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14-inch with M1 Pro Base Config - Battery life

anshuvorty

anshuvorty

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Sep 1, 2010
3,497
5,219
California, USA
I am starting a real-world battery life test on this new computer and I will report back with my results.

My methodology:
  • use the computer like normal - lots of Google Chrome tabs, occasional use of Microsoft Remote Desktop to RDP into remote computers, and occasional Youtube browsing
  • at the end of the day, when I am done using the computer, I will close the lid and open it back up the next day
Laptop specs and settings:
  • 14-inch MacBook Pro
  • M1 Pro: 8-core CPU, 14-core GPU
  • 512 GB storage
  • 16 GB RAM
  • ProMotion: enabled
  • default power management settings
  • macOS 12.0.1
 
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Anxious for your report as I ordered tha base with 1tb and my usage is similar. What are your thoughts so far? Re the computer itself?
 
terryw1 said:
Anxious for your report as I ordered tha base with 1tb and my usage is similar. What are your thoughts so far? Re the computer itself?
Click to expand...
It's quiet, the return of ports is a welcome addition and the display is great. Although the computer looks thick in pictures and it seems that it might be heavier than the outgoing 13-inch MacBook Pros, it really isn't all that much heavier.

The keyboard, at least to me, is also much better than the Magic Keyboard 1 that is on the outgoing MacBook Pros. The bigger keycaps help.

In all, I love it! For the true professional who is constantly adding and removing devices, this is the ideal laptop.
 
So, the battery finally died on this laptop. Here are my results:
  • 100%: 10/27/21 at 9:28 pm
  • 0% (laptop turned off, can't turn it back on without plugging it back into the charger): 10/28/21 at 12:58 pm
  • total battery life: 15h:30min
Please note:
  • This is the battery life I got when I exclusively used Google Chrome, Slack, and Zoom open on my computer.
I will do another test with Safari set as my default browser and using it exclusively instead of Google Chrome.
 
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anshuvorty said:
So, the battery finally died on this laptop. Here are my results:
  • 100%: 10/27/21 at 9:28 pm
  • 0% (laptop turned off, can't turn it back on without plugging it back into the charger): 10/28/21 at 12:58 pm
  • total battery life: 15h:30min
Please note:
  • This is the battery life I got when I exclusively used Google Chrome, Slack, and Zoom open on my computer.
I will do another test with Safari set as my default browser and using it exclusively instead of Google Chrome.
Click to expand...
I’m assuming the computer was idle/standby during your sleep or did you just pull an all nighter on this MBP? Lol
 
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I don't know, battery seems pretty darn good! I don't get into all the number but when I've used it all day and still have over 79%, works for me!
 
anshuvorty said:
So, the battery finally died on this laptop. Here are my results:
  • 100%: 10/27/21 at 9:28 pm
  • 0% (laptop turned off, can't turn it back on without plugging it back into the charger): 10/28/21 at 12:58 pm
  • total battery life: 15h:30min
Please note:
  • This is the battery life I got when I exclusively used Google Chrome, Slack, and Zoom open on my computer.
I will do another test with Safari set as my default browser and using it exclusively instead of Google Chrome.
Click to expand...
Just trying to understand. So you used it during the evening on one day and then only until a little past noon on the next day and most of the time it was asleep? Is that right? It would help a lot to know when you ended your day on 10/27/21 and when you started your day on 10/28/21, just FYI.

In any case THANK YOU for taking the time/trouble to post your findings.

Also curious (cause I've never had an apple silicon laptop before), how was the heat? Is it really as cool as everyone says when doing normal web browsing in Chrome? That would be kind of a big deal for me.
 
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Saturn1217 said:
Just trying to understand. So you used it during the evening on one day and then only until a little past noon on the next day and most of the time it was asleep? Is that right? It would help a lot to know when you ended your day on 10/27/21 and when you started your day on 10/28/21, just FYI.

In any case THANK YOU for taking the time/trouble to post your findings.

Also curious (cause I've never had an apple silicon laptop before), how was the heat? Is it really as cool as everyone says when doing normal web browsing in Chrome? That would be kind of a big deal for me.
Click to expand...

I didn't really note down when I ended my day on 10/27/21. I started my day around 8am on 10/28/21.

Heat: really no heat to speak of when I was using the laptop the way I have been using it. I can't hear the fans at all and the laptop is cool to the touch everywhere around the keyboard deck and trackpad.

I hope that helps!
 
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Thank you for your report. It would be great if you could continue posting your experience.

And can you please include a screenshot of the battery preferences screen that shows the usage at the end of it?
 
I used mine today for work. Outlook, teams, word, excel. Keyboard is cool, fans are silent. Screen at 80%. Battery life was great as well.
 
Just spent an hour and a half unplugged on my 14” with M1 Pro/32/2TB with auto brightness on, probably around halfway up. Light use with web browsing, PiP video, note taking, and at 55 minutes I still was at 100% before it dropped to 99%. 1.5h led to 95%. Estimate hovered around 15 hours in activity monitor.
 
BluAffiliate said:
Define slightly warm. I wanted Pure Cold.
Click to expand...
I don't have a measuring tool but it's not Pure Cold when connected to my 34 inch 5K2K monitor. I have the base model so I wonder whether an increase in ram would keep it cooler when connected to my monitor. the M1 13 and new 16 also feels warm when connected to this display.
 
flapflapflap said:
I don't have a measuring tool but it's not Pure Cold when connected to my 34 inch 5K2K monitor. I have the base model so I wonder whether an increase in ram would keep it cooler when connected to my monitor. the M1 13 and new 16 also feels warm when connected to this display.
Click to expand...
More ram makes it cooler? How?
 
Kimcha said:
Thank you for your report. It would be great if you could continue posting your experience.

And can you please include a screenshot of the battery preferences screen that shows the usage at the end of it?
Click to expand...
Yes, of course! I will do this with Safari as my default browser test, which I will post shortly.
 
BluAffiliate said:
You feel 0 heat at all?
Click to expand...
Very unnoticeable to be honest so far. My use is light. And this is my going 16in intel, to mba M1 to the 14 date I say I don’t notice the heat if any when typing. Intel I could feel. Mba I could also feel when taxed.
 
the 10-core 14" definitely has noticeably less battery life than my M1 Air. Being that I'm mostly just using the computer around different parts of the house it's not a huge deal. I'm loving the screen quality and extra space and consider it a good trade off. While the Air has a very good display, the new panel seems easier on my eyes for some reason.

If I ever needed extended battery on the go I'd consider an external usb-c battery pack
 
jabbr said:
the 10-core 14" definitely has noticeably less battery life than my M1 Air. Being that I'm mostly just using the computer around different parts of the house it's not a huge deal. I'm loving the screen quality and extra space and consider it a good trade off. While the Air has a very good display, the new panel seems easier on my eyes for some reason.

If I ever needed extended battery on the go I'd consider an external usb-c battery pack
Click to expand...
It would be really nice if you guys could provide some kind of battery comparison between the 8c/14g and the 10c/16g M1-pro in the 14" MBP. If there's more than 1-2 hours difference in casual use (like web browsing), I think I'd rather have the extra battery than the extra performance. I'm a programmer who compiles code and runs simulators, but other than that, I more often browse the web than do crazy performance-taxing tasks.
 
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