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Battery life on top spec 13-inch rmbp

The battery life on my top spec 13-inch rmpb is...

  • Less than 7 hours

    Votes: 8 27.6%

  • 7 hours

    Votes: 3 10.3%

  • 8 hours

    Votes: 4 13.8%

  • 9 hours

    Votes: 5 17.2%

  • 10 hours

    Votes: 4 13.8%

  • More than 10 hours

    Votes: 5 17.2%
  • Total voters
    29
  • Poll closed .
E

EatingApples

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 8, 2011
65
22
Hi everyone

Would those of you who are the lucky owners of late 2013 top spec. 13 inch retina macbook pro (i7, 16gb ram, 512 gb ssd) please report the battery life you're getting?

Would be much appreciated! Thank you :)

PS: please post the battery life you're actually getting, not the ever changing estimation that Mavericks provides.
 
Last edited:
Tears Apart said:
I would also be very interested in this. In particular the comparison between 8GB/2.6GHz vs 16GB/2.8GHz.
Click to expand...

Good point... Would also be interested to see how that affects battery life. It will highly influence my purchasing decision!
 
I'm doing some light web browsing currently for about 20 minutes unplugged. The battery indicator still shows 100% and 11:22 remaining.

13"r/i7/16GB/512GB
 
wido said:
I'm doing some light web browsing currently for about 20 minutes unplugged. The battery indicator still shows 100% and 11:22 remaining.

13"r/i7/16GB/512GB
Click to expand...

Just about to pull the trigger on the model you have... 11:22 sounds too good to be true : )
 
Tears Apart said:
Just about to pull the trigger on the model you have... 11:22 sounds too good to be true : )
Click to expand...

Indeed, it sounds too good to be true. I tried the rmbp today in store and after playing around with it for a while (unplugged) the battery estimator fluctuated a lot, from 6,5 hours indicated to almost 9 hours. That's why it's useless to monitor the battery indicator. It's not really accurate. It changes constantly.
 
With iTunes streaming music to my AppleTV it's down now to 7 hours. As already noted, the estimate drasticly varies on your current usage.
 
Thing is that i need this laptop for school as well....having 8 hour school days, i had hoped the rmbp would last that long (maybe a bit longer) to take notes and follow the teachers powerpoint slides.

So while the laptop is unplugged i wont do heavy tasks. Any idea if it will last throughout the time i spent in school?
 
Based on my current usage from the last 4 days and assuming that you won't be using the MacBook for the whole 8 hours (breaks between lessons, lunch, etc.), the top configuration will definetly last your complete school day.
 
EatingApples said:
Thing is that i need this laptop for school as well....having 8 hour school days, i had hoped the rmbp would last that long (maybe a bit longer) to take notes and follow the teachers powerpoint slides.

So while the laptop is unplugged i wont do heavy tasks. Any idea if it will last throughout the time i spent in school?
Click to expand...

If you only type I think it will last you more than 8 hours.
 
the battery indicator is pretty redundant imo - the only real test is is to charge it to 100%, put a looping video on and keep track of how long it lasts until it dies.

i'll be taking mine on an international flight soon, if it passes 8 hours i'll be v happy!
 
sabbyp said:
the battery indicator is pretty redundant imo - the only real test is is to charge it to 100%, put a looping video on and keep track of how long it lasts until it dies.

i'll be taking mine on an international flight soon, if it passes 8 hours i'll be v happy!
Click to expand...

Awesome! Could you please report back after your flight?

Thanks in advance :)
 
It would be awesome if the 13" i7 can get that 10-11 hours of iTunes video estimate. I mean, it's not really pushing the CPU so I don't see why an i7 would use more battery in that situation.
 
PDFierro said:
It would be awesome if the 13" i7 can get that 10-11 hours of iTunes video estimate. I mean, it's not really pushing the CPU so I don't see why an i7 would use more battery in that situation.
Click to expand...

I would think (without knowing) that the i7 uses more power just to run, than say an i5. Also 16 gb of ram (I assume that will be two ram sticks with 8gb each) use more power to run than if the laptop just had one stick of 8 gb ram.

All the 13inch reviews so far that I have read, were entry-level or mid-level machines.
 
EatingApples said:
I would think (without knowing) that the i7 uses more power just to run, than say an i5. Also 16 gb of ram (I assume that will be two ram sticks with 8gb each) use more power to run than if the laptop just had one stick of 8 gb ram.

All the 13inch reviews so far that I have read, were entry-level or mid-level machines.
Click to expand...

RAM won't make a difference with the battery. And battery life is typically the same on i5/i7 under a light workload, which is what I'd define iTunes HD video playback as.

I'm going to be taking some pretty long flights, so it'd be awesome if the i7 could get at least 10 hours of video playback. Engadget did a review and got over 11 hours on the 2.4 i5.

I don't think there would be a difference, if anything it'd be 30 minutes or so. But you never know. I'd be disappointed if there was actually a major difference.
 
