Does bluetooth lower battery time?

[butters149]

Hi,

I was just wondering if having bluetooth enabled and using devices such as a magic mouse on a macbook pro will lower the macbook's battery time limit? I heard somewhere that it does, but not too sure.

 

[chas_m]

Yes it does.

 

[butters149]

like how much? an hour off the overall time?

 

[quin]

I turn my Bluetooth off, since I don't use it much. Just occasional transfer of pictures from my phone. It' almost impossible to tell with the battery indicator since it's so dependent on how you are using the computer at that particular time. One thing I've noticed is the indicator is very sensitive to any type of heat underneath the notebook. Put it on your lap and the meter drops. Put it on a nice flat, cool surface and it goes back up. They should permanently attached a plate underneath the MBP as necessary equipment.

I've opened up my Pro. Only a thin cover underneath to separate millimeters away from all the components. Put a firm surface underneath it if you can.

 

[miles01110]

like how much? an hour off the overall time?

There's no way to answer this definitively. It depends on if BT is being used, if it's idle, etc.

 

[pigoo3]

like how much? an hour off the overall time?

Do your own experiment. Run your battery from full charge to like 10% charge remaining. One test with bluetooth on, and a 2nd test with bluetooth off...while doing "normal" computing tasks during each test.

- Nick