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I got a non-touch bar 13" MBP and the tests back up what I've experienced over the past couple weeks. Normal usage the battery is stellar, do something high CPU

I got a non-touch bar 13" MBP and the tests back up what I've experienced over the past couple weeks. Normal usage the battery is stellar, do something high CPU bound for a long time and you'll suffer. Coding I've been doing in my spare time (Euler problems) the battery life has been 10 - 12 hours with medium brightness. Stellar compared to anything I've had before, Using the coconut battery app though I can see when my CPU is taxed (churning out truncated harsahd numbers or w/e) I see the estimated battery life go down to about half that. I think that's pretty fair for the machine, and I doubt any other small notebooks would fair much better under intensive tasks. Looks like what really ate them was the 15" model could get the discrete GPU stuck on without cause, which kills the battery.

jondwillis 10y ago
I have been using gfxCardStatus https://gfx.io/ https://gfx.io/ for years. It offers a finer level of visibility and control over what's going on with my GPUs.
- some-guy 10y ago
  I've been using this on my 2012 Macbook Pro for years, always set on the integrated graphics and have never looked back.
- r00fus 10y ago
  Thanks - this is amazing. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before.
- kalleboo 10y ago
  Yep, gfxCardStatus comes highly recommended. I still don't understand why Apple has a "Keep the dGPU on always" option in power settings but not "Never use the dGPU". There are also a lot of people with bad VRAM or a busted GPU that use it to keep their machines from kernel panicing.
na85 10y ago
How are you finding only 2 ports affecting your workflow, if at all?
- marricks 10y ago
  I've mainly used it for personal python projects and have found two ports fine. When it gets dicey is if I'm using an external monitor and backing up on a thumb drive, a third port would be nice for charging. That was just one situation, been fine besides that, I just don't use ports all that much. When I switch over to it for work (web dev / project management) I am going to get a hub like this, https://www.bourgedesign.com/archub/ https://www.bourgedesign.com/archub/ so I can have external storage, a monitor, and anything else all gloriously connected through one cord.

jondwillis 10y ago

I have been using gfxCardStatus https://gfx.io/ https://gfx.io/ for years. It offers a finer level of visibility and control over what's going on with my GPUs.

some-guy 10y ago
I've been using this on my 2012 Macbook Pro for years, always set on the integrated graphics and have never looked back.
r00fus 10y ago
Thanks - this is amazing. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before.
kalleboo 10y ago
Yep, gfxCardStatus comes highly recommended. I still don't understand why Apple has a "Keep the dGPU on always" option in power settings but not "Never use the dGPU". There are also a lot of people with bad VRAM or a busted GPU that use it to keep their machines from kernel panicing.

na85 10y ago

How are you finding only 2 ports affecting your workflow, if at all?

marricks 10y ago
I've mainly used it for personal python projects and have found two ports fine. When it gets dicey is if I'm using an external monitor and backing up on a thumb drive, a third port would be nice for charging. That was just one situation, been fine besides that, I just don't use ports all that much. When I switch over to it for work (web dev / project management) I am going to get a hub like this, https://www.bourgedesign.com/archub/ https://www.bourgedesign.com/archub/ so I can have external storage, a monitor, and anything else all gloriously connected through one cord.