5 ms·

new (1 month old) macbook retina, 12 inch, el capitan http://replycam.com/i/Pasted_Image_28_10_15_17_10_1BE12B12.png http://replycam.com/i/Pasted_Image_28_10_15

by franze 11y ago

new (1 month old) macbook retina, 12 inch, el capitan http://replycam.com/i/Pasted_Image_28_10_15_17_10_1BE12B12.png http://replycam.com/i/Pasted_Image_28_10_15_17_10_1BE12B12.p... fully charged battery -> 4h max ... (running mostly chrome and keynote) not really the "all day battery life" they promised (http://www.apple.com/macbook/design/ http://www.apple.com/macbook/design/)

MBCook 11y ago
Have you tried another browser? Chrome has notoriously TERRIBLE effects on battery life on Macs. I'm not kidding. Try Safari for two days and be amazed. There are probably things you can do to make it better, but for whatever reason Google doesn't seem to care and ships (what I would say is effectively) broken software.
- aaronmiler 11y ago
  Exactly this. Open up your battery menu, it will say Chrome is using significant energy. I've never not seen it there
  - franze 11y ago
    89% charged, 4h calculated time http://replycam.com/i/batterylifetime_1BE12F3F.png http://replycam.com/i/batterylifetime_1BE12F3F.png (but in reality, it will be shorter) yeah, chrome is in there. but switch to safari? my thoughts a) i'm a developer, i rather like new APIs, latest HTML 5 features b) my whole company infrastructure relies on google services (and they work best in chrome, no surprise there) c) my old macbook air (2013, maverick, killed one month ago by my son with self made kombucha) had about 7h battery-life
    - MBCook 11y ago
      I'm not arguing you should switch to Safari (which I like) or arguing feature merits (I don't care much myself). But if you have a Mac you have Safari, so it's an easy test to run. And you will be AMAZED at the difference in battery life. It's pathetic.
      - robterrell 11y ago
        Agreed. I stopped using Chrome at home. It was weird moving to Safari but I get much longer battery life now.
  - Caprinicus 11y ago
    Chrome also turns on the discrete GPU for seemingly no reason.
    - MBCook 11y ago
      Matters for machines that have them (like mine) but even in integrated only machines it makes a huge dent in battery life.
  - somewheres 11y ago
    Gee, maybe it's because you have a million tabs open, and all of them are websites with shitty, wasteful javascript begging the CPU for useless operations to update every single tracking pixel and cookie, with up-to-the-minute anaylitics, attached to sessions that are years old, on how your eyes move over their ad banners, so that a genetic machine learning algorithm can determine which ads are most likely to convert to clicks and then sales. Hint: It's the ad for the top 7 ways you didn't know you could get bunions, and there's a 50% chance it will convince you to buy new shoes.
    - PhantomGremlin 11y ago
      You are being downvoted, I assume for your "over the top" tone, but your overall message is very good. User behavior is the largest determinant of battery life. I run Firefox with NoScript, and my battery usage is always very very good. An additional benefit is that I see few ads, since they invariably rely on third-party javascript.
  - mcintyre1994 11y ago
    To be fair that's not super useful information - I've never not seen Safari there when it's being used. Definitely agree that Chrome is way worse in practice though.
    - MBCook 11y ago
      I'm not saying Safari is 'free', I'm saying that Chrome's battery use is very disproportionately high.
bluedino 11y ago
Chrome has long been known to kill battery life, hence most Mac users sticking with Safari
- russell_h 11y ago
  I don't know anybody who uses Safari, and everyone I know is a Mac user.
- jpatel3 11y ago
  Agree. I see when details when I click on battery life. Apps using significant energy - Chrome.
matthewmacleod 11y ago
That does seem rather short – most reviews of the 12" Macbook seemed to indicate that 8h was an achievable runtime. I hear that Chrome sucks up battery like nothing else though; might be worth investigating whether Safari's improved power usage is worth the tradeoff in other aspects?
rayiner 11y ago
I don't know about the MB Retina, but I get more than the advertised 9 hours on my rMBP 15" running Word and Outlook. Your problem is probably Chrome + screen brightness. Recommended monitor brightness in an office setting is 100-150 cd/m^2. The MB gets up to 375 cd/m^2 for outside use, but inside it should be at like a 35% setting. Also, Chrome guzzles juice like there is no tomorrow--use Safari.
- eevilspock 11y ago
  It would be nice if they added a per app power usage tracking feature like they have on iOS to isolate such culprits. But yes, Chrome is the worst in battery and CPU usage.
  - rayiner 11y ago
    I'm pretty sure Activity Monitor had per-app power usage tracking before iOS.
    - eevilspock 11y ago
      thanks for reminding me.
ianferrel 11y ago
Take a look at the Energy pane of the Activity Monitor sometime. Chrome on the Mac is very tough on the battery. A switch to Safari increased my battery life by about 80%.
- franze 11y ago
  about the energy pane http://replycam.com/i/Pasted_Image_28_10_15_17_38_1BE13189.png http://replycam.com/i/Pasted_Image_28_10_15_17_38_1BE13189.p... what does the Avg Energy Impact number actually mean i.e.: what unit is it?
eric_h 11y ago
That would be because you're using chrome, not Safari. I have the same machine and I get 8-10 hrs, easy (and I bought it the day it was released). Chrome is terrible for batteries.

