I was originally leaning towards the 13" in MBA for school but there's something about the 11" MBA that looks so appealing. I don't do intense work on my laptop but my biggest question is the battery life. Will I get at least 5-6 hrs on it?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
2012 11" MBA Battery
- Thread starter BaseballGuy
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Well it's rated for 5 so you certainly won't be seeing 6 unless you can figure out a way to operate it with the brightness at 0.
There's seemingly a lot of anecdotal evidence that points to slightly improved battery life in the 2012 models though. My guess: I think you're looking at 4, 4.5 tops.
I HAPPILY stand corrected. I'm lucky if I can squeeze out 3 with my 2011 11''. My 2012 is (prepared to be) en route.
Yep. I am going to test it tomorrow a little more strictly, though, because I am wondering if the active dimming based on ambient light is giving it more life (I work in pretty bright places). I'll probably just set it on 1/2 brightness and see how far I get.
Just saw this thread. Thought it was somewhat apropos.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1385372/
Awesome DIY job.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1385372/
Awesome DIY job.
why did we lose batter time?
That was the most appealing thing about MBA's was the 7 or so hours of battery life. Now that they have taken that away, it brings a lot more options back in play.
All the while, the MBP are still 7 hours.
That was the most appealing thing about MBA's was the 7 or so hours of battery life. Now that they have taken that away, it brings a lot more options back in play.
All the while, the MBP are still 7 hours.
The 11" was always rated at 5. We didn't lose battery time. We didn't gain any either. 5 hours is the price we pay for the teeny-tiny footprint. Although the 11" is the best fit for me, there is no denying that the low-end 13" is the best all-around deal for most people. The same battery life as the Pro, the same screen size, and just a fraction of the weight.
hmmmm I could of swore I saw 7 hours on the MBA
Oh well, the MBP 13" is exactly what I need. Hopefully in a few years I can afford a retina display one version.
hmmmm I could of swore I saw 7 hours on the MBA
Oh well, the MBP 13" is exactly what I need. Hopefully in a few years I can afford a retina display one version.
The 13" is rated for 7 so you did see that. The 11" is rated for 5.
I am an hour into my testing. I'm connected to the Internet with the browser on surfing, using Pages, and using Evernote. I have the screen set at about 1/2 brightness and I turned off the automatic dimming. No processor intensive tasks, and the fan is at 2002 rpm. The battery reads 81% and shows 4:18 minutes left. This confirms what I said above, you'll get about 5 hours with this. At full brightness, I doubt anyone will see five hours.
Do people actually use full brightness? I have my MacBook set to automatic brightness, and even in bright light, it seems to max out at four steps down from max. Most of the time, it hovers below half. Unless you are in a sunny room, max brightness would seem to be blinding.
Five hours for the battery seems great. I have been working with four or less on my MacBook for the past four years. I'm looking forward to the 7 on my new 13" Air.
Five hours for the battery seems great. I have been working with four or less on my MacBook for the past four years. I'm looking forward to the 7 on my new 13" Air.
I use full brightness on occasion, but the auto dimming feature works well, and often drops the brightness down quite a bit. I think 5 hours is a little short, considering the light work I am doing, and I was really hoping for an improvement in this regard. But, it does what they said it would do, so I can't complain. And, to be honest, with my workflow it probably won't ever be an issue. I do miss the netbook's 12 hour battery life, but I don't think I could ever go back to that painfully poor performance.
[EDIT:] I'm at the two hour mark with 62% battery and 3:23 left. On track to hit about 5 hours, as expected.
[EDIT:] OK. I am done with the test. At 4% I was told I'd be going to sleep. The battery lasted 4:47. Not quite 5, but about that.
Last edited:
12.5 HOURS total, best so far
I get about 4.5 hours with the 2010 11" MBA, but hooked to the HYPER JUICE
external 60 WH battery, I get 12.5
LINK (http://www.hypershop.com/HyperJuice-External-Battery-for-MacBook-iPad-iPhone-USB-s/91.htm)
If thats not enough you could get as much as 36 hours using the 222WH battery
I bought this based on the iPad external battery, which allows me 10 hours use when the iPad is at 100% and plugged in at start up to the Hyperjuice battery, using Apples auto airline adapter.
