Apple's New MacBooks With M3 Chips Offer Up to 22 Hours of Battery Life

[iStorm]

They could, but they didn't. Check the specs.

My comment was referring to how a lot of people just say "slap an M3 in there and we'll have awesome battery life" (if you go up the reply chain). Umm...no, that's not how it works. Apple is going to tweak the battery too, to keep things relatively the same. We've seen them do this to the iPhones and iPads in the past. In this case, they've actually had to make the battery larger.

This actually made me go check. They actually increased the battery for the M3 Pro/Max and still only managed the same battery life lol

Yet there’s comments asking for “the same battery life upgrade for MBA” — I think they’ll be very disappointed. As I am right now.

Exactly.

 

[Technerd108]

I was wanting it for better battery life (presumably) on 3nm M3

That looks like it might not be a "thing" here, sadly

Considering the performance of the a17 and the poor yields from TSMC I think this process node needs further refinement. I am not saying M3 is bad, not at all. I am excited for it but I think M4 will probably be a refined and optimized version of M3 and might be a better choice.

The problem is that the difference between 4nm advanced process and 3nm initial process is not that much different. The 5nm process used on M2 was also a very mature node.

So a bigger difference will be felt with the next process node advance in two years. M5 will probably be a lot faster than M2.

But even minor improvements in these chips make a pretty big difference. I would like to see Apple use more efficiency cores in the m processors. Make them decacore chips with 4 performance and 6 efficiency cores in the base m processors and I think it would help battery life and performance.

 

[wikiverse]

So the claim of "up to 22 hours of battery life" is correct.

"Up to" means anywhere from between 0 seconds of battery life and 22 hours of battery life. It all depends on what it's doing.

Apple isn't claiming that it has 22 hours of battery life for every single task.

It's only correct if you use it as a TV, not as a computer. So it's misleading.

Especially since most people consider 'video playback' to be Netflix or Youtube with screen brightness >50%. The 22 hour figure requires you to not be connected to the internet at all, and only have your screen at 40% brightness.

It's like saying 'Up-to 2 days battery life*'
*With screen brightness at 10%, no internet connection, playing one 720p 30 second video in the Apple TV app once every hour.

No one is going to be using their laptop in that way, and they know it, so it's a pointless and misleading claim.

I'm going to go further and say that Apple is intentionally being so misleading that they describe the screen brightness as '8 clicks from the bottom' instead of 40% because they don't want people to immediately register how misleading it actually is.

 

[M1956]

All those “1/2 power“ slides and they deliver the same M3 Pro battery life! Base M3 is the same battery life as an Air, which makes sense. But there seems to be zero gains going to 3nm across the board and that’s sad.

The screens are brighter now which is a significant toll on battery life (unless they switched to new panels).

 

[4odomi]

well my M2 MAX that's only 7 days old just went back for a FULL refund... now I just have to wait for my space black M3MAX , which I have noted has gone up 2K in price as you cant get them under 48GB of RAM now.

So a win win for Apple in your case 😊

 

[TigerWoodsIV]

Not only that but it’s got 8gb ram too. I was gonna get base m3 but by the time you get ram upgraded may as well get the pro.

Yep, it’s really $1800 for the M3 and $2000 for the M3 Pro. Might as well get the latter at that point. Would’ve been a solid choice if it started at $1600 for 16GB of memory.

 

[Tech_Mac_Man]

THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T LISTEN TO THE GURU'S WHO SAID THAT M3 WON'T BE RELEASED UNTIL NEXT YEAR!! WHAT A JOKE ON THEM. ALWAYS TRYING TO PREDICT THINGS AND NEVER GET IT RIGHT!!

 

[4odomi]

The new MacBook Pro models that Apple announced today feature Apple's latest 3-nanometer M3 chips, with the new technology bringing a notable improvement in battery life. The new models offer the "longest battery life ever in a Mac," according to Apple.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 chip now lasts for up to 22 hours when watching movies with the Apple TV app, or up to 15 hours when browsing the web. This model has a 70-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro models with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips last for up to 18 hours when watching moves with the Apple TV app or up to 12 hours when browsing the web. The M3 Pro and M3 Max 14-inch models come with a slightly larger 72.4-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery.

Apple's 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M3 Pro or M3 Max chips are able to last for up to 22 hours when using the Apple TV app to watch movies, or 15 hours when browsing the web. The M3 Pro and M3 Max 16-inch models are equipped with a 100-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro models can fast charge with a 96W USB-C power adapter (the M3 Pro and Max models ship with one while the M3 model ships with a 70W adapter), and the 16-inch MacBook Pro models can fast charge with the included 140W USB-C power adapter.

Article Link: Apple's New MacBooks With M3 Chips Offer Up to 22 Hours of Battery Life

I don't care what anyone says, the stand out here is the 14" m3, even if you have to upgrade the RAM!
The only thing missing for me for perfection is the Touch Bar as an option 😒 I would gladly pay another $200 for that.
Ray tracing and the GPU upgrades are massive as well for the real Pro's on the M3 Pro/Max.

 

[Normandy_sr2]

So a win win for Apple in your case 😊

I win for me, as a video producer that will be hours saved per month.. time is money after ll

 

[4odomi]

If they'd updated the MBA's with M3, they'd have no buyers for the 14" M3 MacBook "Pro"

Really gross way they are doing that.

Purposely holding back MBA just to juice some sales of that weird "not really Pro, MacBook Pro"

I would still buy the 14" Pro
Apart from the chip, better everything, screen speakers ISO, brightness and so on!

