Battery Life with MacBook Pro 13" 2011

Hi there,
I have a question here that I would like to ask all experienced Mac users as I'm a total newbie to the Mac world. I just bought my MacBook Pro 2.3 GHz i5 model and realised that the battery is not functioning as promised/advertised. I drained the battery and got it charged again as per advised but still, it didn't seem to work. My battery could barely last me 3 hours, and it deteriorates like crazy, on normal surfing via wifi without playing music, etc. Take for example, my battery was left with 2 hours 30 mins when I first started typing this thread (with only this window and no other app running), it went down to 2 hours 06 mins within the short span of 10 mins. May I know is there any problem with the battery? Anyone out there faces this problem too? Can anyone please do advise? Your advice is very much appreciated.
Thank you!

eve08 wrote:
woodmeister50, I just checked the process monitor and it seems that the dock is using up 100% of my CPU, which I'm not really sure why it's happening. Sorry for my stupidity as this is my first time using a Mac and it's just so different from PC.
If you use the pop-up at the top right of Activity Monitor to change the view to "All Processes, Hierarchically" you will discover that the Dock process actually runs a bunch of sub-processes, like Dashboard widgets. If the Dock is using 100% CPU (which will definitely shorten battery run time), chances are it isn't exactly the Dock but one of the sub-processes that is chewing up the CPU. If you can find out which one it is, quit that one, and if it's a widget you downloaded that you don't need, uninstall it.

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if im using this computer strictly for Logic and audio production, can anyone recommend which battery setting in my preferences i should select?

With battery life, you either optimise for time (low performance), or high performance (less time).
Logic is a performance based app, and so if you are using plugins and so on, you are working your CPU hard and therefore going to run the battery down quicker.
Really, for Logic, I really recommend running on the power supply for the most part.

Battery Life with Macbook Pro and External Drive

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Does the external disk have it's own power supply?
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lost my application dvd that came with macbook pro, early 2011. any alternatives to get the applications in that??

I'm not sure how this is an iTunes issue, but anyway, other than buying the apps from the Mac App Store (note that iDVD and iWeb are not available via the App Store), the only alternative is to call Apple support and give them the serial number of your Mac. They can usually sell you a new disk set for a reasonable fee.
Regards.

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I charge my battery for my macbook pro retina and i keep losing battery life very fast ?
Please help

I've done my research and could not find a decent article for my Macbook Pro Retina Mid2014.
Review these link:
Considerations for the long life of your MacBook. Handling and environmental care tips
The tips helped me out the most compared to the other links that can be found. Not sure why your battery life isn't lasting you though. You may need to get it checked by Apple. Try the Apple Support--if you got yours new, you have 90 days free support.
Thankfully, I never had issues with the battery life but I did replace my first Macbook a few days after purchasing. Thankfully, I was still within 14 days so had it replaced by Best Buy, no question asks as long as you brought everything including receipts.
Out of curiosity, can you click on APPLE logo > About this Mac > System Report > Power
Copy & paste the Battery Information.
For some reason, I am having issues copying & pasting my information.
Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh): 6062
Fully Charged: No
Charging: Yes
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 8816
Health Information:
Cycle Count: 4
Amperage (mA): 4806
Voltage (mV): 12498
I have my screen dimmed since I don't really like it too bright and I have my keyboards lights off unless it's at night and I need to see the keyboard for whatever reason. There is really no real reason for me to have the keyboard lights on anyway other than to make it looks nice. My laptop had lasted me maybe about 7+ hours (maybe even more) if I get it down really low. I've got it down to 10% the first time I used it just to see and then since then, I've been trying to charge from 30%+ and when I am streaming, I keep it plugged in.
I don't ever plan on leaving it plugged in over night or while on sleep mode for a long period of time. Never do a battery calibration since it's not necessary for the new Macbook Retinas.
Amperage (mA): 4806
Amperage (mA): 4806
Voltage (mV): 12498

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Hi,
I'm new to this forum and I hope you guys can help me with this:
I've recently bought an external hard drive that works on Thunderbolt 2 (LaCie d2 3TB). When I connect the new drive to my Macbook Pro through the thunderbolt port, the drive isn't recognized. However, the drive works fine through a USB connection.
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Hi danielsh6,
I recently bought the new Lacie Thunderbolt 2 D2 3TB and I had the same problem as you, i have a macbook pro early 2011, those support thunderbolt but many times there is a bug that doesn't let you connect any thunderbolt drives to your computer. The solution I found was installing this update:
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Compatibility of Past-Years Cinema Display with Macbook Pro Late 2011, and other displays.

