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New Macbook Pro power efficiency and time remaining

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Re: New Macbook Pro power efficiency and time remaining

#61

Post by JumpCrisscross »

dperfect wrote: post #41

> Reducing mA (power draw) rather than increasing mAh (power storage) is the most effective way to increase battery life, which would go a long way to explain manufacturers’ obsession with thinness (which, in electrical terms often directly translates efficiency (i.e., smallness)) in their devices rather than just giving us something that endures. I think it goes the other way; the manufacturers' obsession with thinn…

Apple forces thinness because nobody else does. This differentiates their products. It also forces their engineers to make things smaller before anyone else. That, in turn, keeps them at the forefront of miniaturization.

Re: New Macbook Pro power efficiency and time remaining

#62

Post by jhobag »

tru3n0rth wrote: post #55
M_Grey wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then, irony of ironies, people put their ultra-thin devices in cases to protect them, carry multiple batteries for them, or external charging bricks, and my favorite... the oversized extended battery. Throws hands up in air

Is that really a bad thing, though? It seems like it gives the consumer a choice between having an ultra-lightweight device, or compromising on that front in favor of more battery life and protection.

Exactly. People that do tasks more intensive than watch youtube videos and work on spreadsheets don't need any more battery life so thinness is a priority for regular laptops. People doing intense work use t h i c c laptops

Re: New Macbook Pro power efficiency and time remaining

#63

Post by [deleted] »

tru3n0rth wrote: post #55
M_Grey wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then, irony of ironies, people put their ultra-thin devices in cases to protect them, carry multiple batteries for them, or external charging bricks, and my favorite... the oversized extended battery. Throws hands up in air

Is that really a bad thing, though? It seems like it gives the consumer a choice between having an ultra-lightweight device, or compromising on that front in favor of more battery life and protection.

[deleted]

Re: New Macbook Pro power efficiency and time remaining

#64

Post by djrogers »

dperfect wrote: post #41

> Reducing mA (power draw) rather than increasing mAh (power storage) is the most effective way to increase battery life, which would go a long way to explain manufacturers’ obsession with thinness (which, in electrical terms often directly translates efficiency (i.e., smallness)) in their devices rather than just giving us something that endures. I think it goes the other way; the manufacturers' obsession with thinn…

> at least for professionals?

Professional whats? Executives, salespeople, real estate agents, pediatricians, beer distributors - all of these people are professionals, and all of them can and do benefit from smaller and lighter computing power.

Clearly your idea of a professional is someone who is chained to a desk writing code or processing complex 3D graphics. No question those are professional uses as well, but the idea of a 'professional computer user' covers a lot more ground these days than your insular definition.

Re: New Macbook Pro power efficiency and time remaining

#65

Post by BoorishBears »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #61
dperfect wrote: post #41

> Reducing mA (power draw) rather than increasing mAh (power storage) is the most effective way to increase battery life, which would go a long way to explain manufacturers’ obsession with thinness (which, in electrical terms often directly translates efficiency (i.e., smallness)) in their devices rather than just giving us something that endures. I think it goes the other way; the manufacturers' obsession with thinn…

Apple forces thinness because nobody else does. This differentiates their products. It also forces their engineers to make things smaller before anyone else. That, in turn, keeps them at the forefront of miniaturization.

When the MacBook Air first came out that might have been true, but fitting in a manila folder is no longer that impressive with the ubiquity of ultrabooks. Apple hasn't been aggressive with selling thin the way they were with the Air (back when the Air came out it really was a breathtakingly thin laptop, or at least the marketing made you feel that way)

Apple doesn't even have the thinnest laptop anymore, that achievement is now in HP's hands with the 10.4mm thick Spectre (and before that it was HP's Envy)

Re: New Macbook Pro power efficiency and time remaining

#66

Post by kayman »

wlesieutre wrote: post #49
Alex3917 wrote: post #24

I love the new 2016 MBP, and after using it think most of the purported issues are BS. That said, there is one very real issue that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere: because of how thin they are, many of the minor issues that could previously be fixed in the Apple Store now require sending it out. I had an intermittently working key on my keyboard and took it in for something I assumed would take half an hour to fix…

Curious if anyone else had constant sleep/wake failures? I otherwise love the computer, but when I sleep it overnight it inevitably shuts down and has to restart in the morning. I'm sending in the crash report daily just in case they actually use them and maybe it'll get fixed. Not a huge deal since computers boot so fast and I always save things, but it's still annoying.

