

I have owned my late-2016 15" MacBook Pro with Touchbar now since November 28 and was one of the posts earlier in this string that complained about battery life. As of now, I have no complaints. An SMC reset made a huge difference and I now routinely get a drain of approximately 10% per hour.

Lots of things seem to make a difference in optimizing my battery. As an example, keyboard backlighting will definitely shorten battery. Watching a lot of video, especially from sites still using Flash, will greatly shorten the battery's life. The big one, at least for me, is screen brightness. The brighter you have it set, the faster the battery will drain. Heavy browsing, especially to sites with lots of pictorial or video content will cause my battery to nosedive.

In other words, you need to look at what you're doing on your computer to truly evaluate your total power capability. Running Logic Pro or, as in my case, Photoshop and/or Lightroom, will definitely shorten battery life. I haven't heard of anyone using Final Cut Pro on battery that has achieved 10 hours of battery life. Even Garage Band will greatly affect power consumption.

I am very happy with my new machine. While I was disappointed at first in its battery life, after almost two months of daily usage, and an SMC reset a few days after I received it, I am totally pleased with my purchase. While I don't doubt there are some new late-2016 15" MacBook Pros with Touchbar that are problematic, mine has proven to be such an improvement over my previous early-2010 15" MacBook Pro that I am delighted with my investment.

I noticed this exact issue recently with two 15" MBP's - I use gfxcardstatus to force integrated and improve battery life. I noticed that after unplugging my LG 27" 5K display that even though the switch to Intel Integrated graphics appeared to happen, the Radeon GPU Highside was registering almost 10 watts. I actually found that forcing discrete graphics decreased power consumption to about 3w for the Radeon GPU. As per your post, the only way to resolve this erroneous operation is a reboot, and the Radeon GPU Highside drops to ~ 0.1w

I've been checking for updates almost compulsively the last few weeks, hoping that there's some people at Apple working on these actual issues, because 10w extra power consumption with a 74 watt-hour battery means a huge hit to battery life. Using iStat Menus and gfxcard status at least gives us an indication of what's going on under the hood. But for less technically inclined users who only get the battery % now days (since they removed the time remaining.... iStat Menus to the rescue!), I empathise with their frustration (and I believe it's 100% justified given the cost of these machines).

Hi..

The 10 watt issue I can report is fixed in 10.12.3 beta 4.

I currently have en case open with AppleCare. They did make me format, send them logs (and telling me: all looks good, It's on Intel GPU like it should be) anyway, I got tired of waiting 2-3 weeks now and decided to try out the beta (all is pretty stable it seems, I have not found any bugs)

I guess now Apple is the same as every other tech firm.. If you want it stable, wait 3-4 months before buying. New products always have bugs.

I have the late MB Pro 13" with touchbar. With just safari and the notes app I get from 3 to 4 hours. I've tried resetting the SMC with no luck. I tried a clean format, but no luck either. I love the machine but this really ***** !!

Aloha,

Have tried all of your suggestions.

My lovely new MacBook Pro has awful battery life. Completely lame.

I had 64% charge. Left my MacBook Pro for a few hours. Nothing was running. Came back and it was dead. 0% battery.

I gave my wife my incredible earlier MacBook Pro... and now I want it back.

I'm a teacher. If I leave this EXPENSIVE new machine unplugged in my classroom? I run the risk it'll be dead when I need it most.

Anything I can do before I take this back? Thank goodness I bought the AppleCare package.

If I'd wanted a computer I had to plug in all the time I'd have bought a Mac Pro... no... wait... No, I guess I would be switching over to a non-Apple machine.

Help!

Cat

Thanks LidoShuffling for the instructions.

I have tried this yesterday and today. The expected battery life improved slightly but is still max. approx. 4 hours.

No external device connected except HDMI-to-USB-C and a simple mouse.