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13-Inch 2013 MacBook Air Gets Up to 15 Hours of Battery Life With Mavericks

My MBA battery life went from 11 hours to 4 hours. I'm running the same apps that was running prior. Hopefully a patch will surface in a few days.
 
newdeal said:
Microsoft can't get energy management correct because they can't even get sleep mode to work reliably. I think it has to do with Microsoft needing to make Windows generic enough that it will work regardless of the hundreds of third party manufacturers writing drivers that are compatible with windows
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Apple isn't programming for the hardware exactly, rather they're writing the software to to run more efficiently. Things like backgrounding some apps a'la iOS, and better resource management. That's all OS level stuff, and could easily be achieved by MS if they were to spend the time to do it...which, unfortunately, they haven't.

When it comes down to it, everything is all driver based. Apple doesn't want to have to rewrite their OS from the kernel up every time a new generation of hardware arrives. They use the same setup MS does with Windows, which is make a nonspecific (to a point) framework, and have all the individual computer components interface with the OS through drivers and APIs. The only real difference is Apple doesn't have nearly as large a pool of hardware to account for.
 
I lose like 4-5% battery every time I walk away from my MBA 13 now - Before I would maybe lose 1% ... I'm not really sure why it's sucking power.

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thenk83 said:
My MBA battery life went from 11 hours to 4 hours. I'm running the same apps that was running prior. Hopefully a patch will surface in a few days.
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I'm running the mid 2012 MBA with the same issue you're seeing...It's pretty horrible.
 
ghostlines said:
Well if you lasted that long with that model, the new 13 rMBP 16GB RAM 256GB SSD will hold you over quite a while I expect. The Air is great in so many aspects but like the poster before said retina is the way to go!
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I think you and koppie644 are right, the retina display will be the deciding factor. The final straw was video output resolution as well.

Sorry if I was off topic....thanks for the advice. If ghettochris was right and in 3-4 years an Air comes out that is way better than todays rMPB I reserve the right to come back and whine ;)
 
tjleonard said:
I lose like 4-5% battery every time I walk away from my MBA 13 now - Before I would maybe lose 1% ... I'm not really sure why it's sucking power.

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I'm running the mid 2012 MBA with the same issue you're seeing...It's pretty horrible.
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The battery is uncalibrated. Just keep using it and it will restore back to normal. I had the same problem.
 
T-Will said:
Replace your battery bro! :D
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As someone in the same boat... I've been avoiding replacing the battery for two reasons: first, because the last time I saw one it was about $200, and that's $200 further away from a new one; and second, because I'm afraid I'd wind up with one that's been sitting on the shelf for five years.

(What I'd *really* like is a MacBook Air with at least 500GB storage.)
 
My battery life has been incredible today, after the update! I unplugged at 11:30, now seven hours later I'm at 77%. (Granted I haven't used it for the entire time, maybe 5.5-6 hours, but it has gotten better compared to ML)
 
robanybody said:
You'll be lucky! in my Real World test (that is actually using the damn thing not just setting up some script) I've never had more than 8 hours from my June 2013 13" Macbook Air. In consequence I expect I'll be extremely lucky if I get more than 9 hours with Mavericks (and yes I've already upgraded and in two hours of use (web surfing mainly but one or two other very minor tasks like setting up iBooks) the battery life is down to 72%.

So it looks like far from battery life improving, it's got worse. At least this time yesterday i was only down to 75%
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a usage script is a waaay better judge than your random usage. why? *because it's the same every time*! comparing apples to apples. your random usage isnt systematic at all.
 
Release the 13-inch Macbook Air in summer and say 12 hours with Mountain Lion. Then, in the fall, release the 13-inch Macbook Pro with Retina display and say 9 hours, but with Mavericks.

Nice one Apple, and 9 hours is pretty amazing anyway
 
He didn't bother to benchmark the rMBP?

Installing Mav on my rMBP now. Should know in the coming days...
 
ghettochris said:
i've always been a macbook pro person myself, but damn, the airs are getting sweet enough I'm temped to downgrade and lighten the load. iMac or Mac pro at the house, air for the go might be my new combo.
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I did this. I have always had a MacBook Pro until this summer. Now I have a 2013 Air and I have never looked back. This machine is amazing. Dare I say it... magical? :)
 
tjleonard said:
I lose like 4-5% battery every time I walk away from my MBA 13 now - Before I would maybe lose 1% ... I'm not really sure why it's sucking power.
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Click on the "battery" icon. Then check where it says "Apps using significant energy".
 
Aluminum213 said:
that's not saying much, with heavy usage (no videos even) iPhone is dead in 4-5 hours
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Also helps when you compare the huge size difference in batteries. Sure, the MBA takes more power to run... but still. Of course a bigger computer with a bigger battery is going to run longer.
 
ctross said:
My 2007 Macbook Pro battery lasted about 10 minutes on Mountain Lion. Just upgraded to Mavericks, hoping to get a whole half an hour!
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Don't feel bad, my 2008 MBP has been telling me for months that I need a new battery. Whats worst is the 5+ year old hard disk failed when I went to install Mavericks. Most likely a mechanical failure of some sort as I haven't been able to fully recover the disk (it is some what functional). So I'm running Mavericks on the free space on my ITunes disk (messed up ITunes too.)

The funny thing is mavericks feels really good on this laptop. i hate to use the word - it is snappy!!!!!:D:D Now I have to make a decision to fix an old laptop with lots of other problems or do a real upgrade to a new machine. Neither avenue is ideal at this time.
 
Even my poor old late 2008 MBP seems to be getting a little more battery time. On that age of machine any help is appreciated. Cinebench scores are also up, even ahead of Windows 8. Good work, Apple.
 
wizard said:
Don't feel bad, my 2008 MBP has been telling me for months that I need a new battery. Whats worst is the 5+ year old hard disk failed when I went to install Mavericks. Most likely a mechanical failure of some sort as I haven't been able to fully recover the disk (it is some what functional). So I'm running Mavericks on the free space on my ITunes disk (messed up ITunes too.)

The funny thing is mavericks feels really good on this laptop. i hate to use the word - it is snappy!!!!!:D:D Now I have to make a decision to fix an old laptop with lots of other problems or do a real upgrade to a new machine. Neither avenue is ideal at this time.
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just upgrade to a new machine.
 
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