Mike Wuerthele
The latest macOS 10.12.2 Sierra update has eradicated the inaccurate "time remaining" battery indicator as part of its investigation about the 2016 MacBook Pro battery life situation, leaving users with just the far more accurate percent charge figure, as reported directly by the battery and the charging circuitry.
As a result of the change in Tuesday's macOS Sierra 10.12.2 update, the battery reporting now mirrors that of iOS, with the user not being given a real-time estimate. AppleInsider has learned that the removal is in part because of the complaints of short battery life with the MacBook Pro — but not as a way to hide the problem.
The "time remaining" was an estimate based on user patterns how long the battery would continue to provide a charge to the user, one that becomes more accurate with use. A large amount of attention has been drawn in recent days to short battery life in the 2016 MacBook Pro refresh, which may be attributable to users reporting this figure, and not actual life in some cases.
"It takes like a month of use for the battery life indicator in macOS, or Windows for that matter, to give a good time," a source within Apple told us. "The percent measure that the user sees is gleaned from the battery circuitry examining battery output, plus capacity, and reporting to the OS what's left. Totally accurate, and way better with the new processor."
The same source told us that so far, Apple isn't seeing a wide-spread material or software problem, causing excess drain on the batteries in the new MacBook Pro line, but the work isn't yet done.
"We look at all the reports that come through the Genius Bar and AppleCare," we were told by Apple. "If you think you've got a problem, make an appointment or call and tell us."
But the feature can be re-implemented, with developers' help
The feature can be re-implemented with select third-party apps, such as the free CoconutBattery, or Bjango's iStatMenus ($18).
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19 Comments
A relative had an MRI scan which can be intimidating and noisy. She kept pressing the alarm button but the radiographer explained afterwards that they had to disconnect the button because everyone was pressing it... Seems like a similar situation here..?? ;-)
People will claim Apple is "hiding" battery life because it is so poor, etc. Reasonable people understand that this estimate has always been extremely unreliable and misleading, through no fault of Apple. It is impossible to give any meaningful estimate of remaining time, simply because the estimate is extrapolated based on what is being done at the moment, which can fluctuate greatly. Short of reading your mind to figure out what you're gonna do next, this estimate will never be accurate, which is why I never look at it. iOS devices don't have that estimate, and that's never bothered anyone.
So no, I don't think this is Apple's fix to 2016 MacBook Pro battery life complaints. They're simply seeing the time left isn't accurate so they're removing it as to not make users think it only has X amount of time left when it may actually have more. Of course MacRumors is going nuts over this thinking Apple is just fixing the issue by removing the feature. Of course they aren't! Don't be stupid!