Disappointed with the charging power of my new powerbank for my Macbook retina pro 13"

jane_bond

Estimable
Oct 31, 2015
2
0
4,510
Firstly this is the first time i have created a nick to partake in this forum. I think this forum is just like the website tom's hardware where he is really specific and checks out anything computer based whether it is hardware or software and pin points the exact problem unlike other sites like say guru 3d.

Anyway here is my problem. I recently purchased the poweradd pilot pro 32,000 mah from ebay. Amazon gives more details on this powerbank

http://www.amazon.com/Poweradd-Pilot-Pro-32000mAh-Multi-Voltage/dp/B00DN0KBXU

I was gaming on my macbook pro and was disappointed when i connected this powerbank and got around i think 2 hours of additional time doing heavy work on the macbook by gaming before the powerbank was almost totally drained down to 6% of juice left.

I read from one of the reviews i think that someone got an additional 24 hours of when charging his laptop i'm not sure which one i think it's a macbook but not sure which one either.

On my notebook i own a macbook retina pro early 2013 that i purchased in june of 2013. I run bootcamp on it with win 8 installed. I use a wireless mouse and use bluetooth headset while gaming and listening to music as i am at starbucks cafe and don't want to disturb the other patrons. I was playing 2 games on my notebook need for speed hot pursuit 2010 and super street fighter 2.

I didn't plug in my powerbank at first because the battery percentage was around 50% i play NFS 2010 for like 10 mins and the entire macbook shuts down i guess cos maybe the battery ran out i don't know it just shut down like that immediately after 10 mins of play i then plug in the powerbank and then it doesn't shut down anymore.

I hope i can get some of these questions answerwed.

1: Do you think my macbook's battery has really degraded. It is more than 2 years old i don't use it everyday though unlike my desktop. i mean to have around 50% of battery power left and then to suddenly shut down totally during intensive gaming (i think NFS gaming is intensive i don't know) without even warning me the battery power is low is well just odd. I still find it hard to believe the battery has degraded as i don't really use it everyday in fact some times i don't use it for days/weeks.

2. How much battery power does bootcamp with win 8 installed using a wireless mouse, BT headset and playing a video game on it use? I know that bootcamp uses more power compared to OSX but how much more?Does it really drain the battery?

3. The poweradd pilot pro can adjust its voltage from 9, 12, 16, 19, 20. The macbook retina pro 13 inch uses 16.5V so i use 16V and as you can see the voltage is slightly lower than what the macbook pro is used to but the max amp is 4.5 while the macbook pro's charger's max amp is 3.5

I understand that not all the power of a powerbank goes to charging up a device some of it is lost as heat or some other factor but i don't know how much is lost. Does anyone know how to calculate the loss? Also at 16V it's slightly lower than what is required to charge the macbook pro could the lower voltage have caused some of the stored power to be lost? How about changing voltage to 19V?

4. Around 20% the battery indicator suddenly dropped straight to 6% instead of going throught 19-7% first. Is my poweradd powerbank not functioning correctly? Do you think i should exchange it? Take note i reside in singapore but i purchased it from NYC and it took 19 days excluding 4 days of weekends to get it delivered to me using USPS.

Hope you guys can help me answer some of my queries.



 

Wups

Honorable
Oct 14, 2013
13
0
10,560
Hi jane_bond,

Sorry to hear you're having a few issues.

1) Although you don't use it everyday, to using it excessively, it would be a burden on the battery.

2) It can do yes. A client of mine had this particular issue with Boot Camp and we found that it was a fault with the battery.

4) I would send it back if you feel it's causing you issues.

- Wups.