Hello.
I'm inquiring about the compatibility of Apple cinema displays from years past with Macbook Pro 15" Late 2011.
For instance, will all Apple Cinema Displays from, say, 2008 onwards work with my mbook?
They can be had fairly cheaply on the used market.
What is the earliest model that will be compatible?
I've never had an external monitor for my lappies, so I am very clueless. I know DVI is a common connection, but there is no DVI port on my lappie.
I would also be very curious as to what would be suitable displays from other manufacturers, particularly Samsung and Dell.
The size doesn't have to be big, 20-23 inch is fine, I am more worried about good resolution [no obvious pixellation]
If a screen is big, but has good resolution that's even better of course, but I'm not ****-bent on a big thing.
The mbook 15" screen is just a bit squashy for home use really.
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Feel free to link me to other threads as an answer, I have done a bit of searching around, but still confused.

I have the same MBP and recently bought a 23" cinema display on Craigslist for $140. It works great. I had a display port to DVI adapter and it worked fine. Built a stand to hold the laptop vertically so it's out of the way. Don't know about older displays but anything with DVI should work fine.
The screen size and resolution are great for photo editing. I now have the best of both worlds, a display that rivals my wife's iMac and portability.

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I have a similar issue. Have you had any luck with a fix, yet? I have a Samsung sound bar, and my Ipad and Iphone both connect with no issues. The playback is uninterrupted with fine sound quality. My 2011 13" Macbook Pro connects, however playback often sounds like a scratched CD. Last year I called both, Samsung and Apple, and when all was said and done it was recommended that I bring the then brand new sound bar and my Macbook to an Apple Store. Any suggestions I are appreciated.

Battery life on MacBook pro 12 months old?k pr

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Battery run time is a function of the number and types of applications that are in use. The 'time' data that is displayed is a very volitile piece of information. It shows what is occurring at THAT PARTICULAR MOMENT. If you open Activity Monitor, you will see that the various applications are in a constant state of flux. There are moments of high usage and moments of low usage.
Do not expect battery run time to be as long as the advertised 'up to' times posted by Apple. You will note that the criteria they base the run time is very conservative usage.
Ipaduserpol wrote:
Also it shows me that i have charged it for 5 times, while I only did twice!
It is not unusual for a new MBP to have a battery with up to 3 charge cycles on it.
PS right now it shows me 4:18 remaining at 40%..
If you were to extrapolate from the figure, total battery run time would be over 10 hours. Sounds good, but do not believe it. My experience with my MBPs is that 60%-70% of the advertised run time is realistic.
Here is some Apple battery information that you may find useful:
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
http://www.apple.com/batteries/
Ciao.

Fan problems, running asymmetric with macbook pro early 2011

With Yosemite I have found that the fans are running asymmetric. With a any program running, the control of the fans run without any sense. I´ve tried to reset SMC, reinstall OS X 10.10, use some fan control software, uninstall all fan control software (FanControl 1.2, smcFancontrol, Macs fan control, etc), and nothing is working. When I install a fan control software, I can control left fan but not right one.
I own a macbook pro early 2011
Thank you for the help.

You might consider that it's a hardware problem and not necessarily the OS.
Perhaps malfunction of the fan with installation of Yosemite is mere coincidence, perhaps it went wrong with the increased speed/runtime one sometimes sees on a laptop during a big install.
Could be worthwhile to have it looked at by the folks at the Apple store.
The laptop is 3 years old, after all, and sometimes fans go bad.
Good Luck!

