How long does your battery last on your Macbook?

connie · 12-16-2008, 02:19 AM

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 · 12-16-2008, 02:47 AM

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 · 12-16-2008, 04:37 AM

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 · 12-16-2008, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by 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.

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

danipoak · 12-16-2008, 01:57 PM

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 · 12-16-2008, 03:16 PM

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 · 12-16-2008, 04:12 PM

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

acosmichippo · 12-16-2008, 04:17 PM

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 · 12-16-2008, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by acosmichippo

-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 · 12-16-2008, 06:34 PM

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