[hellofunk]

I've read several reviews by critics, as well as some users here on HN, that report that the new MacBook Pro battery is actually lasting quite a bit longer than its predecessor. I always found this surprising considering the current ongoing controversy.

I myself bought a brand-new 2015 model 15 inch, and I'm getting all day battery close to 12 hours. I've never had a laptop deliver such battery life before. And that's doing C++ development all day!

[logicallee]

Sorry did you mean 2016 (if you did and correct it I'll delete this comment, so don't reply to it) which your context implies

[hellofunk]

2015 model, bought brand new a couple weeks ago. Apple made the smart move of still selling last year's model as part of the current product lineup.

[logicallee]

So you would get 9 hours on this year's model (likely enough for you.)

This year's has give or take a 75 watt hour battery while last year's has give or take 100 watt hours, so to arrive at the above figure I quoted three quarters of what you reported.

[hellofunk]

Perhaps. Some reports by varied users really do claim improved battery life on the new 2016 model, so perhaps, especially with this last macOS update a few days ago, I'd actually get more than 12 hours now. Who knows, I ain't buying this first iteration of the 2016 model. But when I gave it a try at the store, I must admit I liked the feel a lot. The battery and graphics issues, and my unwillingness to deal with dongles (for now), and the extra 400 euros, led me to the proven 2015 design.

[hellofunk]

By the way 3/4 the battery wattage does not mean 3/4 the battery time. The new 2016 supposedly uses lower power consumption, especially with the display itself (which is where much of a battery goes). Which is why many people are getting longer battery life from a smaller battery (if you believe many of the reports out there, including by tech journals).

[herbst]

Have they fixed the issue that batteries dont stop charging once they are full? Otherwise those 9 hours wont be 9 houra for long ether.

[hellofunk]

Was this an issue in the recent 2016 model? All major laptops by all manufacturers have prevented overcharging in batteries for years. It has always been safe to leave a Macbook plugged in long after the battery was full.

[herbst]

This was ether introduced in 2014 or 2015 models. My 2015 MBP did suffer from it. Mostly used in a office environment it lost at least 10-20% of battery volume within a year.

Yes i also never heard of any other brand still having that issue.

On my phone on a bus right now. But there is a thread somewhere in a mac support forum that suggests to put tape over (i think) the 2 middle connectors on the charger which somehow fixes the issue.

Edit:// i dont use apple anymore so take that with a grain of salt. I mostly remember because the all mac company i worked for then was in rage. Thought about switching to thinkpads. And already replaced a few of those faulty things in mid 2016. I did not really care because it knew i just get a new one. I did however confirm it myself, it did not wait even 1% to charge again. Next to my battery dying faster than anything i've seen before.

[antnisp]

Do you compile your code locally?

[hellofunk]

Yes. My workflow is emacs + clang.