2016 macbook pro 15" with touch bar poor battery life

Why do you think it's called MacRumors?

You have that nice day now.

I mean no offense to anyone but there are a good amount of articles about the battery life... not just "macrumors"

Don't worry you can't offend normal people, just apple fanboys

Only MacRumors has been cited here, if there are others which are they?

But if you have a problem take your Mac back.

I have a build to order MacBook 15" with 1TB and Radeon graphics. I've seen both extremes of battery life performance and in both cases the results were not expected.

For example, using development tools in Windows 10 and Windows 7 simultaneously within two VMware Fusion virtual machines and also fairly heavily using the Mac host too. High performance graphics had kicked in for the duration of the session. After about an hour the battery was down to 92% from full and the machine was still estimating 10 hours of battery remaining. Very impressive if that's true. I didn't have time to actually run the battery down to check.

Another example, using just macOS with no VM's running, very light browsing, integrated graphics, battery down to 85% in about 35 minutes from full, with estimates of 6 hours remaining, dropping fairly rapidly to 5 hours.

Go figure. I'm not convinced either is correct but without actually running the battery down to flat I've not yet determined which is closer to the truth.

Smells like a bug to me. Maybe battery statistics are bugged or there is some process eating energy without it being properly reported. It's a complete guess of course, but this doesn't have the feel of a hardware issue based on what I'm seeing and what others are reporting.

I would agree with others who have recommended against changing your machine. You might well just be causing yourself a lot of pain for something that is just going to go away in a few more days with a bug fix.

Most people will probably be in the "holiday" return period anyway, so there's no need to rush into this. Let's see what Apple come up with in the coming days.

Sounds like good advice. But processes not getting reported is just as worrying as processes eating disproportionate amounts of battery life. Its all just so strange... I got the replacement MBP on Friday so for sure I can wait a bit. But when it comes to 12 days without a fix I'm getting a refund. Personally I fear there's not going to be a fix and I would not have shelled out £2600 for a laptop with a battery life 1/3 of that of my MBP 2015.

Please do not be concerned that you will be stuck with a laptop with less than 4 hours of battery life. The claim of "up to 10 hours of battery life" is all over Apple's advertising for these models (13" and 15"). There's no way anyone could get 10 hours of battery life from my computer (I've never had even 4 hours out of a full charge) so it clearly doesn't life up to the claims. If Apple tried to refuse repair/replacement for these models it would face a definite-lose lawsuit.

Please give Apple long enough to figure out what's wrong, and what it will take to put it right. This could be anything up to and including setting up a production line for 'fixed' batteries which requires complicated arrangements in at least two countries. Or it might be as simple as a user-installable software/firmware update.

What you do have to do is register your opinion that your computer is broken and ask Apple to investigate. So phone the support number (or go to an AppleStore or use Apple's online chat), give them your serial number and report the fault. Apple can't ignore even a thousand such reports and my guess is that there will be a lot more than that if we all report the fault. And since your case will be registered, Apple will know to contact you when a fix has been organised.

Solope wrote:

solope wrote:

I just do not understand how you're getting the longer battery life ACGarland. I'm getting max 3 hours of light use, web surfing etc. I feel like perhaps you are an apple representative as everything you have said has been supportive of apple & not really acknowledging the issue remains. I don't believe you're getting the 7 hours plus use that you claim.

I hope you are not serious? Here I am trying to help people like yourself out by sharing the problems I had with this and how it appears to have fixed my situation, and you think I'm some 'undercover' Apple rep? Also mentioned my previous graphics issues with my 2011 MBP - not exactly something supportive of Apple.

Actually I'm an independent software developer who has spent most of my career on Windows--my 2011 MBP being the first Apple product I'd ever owned. You can find out more about me at www.garlandconsulting.us if you are curious.

Anyway, a couple of comments. I agree with people who say it might be a software problem. I'm also supportive of people who are considering returning their machines if they continue to have problems. The machines are very expensive (but worth it, if they meet their claims, IMHO), but why should anyone take a big risk with so much money if they are not happy with how things are working out? You can always buy again after they get things worked out afterall. Finally, after having my previous 2011 MBP have serious graphics failures over a period dragging on for more than two years (two repairs, class action suite, final good repair and refunded expenses) I'd be the last person to try and convince anyone that has concerns to just "wait on it and it will be fixed." Been there, done that. Yes, it did get fixed and has been rock solid since then--but the hassle along the way would have been better avoided. So IF a person is having trouble and that makes them shy away from keeping the machine up-front, I'm the last guy to try to talk someone out of doing whatever they feel is right in the situation.

There are for sure some faulty units - as always. It is just difficult to get a good read on how wide spread that may be. Complaints are always more broadly communicated on forums (happy people tend to post less). I myself work off a 2016 MBP 15/2.9/460/1T for two weeks and have not experienced any concerns regarding battery or graphics or anything else.

