jEdit 5.3.0 does not allow automatic graphics switching on Mac. This means that it enforces the activation of the high-performance GPU which is draining the battery.
I just received a similar ticket over at https://github.com/huxi/lilith/issues/27 including a detailed description of how to fix it. While verifying the fix, I realized that jEdit suffers from the same problem.
This is easily fixed by adding
<key>NSSupportsAutomaticGraphicsSwitching</key> <true/>
to Info.plist.
Ah, hi Jörn, the next project where we meet. :-)
Do you know whether this setting can also have a negative effect?
Did you try it locally with jEdit already?
Hey there. :)
Yes, I patched jEdit immediately.
I can't give you any objective measurements but I can tell you that I feel no subjective difference whether the "integrated" or the "high-performance" gfx is used on the Mid-2012 MBP I'm currently using.
No app I'm running right now demands "high-performance" (i.e. patched jEdit, Chrome, Firefox, Thunderbird, IDEA, Lilith, TV-Browser etc.) and the only difference is that the MBP is using less energy. Even VLC playing full-screen video isn't switching to high-performance.
That other mode is primarily for games or pro software and macOS is supposed to switch to high-performance automatically as needed. Attaching an external monitor is also switching to "high-performance" mode but that usually isn't a problem because one is likely not running on battery in that scenario.
This is the ticket for IDEA: https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-118524
This is related Apple documentation: https://developer.apple.com/library/content/qa/qa1734/_index.html
Thanks for the thorough analysis and testing Jörn.
This is fixed for the upcoming 5.4.0.