How long does your battery last on your Macbook?

[connie]

Just wondering how long your battery lasts on your Macbook until you have to charge it again. My battery use to last quite awhile, now it's lasting only a couple of hours. I usually take it out into the living room with me at night while everyone is watching TV, I'm here talking with you guys. I then usually charge it up all night I bought it in March and thought I would have better battery life than this. I was just wondering what the typical battery charge lasts everyone.

[Saverino]

My battery is crazy, lol.

Some days, it'll last 5 hours, and other days, it'll last 1.

Makes no sense to me...

[gotzaiPhone]

not crazy long, with bluetooth off and wifi on with half backlight on the keyboard and ~90% on the screen, about 2 1/2 - 3 hours. its not bad, but running the cd rom drive at the same time or syncing my iphone will drain the battery faster.

[kenneth]

not crazy long, with bluetooth off and wifi on with half backlight on the keyboard and ~90% on the screen, about 2 1/2 - 3 hours. its not bad, but running the cd rom drive at the same time or syncing my iphone will drain the battery faster.

I have the new alum. MacBook and my battery last about 2 to 3 hours just depends.

[danipoak]

I only use mine for pretty basic things like writing papers for class and browsing the internet. I tend to get close to 5 hours pretty consistently and it is nearly a year old.

[Youngbinks]

Connie you're still in the warranty period. If you feel as if your battery isn't performing up to par you can get a free replacement battery.

My MacBook Air battery lasts anywhere from 2.5-3.5 hours dependent upon what I am doing.

[dturner]

I too get 3-3.5 hrs, but most of the time at home I have it plugged in.

[acosmichippo]

Most of these have already been mentioned, but if you want to squeeze a little more life out of the battery:

-turn Bluetooth off

-turn the screen brightness down to as low as you can stand it

-if you have a backlit keyboard, turn it off

-make sure "Put the hard disk to sleep when possible" option is checked in energy saver (system preferences)

-If you're not using the internet turn Airport off

-Avoid using the optical drive

-If you want to go REALLY gung-ho, then take your battery out of your macbook when it is fully charged and your laptop is plugged in with the AC-adapter. Be careful with this, though, because if you leave the battery out for too long without any use, it can damage it.

[gotzaiPhone]

-If you want to go REALLY gung-ho, then take your battery out of your macbook when it is fully charged and your laptop is plugged in with the AC-adapter. Be careful with this, though, because if you leave the battery out for too long without any use, it can damage it.

apparently there is a problem with doing that to the new al macbooks. I was reading on mac rumors that the computer goes on some sort of reduced performance mode without the battery in and only the juice flowing.

[acosmichippo]

interesting... i'll have to try that next time i'm at work.

[kenneth]

I dont know but my aluminum Macbook will boot up and it seemed that it was normal and everything was working fine.

[connie]

Thanks everyone for your input. I did turn my bluetooth off and that has helped some. I did go ahead and make an appointment at a genius bar on Friday just to check it out, plus as mentioned in another thread here, I am getting small cracks all on the sides of my macbook. I baby this thing so I just don't get it. I don't know if they will think I damaged it in some way but it is really bugging me. We shall see what happens.

[Saverino]

Connie, I don't think it's normal for your MacBook to be cracking already... We've had them for about the same amount of time, and if you say you baby yours, it's definitely not normal. Mine is insanely abused and I don't have any issues like that. And I'm talking about drops, etc.

[Marcos]

I also have a new alum macbook and Im getting about 3 hours battery life

[gotzaiPhone]

I did the battery calibration over night last night and it made no difference in the time the battery holds a charge. So I guess my battery is in tip top shape? But for constant use, I and getting almost exactly 2 1/2 hours.

[connie]

I went to the genius bar today, they didn't even look at the battery. I said it wasn't lasting as long and they changed it out no questions asked. They also replaced the top part of the laptop (around the keyboard) that was lifting in one corner. I have a few stress cracks on the outside casing also, they are going to replace the whole casing of the my macbook but I need to bring it back when I can be 4 days without my computer, so I am going to bring it back to them after the holidays. I was kind of disappointed that this computer looked like this after owning it only about 7 or 8 mos. I am very careful with my computer but now I will be extra careful. It shouldn't look like crap in less than a year. I wonder if I just got a bad one. But it will be like I have a whole new computer when they are done replacing the outer casing. I was so happy I got a new battery. They just looked that I was still under warranty and changed it out.

[Saverino]

Wow. That's awesome, Connie!

I'm glad they helped you out without any problems.

That's also great news about the casing... all free of charge, right?

[connie]

Yep, free of charge under warranty.:smile:

[Youngbinks]

I'm wondering how the replacement will be with the MacBook Air battery that is internal. Waiting at least 4 days for them to replace the battery is going to be a bit of an annoyance.

[connie]

I know, no time is a good time for me to be without my laptop. They had batteries for mine in the back and the technicians changed that out today, it took them an hour to change plus change the top around the keyboard that had the crack. I had to walk around the overly crowded mall for an hour so I did some shopping but the lines were awful. I will deal with bringing it back after the holidays.

[acosmichippo]

4 days to replace the outer casing is not bad at all... try that with any other computer manufacturer, and you'd get laughed at.

I think i'll be buying an extended applecare on mine if they're usually that good.

[Ramesh]

Late to the convo, but I get around 5.5 - 6.5 hours on my black book. I have bluetooth turned off, but wifi is always on. Your battery life will all depend on how intense you're running your cpu. Just surfing the internet/chatting, I get great life, but if I fire up photoshop, that will start to drain me out pretty quickly.

[connie]

Late to the convo, but I get around 5.5 - 6.5 hours on my black book. I have bluetooth turned off, but wifi is always on. Your battery life will all depend on how intense you're running your cpu. Just surfing the internet/chatting, I get great life, but if I fire up photoshop, that will start to drain me out pretty quickly.

Wow Ramesh that's awesome. I am getting probably close to a good 4 hrs or so with the new battery they put in. It was draining fast in the beginning but I think it took a couple of full chargers to get better and now it's great. I do now have my bluetooth off all the time but wifi on.

[Ramesh]

Wow Ramesh that's awesome. I am getting probably close to a good 4 hrs or so with the new battery they put in. It was draining fast in the beginning but I think it took a couple of full chargers to get better and now it's great. I do now have my bluetooth off all the time but wifi on.

Take a look at the iStat pro widget - it's free, and it also shows your cycles and battery health.