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Hi All, just got a new macbook pro for xmas. It was a refurbushed one from July 2012 which comes with warranty etc etc.
Firstly am pretty annoyed as think Appple is really going downhill fast (iphone 5 have seem issues with battery but service in hk ***). The battery on this new computer has a complete life span on 2.42hours. This is with only this webpage open so thus my concern. It is just crap. That cant be right i am guessing as the website says up to 7hrs.
I timed it to take 16% of the full charged battery within 20mins using nothing but very light web browser.
I used to have a macbook pro 2010 which was great but this just seems rubbish. I live in hong kong though and find any issue you have is not recieved with the neccessary service that i am used to in my home country in Australia. They will just tell me to take it to the repair centre. Personally think this is unacceptable as why should i have to do all the leg work on there new computer which is faulty.
Is this a common problem re battery? Also am i in my rights to the peopleat the store that it simply isnt god enough and they should do the legwork rather then me having to take it to the service centre.(i brought it off the apple online store)

Yes the 2010 MBPs were the most efficient MBPs made in terms of battery life (and the 10.6 OS). I have one. The subsequent quad core/10.7 OS changed that some what with a lesser battery life span. I also have a 2011 MBP.
I would say that 2,42 hrs would be disappointing to me as well for light duty CPU loads. Now understand that Apples battery life claims are based on Ebenezer Scrooge setting. My rule of thumb that for my 'normal' use will be about 2/3s of Apples advertised times.
I do note your general satisfaction, but as a fellow user there is nothing that I can do to assist you in that area All I can do is point you to these two articles that may give some strategies where you may be able to increase the battery life:
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1446
Ciao.

Terrible Battery Life - New MacBook Pro

OK, 4 weeks into my New MacBook Pro. MacBook Pro 15", 8GB Ram, 512GB SSD (Lion O/S as shipped). I know there are other threads but here's the full summary from my perspective.
Prior machine was MacBook Pro 17", 4GB Ram and 256 GB Hard Drive (Upgraded to Lion O/S). This older machine and the battery is 30 months old. It's awesome but I really needed more RAM and better battery life. Stumped over over $4000 for it.
I migrated virtually everything (Using Migration Assistant). Machine came up perfectly, works like a charm.
Except, the new machine gets only about an hour more at best than the old machine. The old machine was getting about 2.5 hours to 3 hours. I could get some work done on a plane and watch a 2 hour movie.
However, the new machine will only get me about 3 1/2 hours. I only get 2 1/2 hours if I watch a movie.
This is terrible. I have taken to Genius store and they agree the battery is fine and something is wrong but didn't have a fix. They and I since have tried all sorts of things at boot time to clean up errors, disk stuff, aplplied updates and all that. Basically, everything suggested in every forum. Some of these things actually have an effect on the "Time available" on the status bar, showing 7-8 hours for a while leading me into a false sense of security that a "fix" has worked. However, then after an hour or so of of use or booting from sleep, it's really averaging just 3 1/2 hours in real life, and sometimes just 3 hours.
I had a spare bettery for my old MacBook so could get 6-7 hours on a long haul flight. Now, I am dead at 3 hours in.
SInce Genius bar have confirmed machine is fine, and others have reported similar findings when going to Lion *AND* I have exactly the same apps on both machines... what the heck can it be?
Does anyone want to guess? Does someone from Apple want to "see" my machine in use?
HELP HELP HELP. PLEASE. This $4k machine is leaving me with a very sour taste.

Suppose you elaborate on what you are doing with the MBP that makes the battery life terrible.

Short battery life on Macbook Pro

My friend recently bought a Macbook Pro (15") and he's having problems with the battery life.
He's only getting anywhere from 2:20 to 4:30 of battery life out of the optimal 7 after a full recharge...which to me is incredibly low. He's not running any demanding applications; the most processor-consuming app is Firefox, and even then, it's not that much.
We ran the coconut battery application, and it said the original battery capacity was 6500 mAh, but that the current capacity is 6567 mAh, which is indeed larger than the original. This is quite strange, and I am not sure what to make of it. He's in Austria, so I thought maybe the power adapter might be an issue, even though I'm in Germany, and my Macbook (early 2007) works fine (we're on 230 V in Europe).
So we don't know what to do. The next step we were considering was to reset the System Management Controller, but we wanted to see what other users think. Please help! Thanks. =D