Yes. It's very annoying because my sessions and apps are open exactly how I want them. Anyone have a solution?

Re: New Macbook Pro power efficiency and time remaining

#67

Post by Tloewald »

M_Grey wrote: post #45
dperfect wrote: post #41

> Reducing mA (power draw) rather than increasing mAh (power storage) is the most effective way to increase battery life, which would go a long way to explain manufacturers’ obsession with thinness (which, in electrical terms often directly translates efficiency (i.e., smallness)) in their devices rather than just giving us something that endures. I think it goes the other way; the manufacturers' obsession with thinn…

Then, irony of ironies, people put their ultra-thin devices in cases to protect them, carry multiple batteries for them, or external charging bricks, and my favorite... the oversized extended battery. Throws hands up in air

Here's the thing — of you want more endurance you can get extra batteries (and with USB-C you can probably start using interchangeable standard power bricks) but if battery life is adequate you don't need to. How is this worse?

One of the things that has changed my life for the better is switching entirely to devices that can use any USB power brick or USB charger in a pinch. This includes my cameras, tablets, phones, audio gear, and so on. The only remaining outlier is laptops.

Re: New Macbook Pro power efficiency and time remaining

#68

Post by nxc18 »

djrogers wrote: post #64
dperfect wrote: post #41

> Reducing mA (power draw) rather than increasing mAh (power storage) is the most effective way to increase battery life, which would go a long way to explain manufacturers’ obsession with thinness (which, in electrical terms often directly translates efficiency (i.e., smallness)) in their devices rather than just giving us something that endures. I think it goes the other way; the manufacturers' obsession with thinn…

> at least for professionals? Professional whats? Executives, salespeople, real estate agents, pediatricians, beer distributors - all of these people are professionals, and all of them can and do benefit from smaller and lighter computing power. Clearly your idea of a professional is someone who is chained to a desk writing code or processing complex 3D graphics. No question those are professional uses as well, but t…

I see no reason why any of those people benefit from the slightly thinner form of the new mbp than they would benefit from better battery life.

Everyone wants batteries that last longer. How often did you look at your last generation mbp and wish it was thinner?

Re: New Macbook Pro power efficiency and time remaining

#69

Post by dperfect »

tru3n0rth wrote: post #55
M_Grey wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then, irony of ironies, people put their ultra-thin devices in cases to protect them, carry multiple batteries for them, or external charging bricks, and my favorite... the oversized extended battery. Throws hands up in air

Is that really a bad thing, though? It seems like it gives the consumer a choice between having an ultra-lightweight device, or compromising on that front in favor of more battery life and protection.

I agree with this point, but with laptop battery life, unfortunately the alternatives are all significantly worse than simply having a slightly thicker/heavier laptop. They almost always involve carrying additional devices (needing their own protective enclosures, cables, etc) and require additional cognitive load (Which spare battery is charged? Where did I leave that battery?). A bigger internal battery eliminates all of that. There are very few options (if any) in between.

Re: New Macbook Pro power efficiency and time remaining

#70

Post by scarface74 »

M_Grey wrote: post #45
dperfect wrote: post #41

> Reducing mA (power draw) rather than increasing mAh (power storage) is the most effective way to increase battery life, which would go a long way to explain manufacturers’ obsession with thinness (which, in electrical terms often directly translates efficiency (i.e., smallness)) in their devices rather than just giving us something that endures. I think it goes the other way; the manufacturers' obsession with thinn…

Then, irony of ironies, people put their ultra-thin devices in cases to protect them, carry multiple batteries for them, or external charging bricks, and my favorite... the oversized extended battery. Throws hands up in air

I can't speak for laptops but I can speak for the utility of having a thin phone and a battery pack that makes it thicker and heavier than it would be if Apple just included a bigger battery:

I've only used my battery pack four or five times in the year and a half I've had my 6s. Most of the time I'm not far away from a plug - either at home, in my car, at work, etc.

But when I travel, a slightly bigger battery wouldn't be enough. I would want twice the battery life - something I can get by using a battery pack - but I probably wouldn't get from a slightly larger iPhone.

If you have to optimize, why optimize for the edge cases instead of the most popular case and give options for those times people need it.

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