by franze 11y ago

MBCook 11y ago

Have you tried another browser? Chrome has notoriously TERRIBLE effects on battery life on Macs. I'm not kidding. Try Safari for two days and be amazed. There are probably things you can do to make it better, but for whatever reason Google doesn't seem to care and ships (what I would say is effectively) broken software.

aaronmiler 11y ago
Exactly this. Open up your battery menu, it will say Chrome is using significant energy. I've never not seen it there
- franze 11y ago
  89% charged, 4h calculated time http://replycam.com/i/batterylifetime_1BE12F3F.png http://replycam.com/i/batterylifetime_1BE12F3F.png (but in reality, it will be shorter) yeah, chrome is in there. but switch to safari? my thoughts a) i'm a developer, i rather like new APIs, latest HTML 5 features b) my whole company infrastructure relies on google services (and they work best in chrome, no surprise there) c) my old macbook air (2013, maverick, killed one month ago by my son with self made kombucha) had about 7h battery-life
  - MBCook 11y ago
    I'm not arguing you should switch to Safari (which I like) or arguing feature merits (I don't care much myself). But if you have a Mac you have Safari, so it's an easy test to run. And you will be AMAZED at the difference in battery life. It's pathetic.
    - robterrell 11y ago
      Agreed. I stopped using Chrome at home. It was weird moving to Safari but I get much longer battery life now.
- Caprinicus 11y ago
  Chrome also turns on the discrete GPU for seemingly no reason.
  - MBCook 11y ago
    Matters for machines that have them (like mine) but even in integrated only machines it makes a huge dent in battery life.
- somewheres 11y ago
  Gee, maybe it's because you have a million tabs open, and all of them are websites with shitty, wasteful javascript begging the CPU for useless operations to update every single tracking pixel and cookie, with up-to-the-minute anaylitics, attached to sessions that are years old, on how your eyes move over their ad banners, so that a genetic machine learning algorithm can determine which ads are most likely to convert to clicks and then sales. Hint: It's the ad for the top 7 ways you didn't know you could get bunions, and there's a 50% chance it will convince you to buy new shoes.
  - PhantomGremlin 11y ago
    You are being downvoted, I assume for your "over the top" tone, but your overall message is very good. User behavior is the largest determinant of battery life. I run Firefox with NoScript, and my battery usage is always very very good. An additional benefit is that I see few ads, since they invariably rely on third-party javascript.
- mcintyre1994 11y ago
  To be fair that's not super useful information - I've never not seen Safari there when it's being used. Definitely agree that Chrome is way worse in practice though.
  - MBCook 11y ago
    I'm not saying Safari is 'free', I'm saying that Chrome's battery use is very disproportionately high.

bluedino 11y ago

Chrome has long been known to kill battery life, hence most Mac users sticking with Safari

russell_h 11y ago
I don't know anybody who uses Safari, and everyone I know is a Mac user.
jpatel3 11y ago
Agree. I see when details when I click on battery life. Apps using significant energy - Chrome.

matthewmacleod 11y ago

That does seem rather short – most reviews of the 12" Macbook seemed to indicate that 8h was an achievable runtime. I hear that Chrome sucks up battery like nothing else though; might be worth investigating whether Safari's improved power usage is worth the tradeoff in other aspects?

rayiner 11y ago

I don't know about the MB Retina, but I get more than the advertised 9 hours on my rMBP 15" running Word and Outlook. Your problem is probably Chrome + screen brightness. Recommended monitor brightness in an office setting is 100-150 cd/m^2. The MB gets up to 375 cd/m^2 for outside use, but inside it should be at like a 35% setting. Also, Chrome guzzles juice like there is no tomorrow--use Safari.

eevilspock 11y ago
It would be nice if they added a per app power usage tracking feature like they have on iOS to isolate such culprits. But yes, Chrome is the worst in battery and CPU usage.
- rayiner 11y ago
  I'm pretty sure Activity Monitor had per-app power usage tracking before iOS.
  - eevilspock 11y ago
    thanks for reminding me.

ianferrel 11y ago

Take a look at the Energy pane of the Activity Monitor sometime. Chrome on the Mac is very tough on the battery. A switch to Safari increased my battery life by about 80%.

franze 11y ago
about the energy pane http://replycam.com/i/Pasted_Image_28_10_15_17_38_1BE13189.png http://replycam.com/i/Pasted_Image_28_10_15_17_38_1BE13189.p... what does the Avg Energy Impact number actually mean i.e.: what unit is it?

eric_h 11y ago

That would be because you're using chrome, not Safari. I have the same machine and I get 8-10 hrs, easy (and I bought it the day it was released). Chrome is terrible for batteries.