 

[4odomi]

I win for me, as a video producer that will be hours saved per month.. time is money after ll

Don't get me wrong, I would have done the same in your shoes, but ultimately Apple get a lot more money out of you, which is really my point 😊

 

[4odomi]

Right now I am not convinced with the M3 to drop cash BUT I think this is a great release. No more 13" Pro model that became redundant with the 14". Now you can get a Pro machine with regular M3 for not much more than the air. The value of the base model is pretty great.

One thing I noticed is that there was no mention of mini led just xdr? Does anyone know if they went back to LCD?

If I didn't absolutely love having a fan less and super light laptop the 14" base model with added ram is extremely tempting. I think I will wait until the M3 air is released and the M3 pro's start to go on sale.

Now we have an air 13", an air 15" eventually on M3 and Pro model on M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max. This is the best line up of MacBooks ever!!

The screens are exactly the same, still use mini LED

 

[XboxEvolved]

It’s pretty cool but not surprising they are able to do this, even if it is referencing mostly web browsing and video watching, there isn’t really a single time where I personally would be away from a battery long enough for that to matter. Even with my M1 MBP, when I travel and lets say I’m laid over somewhere for 3 hours, so I just sit there and do work or watch videos my trash brain finds entertaining by the time I get to where I’m going I still have plenty of battery. So since the 3nm is up to 22 now, by the time they go to say 2nm or 1.5nm or whatever they will be on by the time I upgrade, does that mean it will be like 30 hours?

 

[Technerd108]

Honestly, of I wasn't so happy with my current Mac the base model M3 14" MacBook Pro has my name all over it.

With edu discount you can get a 14" Pro M3 with 16gb ram for around $1800 out the door which is not bad. I would rather have the extra battery life with the 120hz mini led screen than the M3 Pro and save some money. But for $200 more it is tempting. Basically the price is the same for M3 Pro and 16gb ram as last year but a newer chip.

Considering inflation this is pretty great.

I just wish we had a fun color on the Pro model.

Say what you will about Apple, they are finally doing the Mac right IMHO.

 

[thelookingglass]

I see no reason to upgrade the M1 or M2 MacBook Pro with max chips at all.

They failed to impress me in any way with this event. I feel like the innovation is bleeding out and I really wanted a keyboard and mouse without lightning.

It's a little weird why they still insist on using Lightning for so many accessories. I wonder if it's just a matter of moving inventory?

 

[CrysisDeu]

I am WORRIED about M3 Max's heat and battery life...
M3 Pro is a downgrade just to keep the same 22 hours of battery, while M3 Max is a massive upgrade compared to M2 Max..

 

[MayaUser]

I am WORRIED about M3 Max's heat and battery life...
M3 Pro is a downgrade just to keep the same 22 hours of battery, while M3 Max is a massive upgrade compared to M2 Max..

M3 Pro is a slower SoC than M2 Pro? impossible

 

[MayaUser]

Remember the M3 14" has slightly lower battery capacity compared to the M3 Pro/Max 14"

 

[svish]

Good to see increased battery life. The upcoming MacBook Air with M3, especially the 15" should have similar battery life

 

[CrysisDeu]

M3 Pro is a slower SoC than M2 Pro? impossible

M3 pro has 6p6e, M2 pro has 8p4e. It’s a downgrade, but not slower. It runs on less power consuming e cores now, and get the same running time.

Max chips used to have the same cpu config, and just with more gpu cores, max chip already consumes a lot more power even not running gpu intensive tasks. Now the cpu are almost twice as beefy compared to the pro variant. I doubt the battery and heat is as manageable.

 

[kyjaotkb]

Up to 22 Hours of Battery Life​

No. This is for ONLY video playback in the AppleTV app at 1080p with no internet connection and no other apps or widgets being used. No web browsing or streaming or podcasts, or any internet connected activity at all.

"Testing conducted by Apple in September and October 2023 using preproduction 16-inch MacBook Pro systems with Apple M3 Pro, 12-core CPU, 18-core GPU, 36GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. The wireless web test measures battery life by wirelessly browsing 25 popular websites with display brightness set to eight clicks from bottom. The Apple TV app movie playback test measures battery life by playing back 1080p HD content with display brightness set to eight clicks from bottom. Battery life varies by use and configuration; see apple.com/au/batteries for more information."

If you're doing anything remotely productive, or pump the screen brightness up, you're going to be getting 8-10 hours battery life.

EDIT: '8 clicks from the bottom' is about 40% brightness.

If you’re using Microsoft Teams / Outlook / Excel and if your company is running remote device management then you’ll be happy with 4 hours.

These battery claims are infuriating in my view. They cannot be more removed from real-world data.

 

[HouseLannister]

The screens are brighter now which is a significant toll on battery life (unless they switched to new panels).

Per Apple: “The wireless web test measures battery life by wirelessly browsing 25 popular websites with display brightness set to 8 clicks from bottom.”

Wondering how bright that is. How many clicks is full 600 nit?

Does the increase in display brightness eat the gain in the CPU and GPU using half the power per watt as the M1? If so, I would have rather they stuck to 500 nit SDR.

 

[RigSatMe]

But 18 hours for Pro and Max 14in is same as m1s right? Odd 3nm don’t have any improvement on their battery just standard performance gains. Or was it less than 18 with M1 Max 14?

Well, it’s improvement: more power under the hood, while keeping the same battery life!

 

[falainber]

THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T LISTEN TO THE GURU'S WHO SAID THAT M3 WON'T BE RELEASED UNTIL NEXT YEAR!! WHAT A JOKE ON THEM. ALWAYS TRYING TO PREDICT THINGS AND NEVER GET IT RIGHT!!

What are you doing on the rumors site then?

 

[Alpha Centauri]

I've a 2023 MBP 16" bought start of the year. Afik this is/ was also advertised to have up to 22 hrs battery life (just checked). The way they touted battery life during this M3 event, it seemed there was an improvement over the M2. But they're the same, aren't they?!