ibook battery life

[vella30]

Now that I am running OSX my battery life is like 2.5 hours compared to the 4 or so hours I got when just running OS9. Does anybody know how to get more life out of the battery when running OSX?

Thanks
Ken

[themacko]

I know what you mean. It seems like my iBook's battery lasts only about 60%-75% of what it was with 9.x. I don't know why, though.

[vella30]

Someone help what is the answer?

[tsierra]

I got the same problem. Battery life maxed at 2.5 hours.

[smeger]

It's because OS 9 dropped your processor speed when you were on battery power and OS X doesn't. So, you use power more quickly.

I wish Apple would restore this feature. I seem to get only about 1.5 hours and it sucks.

[symphonix]

I get 4 hours compared to 5 under OS 9, and the list goes something like this.

- Display brightness
- Audio (mute audio will cut power to audio hardware)
- Hard disk sleep (OS 9 had option to sleep manually, hence slightly better)
- RAM disk in OS 9 helped reduce access to hard disk and could let you push out batt life to 6 hours plus.
- Peripherals (such as mice, USB powered devices)
- Processor speed under OS 9 could be reduced when on battery power.
and lastly
- OS 9 had a consumption meter, so you could tell how changes were affecting your battery usage.

I hope OS X catches up soon.

[Biff]

I don't notice this with my iBook. My battery lasts a little over 4 hours with both OS 9 and 10.

One main reason the battery may not last as long in OS X is because OS X needs more power to run. The genie effect, dock magnification, quartz, all use the processor heavily. You didn't have that with OS 9.