New MacBook Pro Battery Life Better Than Advertised

Xavier Lanier
News

Apple’s new 15″ MacBook Pro has an advertised battery life of seven hours, but AnandTech was able to get over eight hours out of the new $1,699 MacBook Pro.

Anand ran three tests and found that the new entry-level 15″ MacBook Pro’s batter lasted for eight hours and seven minutes with the display set to 50% brightness.

Apple is advertising up to seven hours of battery life on this model, so it’s surprising to see someone actually beat that number by an hour. It’s sometimes impossible to get anywhere close to manufacturer’s advertised battery life numbers.

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You probably won’t be able to achieve eight hours of battery life like Anand did in the real world because he limited testing to web pages that didn’t have video or flash files. When he threw pages with flash files into the mix, battery life dropped to 6.43 hours.

The most impressive test Anand ran included constant web browsing, watching movies and continuously downloading content. The new MacBook Pro lasted for 4.93 hours.

These numbers are significantly higher than I expected since my uni-body MacBook Pro (late 2008) never came close to reaching Apple’s 5-hour battery claims.

The new MacBook Pro has a built-in battery that cannot be removed without removing 10 screws. While I certainly prefer to be able to easily swap out batteries without voiding a notebook’s batteries, the new battery scheme will certainly satisfy the majority of users who never bother to buy or use a second battery.

Read more about the test over at AnandTech.com

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20 Responses

  3. stands2reason Reply

    For all their BS, Apple has to be commended for their honesty (at least in this case).

  4. stands2reason Reply

    For all their BS, Apple has to be commended for their honesty (at least in this case).

  7. wmt9 Reply

    “You probably won’t be able to achieve eight hours of battery life like Anand did in the real world because he limited testing to web pages that didn’t have video or flash files. When he threw pages with flash files into the mix, battery life dropped to 6.43 hours.”

    How is that being honest?

    Lets see how it holds up to a power user, thats actually you know, USING it.

    • Chaddy Reply

      I have just bought a MacBook Pro 15″ Matte (mid-2009) model and get 2.5 hours from it. I use Photoshop and Illustrator with iTunes playing in the background. Wifi is on and I use a bluetooth mouse. Brightness is 1 notch away from full.

      This is not a power user profile but someone using a mac for daily tasks. So that’s 2.5 hours Apple – not 8. My old MBP had removable batteries so I kept 3 on me at all times for a full days work onsite. Can’t do that this time round.

      Cheers

      Chad

      • Rich Reply

        So what was the battery life of your old 15″ MBP (pre-unibody). It sounds like you’re really pushing the limits of your battery with that many apps running simultaneously.

        I’m a developer and while working at my desk I’m always plugged in. But when I’m off to meetings or taking my computer to someone’s space to do some collaborative work, my old black MacBook held up for ~3.5 hours. Only apps running were Terminal running a few computationally heavy scripts for genome analysis and vim for editing. Display was set to 4 bars. WiFi turned on but BT turned off.

        On my new MacBook Pro 13″, same scenario I’m getting around 6.5 hours of battery life. Pretty impressive actually. I always become power conservative when running on battery so I can maximize my time utilization. When plugged in at my desk, BT mouse is connected, full screen brightness and i’m driving my 23″ Cinema display.

      • jon Reply

        photoshop and illustrator plus BT and WiFi and screen set to nearly full brightness… you think that isn’t a power user?

        They might be daily tasks, but that is pretty much everything that a laptop can handle. I’d say it is a power user profile.

        Non-power users only use the internet and email. No PS or AI, no BT. And when they aren’t plugged in they turn down the brightness.

        If you honestly feel you aren’t a power user please explain how a power user and yourself differ.

        • Chaddy Reply

          Ok, I hear you.

          I would class myself as a professional user then. A power user to me is someone running a cpu intensive program. Perhaps either a video editor program like Final Cut which requires real time rendering, or a 3D program user using Maya or 3DMax or an After Effects user who also requires real time rendering.

          After another two months with my Macbook Pro I’m getting to know whats possible on battery power. When away from the plug, I switch to slower graphics mode in Energy Saver by logging out and in again. I also turn the screen to half brightness. I still use Photoshop but have gained upto 4 hours before requiring power. Not bad at all, compared with 2.5 on the pre-unibody.

  8. wmt9 Reply

    “You probably won’t be able to achieve eight hours of battery life like Anand did in the real world because he limited testing to web pages that didn’t have video or flash files. When he threw pages with flash files into the mix, battery life dropped to 6.43 hours.”

    How is that being honest?

    Lets see how it holds up to a power user, thats actually you know, USING it.

    • Chaddy Reply

      I have just bought a MacBook Pro 15″ Matte (mid-2009) model and get 2.5 hours from it. I use Photoshop and Illustrator with iTunes playing in the background. Wifi is on and I use a bluetooth mouse. Brightness is 1 notch away from full.

      This is not a power user profile but someone using a mac for daily tasks. So that’s 2.5 hours Apple – not 8. My old MBP had removable batteries so I kept 3 on me at all times for a full days work onsite. Can’t do that this time round.

      Cheers

      Chad

      • Rich Reply

        So what was the battery life of your old 15″ MBP (pre-unibody). It sounds like you’re really pushing the limits of your battery with that many apps running simultaneously.

        I’m a developer and while working at my desk I’m always plugged in. But when I’m off to meetings or taking my computer to someone’s space to do some collaborative work, my old black MacBook held up for ~3.5 hours. Only apps running were Terminal running a few computationally heavy scripts for genome analysis and vim for editing. Display was set to 4 bars. WiFi turned on but BT turned off.

        On my new MacBook Pro 13″, same scenario I’m getting around 6.5 hours of battery life. Pretty impressive actually. I always become power conservative when running on battery so I can maximize my time utilization. When plugged in at my desk, BT mouse is connected, full screen brightness and i’m driving my 23″ Cinema display.

      • jon Reply

        photoshop and illustrator plus BT and WiFi and screen set to nearly full brightness… you think that isn’t a power user?

        They might be daily tasks, but that is pretty much everything that a laptop can handle. I’d say it is a power user profile.

        Non-power users only use the internet and email. No PS or AI, no BT. And when they aren’t plugged in they turn down the brightness.

        If you honestly feel you aren’t a power user please explain how a power user and yourself differ.

        • Chaddy Reply

          Ok, I hear you.

          I would class myself as a professional user then. A power user to me is someone running a cpu intensive program. Perhaps either a video editor program like Final Cut which requires real time rendering, or a 3D program user using Maya or 3DMax or an After Effects user who also requires real time rendering.

          After another two months with my Macbook Pro I’m getting to know whats possible on battery power. When away from the plug, I switch to slower graphics mode in Energy Saver by logging out and in again. I also turn the screen to half brightness. I still use Photoshop but have gained upto 4 hours before requiring power. Not bad at all, compared with 2.5 on the pre-unibody.

  9. Ven Reply

    I bought an MBP 2.53 last month and i never reach 4hours battery life. Browsing multiple sites and iTunes on the background.

    You think theres a problem with my battery?

  10. Ven Reply

    I bought an MBP 2.53 last month and i never reach 4hours battery life. Browsing multiple sites and iTunes on the background.

    You think theres a problem with my battery?

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