Unusual MacBook behavior in relation to power consumption

mrmagnetoman88 wrote:

I use coconutBattery to measure the power consumption of the MacBook.

I don't believe CoconutBattery measure overall power consumption of the laptop. It measures charging power delivery from the power supply or discharge rate of the battery. Since modern Macs manage the battery charge levels by varying the charge and discharge rates in the MacOS, and also throttle activity to manage battery charge levels, what you are seeing is not a reliable measure of power that the laptop is using. So it is your right to "obsess" over things but you are not seeing what you really want to "obsess" over! It is actually not easy to obtain true measures of total power utilized by a Mac, the best way is probably through an external power meter.

The reason I'm obsessing over this is because I also observed that in those specific regions where the average power consumption of the MacBook was at its lowest(1.6 Watts-1.7 Watts), the average power consumption for a Google Meet test session(with no participants other than myself) using Google Chrome would be satisfyingly low(3.15 Watts to 3.8 Watts) whereas in the other regions where the average power consumption of the MacBook was higher(>2Watts), the average power consumption for a Google Meet test session(with no participants other than myself) using Google Chrome would be disappointingly high(>4.2 Watts). Furthermore, there also appear to be slightly higher spikes in power consumption when I rapidly transition between several search clicks(eg Google search followed rapidly by a Youtube search followed rapidly by an Instagram search) in the regions of high average power consumption(eg sudden spike to 7 or 8 Watts) while the spikes in power consumption appear to be slightly lower in the regions of low average power consumption(<4.5 Watts).

As I mentioned before, you actually are not measuring true total power consumption, you are measuring power into and out of your battery, which is related to, but not equal to, what you think you are measuring. Also, you are on the internet and running programs (Google Meet, Youtube, Instagram ...) that actively report information about your usage and Mac back to their "home bases" and that activity is out of your control, yet those activities do use power. The differences you see of a few tenths of a watt are insignificant.

Yes, I agree that I'm over worrying over this and that there are more pressing things to focus on. I think I might have OCD and often get paranoid about power consumption and battery life.

A few tenths of a watt here and there have no impact on battery life. What impacts battery life is number of discharge cycles and time span in use, and possibly keeping a battery charged to 100% at all times, which is not good for laptop batteries. Sequoia actively manages the battery charge level to ensure it is not always at 100%. This will cause variations in the charge and discharge levels, which again are not equal to power levels.

It's just really bewildering as to why a mere shift in the location of my MacBook by several centimetres while controlling for all other variables can consistently cause this significant change in power consumption, even when WiFi is disabled. Could it have something to do with the magnetic field strength in specific regions? Or is it the battery that's sensitive to potential magnetic field strength differences in different regions or some other factor(s)? What do you reckon it might be? Have you experienced this yourself, steve626?

I have never bothered to measure these things and I don't think anyone else does either because it has no consequence. I don't think magnetic fields have any impact nor do they vary much over short distances. What might vary slightly is ambient temperature. If the temperature is a bit warmer in one spot, the laptop may reduce cpu cycles slightly to cool it slightly which will in turn reduce power/current draw. Even touching or lifting the laptop to move it can cause it to warm or cooler very slightly, I would think, and then the cpu cycles might be changed. This could affect current draw. But I would expect this to not be measurable. Again, CoconutBattery measures battery current, but NOT laptop power activity.

I think you are wasting your time with this little project! You are not measuring what you think you are and even if you could, it has no consequence.

mrmagnetoman88 wrote:

Hello BobTheFisherman, thanks for your response. It's because I found that the power consumption of the MacBook under heavier usage in different regions to also vary accordingly and I strive to minimize the power consumption of my MacBook under heavier usage.

Post an etrecheck report so that we may see what may be running in the background that is consuming energy.

I shut down my computer when not in use and it therefore consumes no energy when not in use.

Using EtreCheck - Apple Community

If you want to minimize power consumption, avoid Chrome like the plague that it is.

Chrome is a notorious resource hog on Macs. Installing it also installs multiple ‘helpers’ from Google that run in the background, and their purpose is not to help you but to help Google (keep in mind that Google’s primary source of revenue is using your data to drive targeted advertising). Even if you aren’t running the Chrome app, those system extensions are always running in the background. I’d recommend deleting Chrome and all related components.

https://chromeisbad.com

If you are looking for something other than Safari, consider Firefox or Brave (the latter is based on Chrome code but without the Google baggage). 

Those numbers don't seem unusual.

How are you measuring power consumption? There are many different ways, many give different answers.

I use this command:

sudo powermetrics -i 2000 --samplers cpu_power -a --hide-cpu-duty-cycle

For my laptop it shows about 2.9W when idle. I think you are over worrying this. 1-3 watts is very low. You are concerned about differences of a several tenths of a watt? My laptop has a 96W power supply.

If you have any browsers open those will use highly variable amounts of energy. If you have an internet connection that will use varying amounts of power. If you have any security tools, anti-virus, etc., cloud storage, online backups, etc. those will use different power at different times. If you have software like Adobe and Microsoft, those check for updates, drawing power. Your Mac does internal housekeeping at various times, changing power consumption. You can see what processes are using power at different times with Activity Monitor. You can run it all over your house to see how it varies, if this is something that you really want to do.

What problem are you trying to solve? Using 2 watts versus 1.7 watts? I think there are more pressing things to focus on, with all due respect.

mrmagnetoman88 wrote:

So then? Nobody's experienced this? Hmm? This is a real phenomenon(if that's an appropriate word in this case) that I'm experiencing; really, it is. It isn't a figment of my imagination; it ain't me hallucinating. What could it be that's causing this???........????

Why do you care? The computer and its OS manage the power/charging system very well. There is no need for you to micromanage the system. If you are concerned, shut down the computer when not in use thereby removing any possibility of background processes using any power. Leave the computer plugged in when near a power source.

mrmagnetoman88 wrote:

...while it's in idle mode...

How do you define 'idle mode'? Do you mean lid closed, asleep? Or just not being used?

FWIW, I have two Macs side by side on my desk (both plugged in) a 16" M1 Pro MBP that's drawing 3.6 W and a 16" M4 Pro MBP that's drawing 7.2 W (both according to iStat Menus).

I have not noticed a significant change with location. But I would not consider going from 1.7 to 2 W to be even a meaningful change, much less a significant one. I mean, I have a Mac connected to a power supply capable of delivering 140 W of power, and the Mac is using a tiny fraction of that amount. If it used a very, very slightly less tiny fraction of that amount, I'm not going to worry about it. At all.

As I've been sitting here typing this reply and not leaving this window, the power consumption has varied from 4.2 to 8.6 W.

After I updated my m3 pro to the latest system, the battery became very hot, resulting in abnormal power consumption. I still run my usual work software as usual, and the 80% battery will be drained in about half an hour.