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Google admits Chrome is killing laptop batteries and promises a fix

Published Jul 18th, 2014 9:30AM EDT
BGR

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A recent report shed light on a major bug in Google’s Chrome web browser that causes the batteries in Windows laptops to drain much faster than normal. In fact, the issue could cause laptop batteries to die 25% quicker. The bug causes laptops’ processors to wake up and look for tasks 1,000 times each second instead of 64 times per second, as they should, and users have been advised to avoid using Chrome on Windows machines if they value battery life.

But help is on the way: A new report states that Google has acknowledged the issue and is currently working to fix it.

A report on Thursday from PCWorld stated that Google is not only aware of the issue, it has a team working to fix it and has made it a top priority.

“In a statement to PCWorld, the company noted that the bug has been assigned internally, and that the Chrome team is working to fix it—though only after Morris shined a spotlight on the issue,” PCWorld’s Jared Newman reported. “The long-standing bug report has been bumped up to priority one.”

Unfortunately, no timeline was given for a fix.

Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 15 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.