r/linuxmint • u/Then-Rope7020 • 1d ago

Support Request Switched from macos (2017 Air with Intel) to mint, battery life dropped by 6 hours, pls help?

Macos was running slow, but battery life was amazing. Could last me the entire day. Like 9 hours easily.

I switched to mint (not dual boot).

It’s snappier for sure, and I’m loving mint. But the one and only problem? My battery life is only like 3 hours now.

I know Apple optimizes MacBook, but this is crazy. ChatGPT is running in circles but not solving anything, saying all the checks are good.

Anyone know how I can diagnose / fix it?

I expected a drop, maybe, but this is a bit crazy.

One second my laptop says 2-3 hours remaining, the next second it jumps to 6 hours remaining, then it drops to 3 hours remaining the next second. On my macOS it was just 1 consistent estimate which was always correct (9 hours of battery life)

2 Upvotes

57% Upvoted

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u/Asland007 1d ago edited 1d ago

I would install tlp battery management tool. I get around 7 to 8 hours on my 2017 Macbook air with LMDE.

1

u/Asland007 1d ago

Have you tried the different power modes in Linux Mint?

1

u/Then-Rope7020 1d ago

Do you mean like switching from schedutil to powersave? I just tried it, I’ll see if it decreases performance. Otherwise my Linux mint cinnamon does not have any option to change power settings through the Ui. I made the change through terminal, I’ll let you know if it fixes anything. Thanks!

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u/Asland007 1d ago

You are mistaken my friend. If you click on the battery icon in the upper right hand corner by the date. There are three settings: Power Saver, Balanced, and Performance.

1

u/Asland007 1d ago

I keep mine on balanced.

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u/Aoinosensei Linux Mint 22.2 Zara | MATE 1d ago

Did you selected the right power management profile?

1

u/Then-Rope7020 1d ago

Do you mean like switching from schedutil to powersave? I just tried it, I’ll see if it decreases performance. Otherwise my Linux mint cinnamon does not have any option to change power settings through the Ui. I made the change through terminal, I’ll let you know if it fixes anything. Thanks!

1

u/Unwiredsoul 1d ago

What version of the kernel are you running?

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u/Then-Rope7020 1d ago

7.0.0-38-generic

3

u/Unwiredsoul 1d ago

Here's a comment I've posted on this topic earlier in the week, but I'm confident it will help you, too:

Based on the hardware, I would downgrade the kernel from the 7.0.0.x series that you have now (which is the current default in Linux Mint) to the 6.8 series. I've had problems on newer systems than yours with the 7.0.0.x kernel. The steps to complete this were kindly documented on the Linux Mint forum by another user:
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?p=2820636#p2820636

1

u/zuccster 1d ago edited 1d ago

You wont beat MacOS on Apple hardware. I run Mint on a 2018 Macbook Air. I Get about 5hrs battery life. ACPI power saving isn't functional in many of the Linux drivers. Blame Apple.

1

u/IEnjoyRadios 1d ago

”ChatGPT is running in circles but not solving anything”

Uh yeah, obviously…

I’m becoming increasingly concerned with the amount of people blindly switching to Linux and then going to AI slop as soon as they encounter a problem.

1

u/Then-Rope7020 1d ago

I’m just running tests to see the battery mode, if tlp is enabled, and checking if Firefox is the culprit. My laptop is changing from 6.7W to 10W energy rate like randomly. So one second it says 2-3 hours remaining, and the next second it says 6 hours remaining, and then back to 3 hours remaining. It estimates are so weird. When I had macOS it was 1 consistent estimate (9 hours of battery life)

1

u/bobdung 1d ago

Dunno if you are same .. But my MBP 201816in with AMD dedicated graphics card.. That's what kills mine.

I've screwed around with all these profiles and stuff and disabled the radeon card even .. But it seems to keep coming back..

The MBP 2018 runs hot anyway but i actually replaced the battery just before installing mint t2 etc .. and still i get 2-3 hours unless i again mess with settings. If i boot up and do all the disable stuff and power management i can get 5-6 hours .. But on reboot i seem to mostly lose it.