Jonathan Seff at Macworld has posted a detailed review of the new 13″ MacBook Pro, which has one interesting finding: the computer’s battery life doesn’t quite live up to Apple’s claims of 10 hours.
Seff writes:
“Our standard battery test, which plays a looped video in QuickTime until the battery dies, showed a life of 4 hours and 19 minutes for the 2.4GHz model and 4 hours and 33 minutes for the 2.66GHz model.”
In other words, better than the previous 13″ model. But still a long way from the 10 hours claimed by Apple.
Now, I know that the claims computer companies make for notebook batteries need to taken with more than a pinch (more like a truckload) of salt. And it’s true, they’ve covered themselves with those magic words “up to” – but alongside images like this one.
But, given the battery life of the iPad – in many cases exceeding Apple’s claims – it seemed fair to take the 10-hour claim at face value. After all, the clever battery technology that works in one device could be reasonably expected to work in another. The Macworld review suggests we should think otherwise.
Ever since they were announced, I’ve been on the verge of buying one of these machines, solely for the combination of portability and battery life. Now I’m not so sure.
Giles Turnbull is a freelance writer in England. He also writes for the Press Association and The Morning News. You can find out more at his website, and follow him on Twitter @gilest.
64 responses to “Macworld’s 13″ MacBook Pro Review: The 10-Hour Battery Lasts Four Hours”
Are pleased to be able to accidentally navigate to the article you write, write very well.
After often to patronize
Are pleased to be able to accidentally navigate to the article you write, write very well.
After often to patronize
Are pleased to be able to accidentally navigate to the article you write, write very well.
After often to patronize
I had close to 10-hour battery life when my MBP was new, however as I loaded up the hard drive and increases the number of running processes, I noticed a severe drain. Now I average around 5 hours with iStat showing battery health of 84% on 190 cycles. The computer is less than 10 months old! I can’t complain too much though, it’s still far superior than most notebooks out there.
Yep I agree. I am weired out by how much battery counter displays and how it spikes numbers up and down. I’d say it lasts around 4-6 hours depending on the usage.
I have had my 2010 15″ mac book pro last 11 hours before. I can watch 4hrs of HD Video on a single charge.
I have had my 2010 15″ mac book pro last 11 hours before. I can watch 4hrs of HD Video on a single charge.
i am forced to use a macbook pro at my job. it is hands down, without a doubt, no question the WORST ‘computer’ i have ever used. it is slow, hangs up and requires multiple restarts, and every app on it is horrible to use. i have a 7 yr old pc at home that is faster, more robust and reliable than this piece of sh*t.
DON”T EVER BUY A MAC
Really?! JACKMEOFF001………..REALLY?! NO really??!
You should mention that the Apple laptop battery uses Li-Polymer batteries when discussing about battery life.
Thats expected –‘ Obviously surfing web or reading pdfs doesnt “waste” same battery as playing videos…………. If you use it for surfing web and light applications with less then half brightness ( I always use 30-40% brightness) it will lasts like 10h as announced or even more !! And thats more that almost any laptop.
I have a mid 2009 mb pro 13″ and at first I consistently got 6 hrs during normal use, which involved web browsing and reading documents (this was released before the 10hr version, and only claimed 7hrs). However that time went down significantly when more processor intensive applications were running such as running MATLAB simulations and editing video. This is to be expected. My Dell laptop from the same year with about the same specs never got more than 3 hrs and it is a lot more bulky. Now that it has been 2 years the Dell doesn’t even get an hour and my mb pro still gets more than 4 when fully charged, however my mb pro does have a service battery indicator, which means that school has taken its toll and it’s probably time to replace or service the battery.
Hey, Kid,
You’re an ID&*T!
And a TROLL!