PDFierro said:
RAM won't make a difference with the battery. And battery life is typically the same on i5/i7 under a light workload, which is what I'd define iTunes HD video playback as.

I'm going to be taking some pretty long flights, so it'd be awesome if the i7 could get at least 10 hours of video playback. Engadget did a review and got over 11 hours on the 2.4 i5.

I don't think there would be a difference, if anything it'd be 30 minutes or so. But you never know. I'd be disappointed if there was actually a major difference.
Click to expand...

I think you are right about the testing procedure. Doing a video playing battery drain test will probably give the best response, as it is a consistent process. If the i7 does in fact use a lot of extra power, I will highly consider the 2,6ghz i5 instead.
 
EatingApples said:
Thing is that i need this laptop for school as well....having 8 hour school days, i had hoped the rmbp would last that long (maybe a bit longer) to take notes and follow the teachers powerpoint slides.

So while the laptop is unplugged i wont do heavy tasks. Any idea if it will last throughout the time i spent in school?
Click to expand...

I bet it will if you watch the screen brightness and only turn on wifi for short periods to retrieve emails, etc.

I am at 85% with the screen at mid brightness and doing medium level browsing and it shows just under nine hours left, can't really tell you how much I get per day because I am only on it a couple hours per day.

If battery life is a big concern wait a few more days or even a week for more beta, it can't hurt...
 
Macshroomer said:
I bet it will if you watch the screen brightness and only turn on wifi for short periods to retrieve emails, etc.

I am at 85% with the screen at mid brightness and doing medium level browsing and it shows just under nine hours left, can't really tell you how much I get per day because I am only on it a couple hours per day.

If battery life is a big concern wait a few more days or even a week for more beta, it can't hurt...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'll probably wait a week more before ordering, so hopefully some more detailed info will come up before that regarding battery life. The poll answers above cover the whole range, so no conclusive answer there.
 
as the poll results keep coming in, i'm happy this isn't the "ask the audience" joker on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"
 
Macshroomer said:
I bet it will if you watch the screen brightness and only turn on wifi for short periods to retrieve emails, etc.

I am at 85% with the screen at mid brightness and doing medium level browsing and it shows just under nine hours left, can't really tell you how much I get per day because I am only on it a couple hours per day.

If battery life is a big concern wait a few more days or even a week for more beta, it can't hurt...
Click to expand...

I guess we need someone who actually runs down (drains) his battery all the way to know for sure how many hours someone can have in real life situations. Any volunteers? :D
 
fskywalker said:
I guess we need someone who actually runs down (drains) his battery all the way to know for sure how many hours someone can have in real life situations. Any volunteers? :D
Click to expand...

Some people going on long-haul flights, will hopefully report back, so we can get a proper estimate!
 
Couldn't be less conclusive than this at the moment:

Less than 7 hours 4 23.53%
7 hours 2 11.76%
8 hours 3 17.65%
9 hours 2 11.76%
10 hours 2 11.76%
More than 10 hours 4 23.53%

:)
 
Tears Apart said:
Couldn't be less conclusive than this at the moment:

Less than 7 hours 4 23.53%
7 hours 2 11.76%
8 hours 3 17.65%
9 hours 2 11.76%
10 hours 2 11.76%
More than 10 hours 4 23.53%

:)
Click to expand...

I suspect all of these results might be true, depending on which tasks you perform. So the data is biased, i just hoped to receive some sort of average answer, maybe based on surfing the web, watching a few youtube videos, editing a text etc.
 
fskywalker said:
I guess we need someone who actually runs down (drains) his battery all the way to know for sure how many hours someone can have in real life situations. Any volunteers? :D
Click to expand...

I use my laptop between 10 and 15 hours a day, and I avoid plugging in during the day, so I've run it down many of the 10 or so days I've had it. Unfortunately for this particular thread, I have the 2.4 i5. However, I can tell you I am typically getting 10-12 hours by the time I get to 20%. My usage is pretty light, though. Several Word docs and 8-10 Safari tabs open all day. Wifi on, brightness at about 60%.

I commute on my bicycle, and I'd really love to be able to leave my charger at home, but considering how long some of my days are, I don't feel like I'm quite at that point.
 
dankev said:
I use my laptop between 10 and 15 hours a day, and I avoid plugging in during the day, so I've run it down many of the 10 or so days I've had it. Unfortunately for this particular thread, I have the 2.4 i5. However, I can tell you I am typically getting 10-12 hours by the time I get to 20%. My usage is pretty light, though. Several Word docs and 8-10 Safari tabs open all day. Wifi on, brightness at about 60%.

I commute on my bicycle, and I'd really love to be able to leave my charger at home, but considering how long some of my days are, I don't feel like I'm quite at that point.
Click to expand...

That actually astonishing, although it's the 2.4 i5. Maybe I should choose the golden middle option, the 2.6 ghz i5.
 
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