Battery in Macbook Pro 15" i5

Question

I just purchased a new Macbook Pro (2,4GHz i5 320Gb) but the battery lasts about 5h and I was not doing anything more than browsing with Wi-Fi and editing text files. In the specification says that it should last 8-9 h.

Does anybody have any idea if I could return the laptop with the reason that I am not satisfied? Is it enough?

Anybody had any similar experience?

I do not know if it matters but I bought it from a Apple Premium Reseller shop.

Answer 1

It would of course be possible to go get a refund for it, provided it's in a condition to be refunded (i.e. like new).

Generally being that it's not, you have to estimate that 30% of the given "estimated battery life" is pure marketing bull. I've never gotten more then 70% of the estimated battery life from anything. Phones, UPS systems, laptops, nothing. Well, except my Surefire flashlights, but that's different.

Five hours from a laptop is great. Be happy.

Answer 2

To get the quoted battery life you need to make sure that you are using only the integrated (Intel) graphics controller and not the GPU, which greatly increases power consumption when it kicks in. You can check this with the gfxCardStatus utility.

Answer 3

That time would be a benchmark usually made of machine turned on but doing next to nothing, wifi and everything "extra" turned off and screen dimmed to the maximum.

It is also possible that if your machine has a SSD or anything else as an option, it was with this.

I have never had a machine that actually lives up the battery life promised - if they specifically said you would get 8 hours minimum, or 8 hours doing regular work, then they mis-sold the laptop to you... so, depending how awkward they are, you should be able to get a refund.

All that being said, 5 hours is good!... And, after a few months / a handful of cycles, it will probably deteriorate anyway (if you are a heavy user).

Answer 4

5hours is great for a laptop battery may their ad is misconception and that made you bougt the one you want it to work 8-9h.

Answer 5

What kind of screen/keyboard brightness are you using? That can make a big difference - try lowering it a bit (if you can bare it). As mentioned before, things using gfxCardStatus to force integrated graphics can help a lot too - I know that flash make the discreet graphics kick in (and in chrome, even if you close the page that used flash, the discreet graphics continues to be used).

Also, if you've only just started using it then perhaps spotlight is indexing your hard disk (and hence making it spin at a faster RPM, hence reducing battery life).