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New MB Air 13" on the way

Newtons Apple

Newtons Apple

Suspended
Original poster
Mar 12, 2014
22,757
15,253
Jacksonville, Florida
Will be used for nothing except Windows 7 Pro via BootCamp.

The Air is a 512GB/8MB with i7.

When I partition the drive for Windows, in BootCamp, how much do I need to allow SAFELY for iOS and future updates. I will use FaceTime on occasion, but 95% of the time Windows software.

With the i7 processor can I expect to get 5-6 hours of Word, Excel, Quickbooks and some light AutoCad?

Thanks for the help, it will be here on Thursday 24th
 
Last edited:
ayeying

ayeying

macrumors 601
Dec 5, 2007
4,547
13
Yay Area, CA
I would leave at least 30-50GB if possible for OSX for updates and other uses.

Honestly, under Windows. I'd probably expect up to 4 hours with light usage. I always noticed I get about 50-70% of the expected battery life under Windows vs OSX.
 
S

saturnotaku

macrumors 68000
Mar 4, 2013
1,978
97
ayeying said:
Honestly, under Windows. I'd probably expect up to 4 hours with light usage. I always noticed I get about 50-70% of the expected battery life under Windows vs OSX.
Click to expand...

If this is on the MBP in your signature, that's because your GeForce GPU is running full-time in Windows. There's no graphic switching like there is in OS X. Naturally, this is not an issue with the MacBook Air. Battery life is still less in Windows, but the difference is not nearly as great. Six hours is certainly within the realm of possibility.
 
ayeying

ayeying

macrumors 601
Dec 5, 2007
4,547
13
Yay Area, CA
saturnotaku said:
If this is on the MBP in your signature, that's because your GeForce GPU is running full-time in Windows. There's no graphic switching like there is in OS X. Naturally, this is not an issue with the MacBook Air. Battery life is still less in Windows, but the difference is not nearly as great. Six hours is certainly within the realm of possibility.
Click to expand...

I experienced it on this 15" MBP, 13" MBP and older MacBook Airs as well. Windows' just doesn't have the same power adaptive methods as OS X does for their hardware.

Actually, my current MBP gets about 4-5 hours in Windows using the 750M and I get 7 hours in OS X with the 750M for the same purposes.

It's not horrible but it could be better.
 
S

saturnotaku

macrumors 68000
Mar 4, 2013
1,978
97
ayeying said:
Actually, my current MBP gets about 4-5 hours in Windows using the 750M
Click to expand...

Which is quite good considering you have a full-voltage quad-core i7 CPU and no GPU switching of any kind. A MacBook Air, which has an ultra-low-voltage CPU and integrated graphics, should easily achieve 6 hours in Windows, but again lag behind OS X.

Still, buying a MacBook of any kind to run Windows exclusively is never a good idea considering the battery life limitations and inferiority of the keyboard and trackpad. Naturally an external mouse and keyboard mitigate these problems, but that also somewhat defeats the purpose of having such a mobile system.
 
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