I get about 4.5 hours with the 2010 11" MBA, but hooked to the HYPER JUICE
external 60 WH battery, I get 12.5
LINK (http://www.hypershop.com/HyperJuice-External-Battery-for-MacBook-iPad-iPhone-USB-s/91.htm)
If thats not enough you could get as much as 36 hours using the 222WH battery
I bought this based on the iPad external battery, which allows me 10 hours use when the iPad is at 100% and plugged in at start up to the Hyperjuice battery, using Apples auto airline adapter.
Last edited:
I get about 4.5 hours with the 2010 11" MBA, but hooked to the HYPER JUICE
external 60 WH battery, I get 12.5
LINK (http://www.hypershop.com/HyperJuice-External-Battery-for-MacBook-iPad-iPhone-USB-s/91.htm)
If thats not enough you could get as much as 36 hours using the 222WH battery
I bought this based on the iPad external battery, which allows me 10 hours use when the iPad is at 100% and plugged in at start up to the Hyperjuice battery, using Apples auto airline adapter.
This is very cool, to be sure, but not something I am considering. The whole point of the MBA is to travel light, and carrying around a battery brick kind of defeats the purpose.
I do have an external battery for my iPad when I take international trips, but that is only about the size and weight of an iPhone. I have never run it out of juice, but I would guess it gives me around 13 hours with the iPad. With my MBA now, I will probably leave that external battery behind, because between the two devices, I easily get enough hours for most trips.
[EDIT:] My testing is all done. Not quite 5, but pretty close. 4:47. Of course, this is an informal test, and my usage (explained above) my not be yours, but hopefully people can use this as a rough gauge of what they will get with the MBA 11".
Last edited:
I guess my point was,though not stated, was its size, thick as an iPhone, about as wide, not as tall, shirt pocket size, far from a brick, but I get your point
I guess my point was,though not stated, was its size, thick as an iPhone, about as wide, not as tall, shirt pocket size, far from a brick, but I get your point
I just think it is cool when people "hack" stuff to make it work for them. In this case, it isn't the solution for me, but I bet a lot of people on the forums will be keen to learn more about your solution!
I just think it is cool when people "hack" stuff to make it work for them. In this case, it isn't the solution for me, but I bet a lot of people on the forums will be keen to learn more about your solution!
Thanks, I just spend so much time on my iPad, I love the brightness
way up on max, so this lil puppy keeps it fired up all day, and long into the night.
I plug the iPad into the lappie at night, and the battery into its charger, and in the morning they are both ready for another days service.There is one secret, if you wait until the I Pad is at 10%, then plug it in, you'll only get an additional 2 hours, hook em up when both are fully charge, you can go all day, and well into the night, with the brightness on high
On my 2012 base 11" MBA, I recorded the % drop and actual times while browsing (not counting if I stepped away from the laptop or left it idle...actual usage time).
I got 62% usage over 169 minutes which paces out to 4:33 of usage. Not too far under the Apple claim of 5 hours. WIth 18% left the system says 0:58 remaining.
I got 62% usage over 169 minutes which paces out to 4:33 of usage. Not too far under the Apple claim of 5 hours. WIth 18% left the system says 0:58 remaining.
i have currently been on it for about 1:10 mins and it says 4:08 remaining. This is just doing basic web surf with iTunes open and looking through the app store.
What is your screen brightness set to?
I've tended to do fairly well on the battery on my 2k10, usually getting 6+ hours per charge, but I also have learn to work on a dim screen. I rarely have it above the 4th brightness tick while out sans charger.
Kinda hope there is some sort of improvement but it doesn't sound likely.
I ran some more tests on Saturday. Same usage conditions as before and same brightness settings (Brightness 8 dots, keyboard backlight 2 dots). Used 51% over 163 minutes equating to 5:19 pace.
One thing I did notice is that when I started with a full 100% charge, it didn't drop to 99% for about 14 minutes. Then after that was about the normal pace. When I then checked iStat and Coconut along the way, those two programs were reporting 4-5% lower than the Apple battery meter that I used for tracking (the one at the top next to the clock).
Bottom line for me so far, this 11" model is pretty close to the spec'd 5 hr batter life.