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Comment by 24gttghh | Hacker News Reader

Why not just show the user how many mAh are left?

"Mah what? mAh battery is going to last how long?"

It would be a meaningless number to non-engineers. Sounds like we need smarter predictive algorithms based on previous usage patterns etc, not degrading the "average user" experience.

I see no difference between mAh and MPG in terms of ability to understand for most people. If we expect more of people, they can learn. If we constantly dumb things down, all we do is create a depressing economy where no one understands anything, and always has to have someone else fix their trivial problems.

Miles and gallons are all measures most people have a relative understanding of.

If I drive x miles I need y gallons. Easy-ish.

What about amps?

Are those LA miles or Wyoming miles? apple is dealing with users who see their car is rated 30MPG for highway and then complaining when they only get 10MPG in rush hour LA traffic.

Cars have 3 types of MPGs I can think of: -Instant -Average (over any given length of time) -EPA Rated.

I've never heard someone complain they get bad mileage sitting in traffic and not understand that instant mpg != EPA mpg for specific conditions.

This is why its strange that Apple removed this measure.

However, I am not sure what you are arguing. For displaying the mAh or for bringing back the 'Time Left'?

The laptop doesn't know that figure. What it knows is how much voltage the cells are currently putting out. From that it extrapolates things like % left, time remaining, and yes, a theoretical mAh figure. But if time remaining is too imprecise of an estimate, then trying to put it into a precise-looking mAh figure would be way more so.

That's effectively what they're doing when it says "57%" remaining. Just multiply .57 * 54.5-watt-hour.

because mAh aren't magical

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