Try and see what happens running Safari (or any other browser, really). I've found Firefox to be far more demanding in terms of RAM and CPU than Safari. Also, if these internet activities involve video or audio streaming, anything Flash-related, or downloads, there's going to be a much more significant load on the battery. My battery estimate dips about a third once I open a browser.
He may also want to try an SMC reset:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411
If this Macbook is a Mid-2009 model, run the battery down at least ten-ish percent, then plug back in to the adapter. Once you get the amber indicator on the adapter, you can shut down and proceed as stated. Don't let go of the keys until the indicator turns green and then back to amber--it takes more than five seconds for the SMC to reset on the new models, and the amber-to-green change is the only thing I've seen that indicates the reset occurred.

Battery life on Macbook Pro (3 hours?)

I just got this laptop. It's a 15.4" MBP. I installed Snow Leopard on it from the upgrade DVD (from Leopard). All is well, but the estimated battery life is around 2:30 - 3:30. I've had the battery on charge for days and the button on the left of the mpb indicates a full charge.
Is it some services that are running? Is the estimate just way off (I know they usually are)?
My brightness is 3 blocks from full. I have iTunes (playing), Terminal (no activity), Adium, MacVim, iCal, Firefox running. Does this sound accurate?

i have a unibody late 2008 w/c lasts about 2Hrs+ or 3Hrs max. is your macbook pro the built in battery?early 2009 and mid 2009 model?if so that doesn't sound right since the built in battery have 7hrs battery life "ideally" but reality its just 4-5hours. I've tested 3 of them already and all have same behaviors.(2mid 2009 macbook pro and 1 early 2009 macbook)
Airport: off
Bluetooth: off
Brightness: 2 bars
only running: safari and quicksilver
no external device plugged in
no CD inserted
have the latest battery update and firmware update
so yeah not a bug not an issue with battery but that's just how it is. Macworld already did some lab bench test on their own and so did the other mac fanatics. I just don't get why sometimes Apple says it will last 5hours if it won't.

Benchmarking Battery life of MacBook Pro 17"

Hey guys,
I tried to calculate the battery life of my 3/4 months old 17" book. This is how i conducted my test:
1) caliberated my battery, followed all 6 steps
2) turn off all the programs, including the ones in the task bar.
3) set the sleep timers to "never"
4) set brightness to full
5) turned off screen saver
6) turn on itunes and played on mp3 files.
7) note book speakers with volume set to 75% of the max
8) Didnt run anyother application at all during this time.
Using this setup , my fully charged calliberated battery lasted for 3 hours. Do you think it is good ? I would love to see your benchmarks and experimental setups.
Thanks
Mac OS X (10.4.7)

from appldefects
<<<Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.
This information comes from award winning author, Isidor Buchmann of Cadex Electronics and is particularly true when it comes to Li-On batteries used in many of today’s current electronic appliances, including Apple’s MacBook, and MacBook Pro notebook computers.
Isidor is no discharge when it comes to batteries. Buchmann has a background in radio communications and has studied the behavior of rechargeable batteries in practical, everyday applications for two decades. He is also an award winning author of many articles and books on batteries.
If you own a MacBook Pro, or a MacBook you owe it to yourself to hit the books over at The Battery University. According to Buchmann’s school of thought, MacBook and MacBook Pro owners will be in for quite a shock when their batteries fail at an unprecedented rate. Buchmann’s research suggests that if a Li-On battery is stored at 60C for three months, it will lose 60% of its charge level. Startling, to say the least, considering the fact that my MacBook Pro operates at a firey 70-80C under average load. Excessive heat is one of the many problems currently plaguing Apple’s portable product line.
Read the full article at How to prolong lithium-based batteries (BU34)
A cliff notes version for the impatient includes:
Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.
Consider removing the battery from a laptop (as to avoid operational heat) when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)>>>
hmmm

Battery Life with MacBook Pro 13" 2011

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