How much battery loss is acceptable or expected when my new 13" non-retina Macbook is in sleep mode (with no programs/apps running) overnight? I'm seeing a drop of 30% in battery life, and, since I'm new to Mac, want to know if this is to be expected. It's certainly surprising. I'd read that it was better to put the laptop to sleep rather than shut it down when I won't be using it for short periods of time, but the battery loss is pretty significant, it seems to me. I just upgraded to El Capitan, so I'm running up to date software. Thanks for any insights.
Macbook Pro HUGE battery loss when laptop is sleeping; how much is normal?
- Thread starter Egrolman
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Which MacBook do you have, year and model? Then maybe we can attempt to answer your question.
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I am actually having a similar problem. Although, mine only seems to be doing it at work. It is losing about 5% per hour at work only. I do not have this problem at home at all. I am wondering if the WiFi/network at work is somehow preventing it from sleeping.
Try turning off your WiFi before you let it sleep. I am just curious to see if it still loses that much power when WiFi is turned off.
Try turning off your WiFi before you let it sleep. I am just curious to see if it still loses that much power when WiFi is turned off.
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OK, thanks for the updated info. That particular MacBook Pro first appeared in 2012 and I believe if you click on your Apple menu and select "about" it will tell you that. But to answer your original question, that is not normal for the battery to act that way. Since the machine is new it should still be covered by the Apple warranty. You might want to make an appointment with your local Apple store genius bar and have them check it out.
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A possible way to judge if it is software vs hardware related is your battery life while in actual use. For me, I am easily getting my 8-10 hours of battery life while I am actually using my laptop. So I know there is nothing wrong with the battery itself. Then I try to look at where I am having my high battery use sleep problems. And that answer is only at work.
I'm suggesting trying to do a few other tests before taking it to the Apple store. Also, take screenshots of your before and after sleep battery usage to show them your problems. If they don't see any problems with battery life from what they can test in the store, they'll probably have a harder time helping you.
I'm suggesting trying to do a few other tests before taking it to the Apple store. Also, take screenshots of your before and after sleep battery usage to show them your problems. If they don't see any problems with battery life from what they can test in the store, they'll probably have a harder time helping you.
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There has been a similar post I'm sure recently. The battery is on issue that indeed you should get checked and here are some other things you can try.
Closing the book and will not put it straight into sleep but idle mode which then waits a specified time (System Prefs>Energy Saver) before putting it to sleep so check your settings
RAM is still active in sleep mode so whatever you had in there before sleep will still be there when it wakes up so the computer will use power to maintain this when it is asleep.
Also the machine will wake up if you have 'Wake for Network Access' enabled in Energy Saver adding to the usage along with any Bluetooth activity and notifications from social media apps.
Some apps may prevent your machine from sleeping and you can check the energy tab in Activity Monitor. Here's a snapshot of mine and if you have anything that says 'Yes' in the column headed 'Preventing Sleep' then it will contribute.
Closing the book and will not put it straight into sleep but idle mode which then waits a specified time (System Prefs>Energy Saver) before putting it to sleep so check your settings
RAM is still active in sleep mode so whatever you had in there before sleep will still be there when it wakes up so the computer will use power to maintain this when it is asleep.
Also the machine will wake up if you have 'Wake for Network Access' enabled in Energy Saver adding to the usage along with any Bluetooth activity and notifications from social media apps.
Some apps may prevent your machine from sleeping and you can check the energy tab in Activity Monitor. Here's a snapshot of mine and if you have anything that says 'Yes' in the column headed 'Preventing Sleep' then it will contribute.
Thanks, Pendlewitch, for these suggestions. I have no apps preventing sleep according to the activity monitor, I never just close the lid to put the laptop to sleep, and I've been quitting all the apps before sleep bc of the battery loss issue. At your suggestion, I unchecked 'wake for network access'; hopefully that will slow the loss.
Azboomer: I'm not getting anything CLOSE to 8-10 hours of battery life while using the laptop--it's much closer to 4 or 5, which, as a new Mac user on a new Mac, I'm finding is the single extremely disappointing aspect of my switch from Windows. Good suggestion to take screenshots. Thanks.
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