how to improve battery life macOS Sierra and Windows 10 (Parallels 13 Pro)

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by derek68, Sep 6, 2017.

  1. derek68

    derek68 Member

    Messages:
    26
    Hi, I am running Windows 10 on a brand new 2017 MacBook Pro (2.9 GHz, 16GB Ram, dual video cards) and am finding that when running the VM, with only light use in either MacOS or Windows, I am only getting about 2 - .5 hours battery life from a full charge. This is only email, web browsing and some excel work. The MacBook Pro should be getting 9-10 hours (according to Apple) based on this type of usage.

    Any idea how to improve the battery life and is Parallels the culprit?

    Thanks,
    Derek
     
    AdrienneO likes this.
  2. Dmitry@Parallels

    Dmitry@Parallels Parallels Team

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    702
    Hi Derek, can you please open Activity Monitor on Mac > switch to Energy tab > sort processes by energy impact and show us a screenshot.
    Also please open Windows Settings > Update & security > Windows Update. Are there any updates being downloaded?
     
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  3. derek68

    derek68 Member

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    26
    Thanks Dmitry, will do!
     
  4. derek68

    derek68 Member

    Messages:
    26

    MacOS only

    1.jpg
    Parallels starting
    2.jpg

    Parallels after a minute

    3.jpg
     
  5. Dmitry@Parallels

    Dmitry@Parallels Parallels Team

    Messages:
    702
    Thank you, Derek. According to the last screenshot Parallels Desktop causes a usual energy impact, and to our calculations your MacBook should last around 7 hours on battery. Let's get more power metrics to investigate deeper.
    1. Enable test statistics for your virtual machine. Open Terminal and execute:

    prlctl internal <vmid> teststat start (where <vmid> can be found by using prlctl list -a command, e.g. {494b003e-6a5e-4882-bd34-1337e759341e}, use the ID of your running VM)

    2. Now please collect battery utilization statistics (which would be split into 1 minute intervals) to a file on Desktop:

    sudo powermetrics --show-all -i 60000 -u ~/Desktop/battery.log

    3. After executing both steps please work on your Mac for about an hour as usual. The battery utilization stats will keep collecting.
    4. Then please stop collecting battery stats by pressing Ctrl+C in Terminal, and upload the file battery.log from your Desktop to any convenient file share, post a link to the file here.
    5. Send a technical report via Help menu > Send Technical Data... > post the report ID here.

    This data will help us to investigate Mac battery usage and reveal the reason for battery drain.
    Thanks in advance!
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2018
    AdrienneO likes this.
  6. VictoriaG1

    VictoriaG1 Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    I have exactly the same issue. 2017 MacBook Pro with touch bar, Windows 10, Parallels 13 (but was the same with 12 too). I made all changes recommended and I still cannot get more than 2.5 hours from my machine. Please help. I travel a lot, so must rely on good battery to stay efficient and employed!
     
  7. gramaraopmsquare.asia

    gramaraopmsquare.asia Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    I exactly have the same system, software and issue. Looking forward a resolution. Kindly help.
     
  8. Dmitry@Parallels

    Dmitry@Parallels Parallels Team

    Messages:
    702
    Hi, please follow the same instructions I've shared for Derek before. (post #5 in the thread).
     
  9. BradK2

    BradK2 Bit poster

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    1
    I am also running 13 on MBP 2015. Since upgrading to 13 my battery life is also decreasing. Also the fan is louder as I use parallels. It used to only occur when using Edge or IE, now it becomes audible when I activate parallels and work in MS Word, Excel, etc.
     
  10. JimR5

    JimR5 Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    I'm also experiencing catastrophic battery impact with Parallels 13 compared to Parallels 11, on my MacBook Pro 2014. I think it's using about 1% of battery per minute, if not more. This is shockingly bad and I now have to plug in my laptop pretty much as soon as I unplug it. So ANNOYING as I use my MBP mostly with Parallels for Visual Studio development. So now my laptop has turned into a desktop. This is supposed to be an UPGRADE, right?
     
  11. Dmitry@Parallels

    Dmitry@Parallels Parallels Team

    Messages:
    702
    Hi @JimR5, can you please follow the instructions from the post above - https://forum.parallels.com/threads...ndows-10-parallels-13-pro.341822/#post-827433, and provide me with the results.
     
  12. RalphS4

    RalphS4 Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    I have tried everything in this forum. At this point I am giving up. My battery is dying after less than 2 hours of usage when running windows using parallels 13 on my Macbook Pro.
     
  13. JasonA4

    JasonA4 Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    Hello I have been seeing very similar issues with battery drain. I am trying to run the prlctl internal command and get an "unexpected error" not sure where to go from here?
     
  14. Dmitry@Parallels

    Dmitry@Parallels Parallels Team

    Messages:
    702
    I have created a support ticket for you to investigate this. Our team will contact you soon.
     
  15. RalphS4

    RalphS4 Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    Hello Jason, I had to give up on this and I am now using a Dell XPS. Try using boot camp on your mac if you don't get a resolution. Good luck.
     
  16. KevinE3

    KevinE3 Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    Hello,
    I am having the same issue. I upgraded to Parallels 13 with Mac Sierra OS and my battery is dying at a rate of 30% in 40 minutes. Has anything helped with this issue?
     
  17. RalphS4

    RalphS4 Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    Kevin, I gave up on this program. Couldn't fix the issue, but thinking about it try this. Make sure that windows is totally up to date, and does not require any more updates. Once all updates are complete, completely turn off the Auto Update feature. Set so it does not auto check for updates. I noticee that eats up a lot of juice, even on Windows machines. I hope it helps.
     
  18. Dmitry@Parallels

    Dmitry@Parallels Parallels Team

    Messages:
    702
  19. Serina

    Serina Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    I'm having trouble with doing this on my macbook. How do we find prictlis -a?

     
  20. Dmitry@Parallels

    Dmitry@Parallels Parallels Team

    Messages:
    702
    Hi @Serina, I suggest you copy-paste the command to avoid typos, please do it with the command below:

    prlctl list -a


    THe output should be like this:
    Screen Shot 2018-02-05 at 14.37.03.png

    Once you get to know the ID of your virtual machine (see the screenshot), e.g. {7f7a04c3-4329-4c14-b943-f00da8c85cee} - use the ID of your running VM for the next command:

    prlctl internal {7f7a04c3-4329-4c14-b943-f00da8c85cee} teststat start

    2. Now please collect battery utilization statistics (which would be split into 1 minute intervals) to a file on Desktop:

    sudo powermetrics --show-all -i 60000 -u ~/Desktop/battery.log

    3. After executing both steps please work on your Mac for about an hour as usual. The battery utilization stats will keep collecting.
    4. Then please stop collecting battery stats by pressing Ctrl+C in Terminal, and upload the file battery.log from your Desktop to any convenient file share, post a link to the file here.
    5. Send a technical report via Help menu > Send Technical Data... > post the report ID here.

    This data will help us to investigate Mac battery usage and reveal the reason for battery drain.
    Thanks in advance!
     

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