I am getting typically around 8 hrs with modest use (as I write I am showing 8:45 hrs left at 94% with 50 min on battery that was fully charged as started). I am a modest user (typically 5-10 apps open: office, iTunes, safari, photos, no professional editing). I did a manual data migration from a Late 2008 MB (still runs well after a few upgrades over the years) and besides Office for Mac have not much third party software installed (which might be a culprit, too).

It is worthwhile observing what apps use the Radon (e.g. Adobe reader, if left open with a document).

I agree with LidoShuffling.

I can understand that this is frustrating. But solving a problem like this is probably going to take several days if not a week or two. First there is the challenge of analysing the problem reports. Some people might be reporting poor battery life when there is a perfectly good explanation, so they've got to be weeded out. Then the genuine reports need deeper analysis. Then, when a potential culprit is found, it will take time to generate a solution and test it. Even if this is just a software fix (and I think it probably will be) testing that fix may take time simply because some of the test scenarios will involve waiting for a battery to discharge. With a 10 - 12 hour wait in each test cycle and probably lots of test cycles needed, you can see how this would add up. Mitigating against this Apple has lots of resources and lots of hardware, but the last thing they want to do right now is get this wrong. This is their new flagship laptop range so they will want the fix to be definitive to restore confidence and to minimise disruption to their customers. They are not going to rush it.

As I've said previously, most people are going to be in the "holiday period" extended return window and so won't be up against a deadline to claim a refund. If that's you, then you might as well wait a bit longer. Definitely register the problem with Apple and then sit tight.

I cannot agree with this post more. We have to strive to be objective in evaluating the underlying issues.

Again only speaking for myself, I can see two problems with my machine:

- Light use (as in medium brightness with Safari and Mail open only) gives about 6 hours, not 10 hours as advertised.

- The estimate provided by the battery icon is inaccurate, even when given sufficient time to calculate.

Factors I suspect:

- Software issues. Probably a next update will address the problems.

- I would check the console. Mine has error messages continually. I suspect that something basic is not working properly, although I don't have the ability to read and understand these messages.

- Safari seems to be a big battery drainer, although I am unsure of this.

So happy.

With the same gusto I have decried this issue I'd like to be fair and give proper feedback the other way. Having spent 9 days, with 2 different MBP's 15 inch touchbar 2.6 Ghz, 512Gb and never seeing a battery life longer than 4 hours with light Web browsing usage I was in despair. Both I had setup using migration assistant and the battery life was shocking.

However, now I am 100% certain that this is a software issue. Last night I erased my disk using the disk utility. Then I reinstalled a new version of the Mac OS 10.12.1.

After this was finished and battery was fully charged to 100% I removed the charger with baited breath. After it had a few minutes to calculate time remaining it said 6hrs 20. Better than I'd previously ever seen. Then I started to get really happy as 10 mins later it had finally increased to 10hrs 2min and was still showing 100%. Meanwhile I had been dossing about on safari. Changing my homepage and reading a bit of news. I then downloaded a fresh copy of Microsoft office and installed it which took 10 mins. At this point the battery showed 99% left!! At this point before the fresh install it woild have been showing 90%.

Im now on my way to the apple store to pickup a USB C external hard drive with which I will manually copy over my docs and settings from my MBP 2015. I will also download fresh copies of my apps. Along the way I'll be monitoring the battery and will report back if I find a particular stage in the process whcih reverts my battery to previous issues.

Even if it does - my testing has proven to me that 100% the battery issues I was facing was software related due to the migration assistant so I'm not worried. Apple will find a fix. Im extra happy because apart from the battery issue I absolutely love this macbook pro. Lovely, large track pad, keyboard is sweet, screen and design build of this laptop are awesome. Haven't found much use for the touch bar yet but I'm sure that will develop as all things naturally take a while to adopt. Does not of course excuse apple. I've wasted A LOT of time in the past 9 days with these issues and apple QA is clearly lacking. But it has restored my faith in their products.

Hope this might help others!

Again only speaking for myself, I can see two problems with my machine:

- Light use (as in medium brightness with Safari and Mail open only) gives about 6 hours, not 10 hours as advertised.

- The estimate provided by the battery icon is inaccurate, even when given sufficient time to calculate.

The advertised is for 'up to 10 hours' which is exactly what 6 hours is, making up claims is not helpful at all. Guesswork will also shed no useful light.

In my case I think I have found the cause. To me is macOS that is leaving the AMD GPU running even when not in use. To those that experience problems, try to reset the option in "Energy Saver" under Preferences for Dynamic Graphics Switching. Mine went up to 6/7 hours almost right away!

My comments are getting deleted because apparently irs against T&Cs to talk about beta programmes. Anyway if this is allowed on here I'll report back as I think I've found the issue and its connected to photos library in Sierra (im not talking about the beta build apple so don't delete this Hey)