Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

robinium

macrumors regular
Jul 7, 2021
207
264
Those who are upgrading from the m1 machines last year are already losing enough battery life as it is and now it is being reported the 16" gets even better battery life than the 14".

What did you expect? The 16 always has a larger battery (in capacity), there's simply more space in the chassis. It's the same with the iPhone line.
 
Last edited:

Beau10

macrumors 65816
Apr 6, 2008
1,309
665
US based digital nomad
What did you expect? The 16 always has better battery, there's simply more space for a larger battery in the chassis. It's the same with the iPhone line.

No, the 16/15 always had relatively terrible battery life compared to the 13" due to the more extreme processors used.

As a software dev w/ a fairly hefty workload, my 16" i9 gets about 3-6 hours of battery. My 2 prior 15" retina MBPs got about the same in real world usage (1st gen 15" retina sometimes could barely break 2 hours), whereas all my 13" variants typically got about 7-9 hours w/ a similar workload, albeit much lesser (about half) performance.

Of course this time around the 16" vs. 14" normalize to the same processor options, so now we're in a situation where it's like comparing the iPhone pro vs. max and the runtime is largely dictated by the larger battery size afforded by the form factor despite the extra power needed for the screen itself.

And yes, Apple was up front about this from the presentation so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.
 
Last edited:

fwmireault

Contributor
Jul 4, 2019
2,157
9,162
Montréal, Canada
It’s normal that the bigger version is built with a bigger battery. I don’t see the issue there. Be happy that Apple for once put the exact same internals in the smaller MBP than the bigger one, which is rarely the case.

I can talk to you about my poor (to say the least) battery life on my 2019 15 inch MBP, I would gladly take the autonomy of the M1 Pro 14 inch MBP
 

Jacoblee23

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 10, 2011
1,474
717
No, the 16/15 always had relatively terrible battery life compared to the 13" due to the more extreme processors used.

As a software dev w/ a fairly hefty workload, my 16" i9 gets about 3-6 hours of battery. My 2 prior 15" retina MBPs got about the same in real world usage (1st gen 15" sometimes could barely break 2 hours), whereas all my 13" variants typically got about 7-9 hours w/ a similar workload, albeit much lesser (about half) performance.

Of course this time around the 16" vs. 14" normalize to the same processor options, so now we're in a situation where it's like comparing the iPhone pro vs. max and the runtime is largely dictated by the larger battery size afforded by the form factor despite the extra power needed for the screen itself.

And yes, Apple was up front about this from the presentation so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

This. My 2019 15.4" gets terrible battery life compared to my other smaller machines.
 

Jacoblee23

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 10, 2011
1,474
717
It’s normal that the bigger version is built with a bigger battery. I don’t see the issue there. Be happy that Apple for once put the exact same internals in the smaller MBP than the bigger one, which is rarely the case.

I can talk to you about my poor (to say the least) battery life on my 2019 15 inch MBP, I would gladly take the autonomy of the M1 Pro 14 inch MBP

I agree with you there. My I9 15.4" MacBook Pro battery life is ROUGH. I feel your pain lol.
 

robinium

macrumors regular
Jul 7, 2021
207
264
No, the 16/15 always had relatively terrible battery life compared to the 13" due to the more extreme processors used.

As a software dev w/ a fairly hefty workload, my 16" i9 gets about 3-6 hours of battery. My 2 prior 15" retina MBPs got about the same in real world usage (1st gen 15" retina sometimes could barely break 2 hours), whereas all my 13" variants typically got about 7-9 hours w/ a similar workload, albeit much lesser (about half) performance.

Of course this time around the 16" vs. 14" normalize to the same processor options, so now we're in a situation where it's like comparing the iPhone pro vs. max and the runtime is largely dictated by the larger battery size afforded by the form factor despite the extra power needed for the screen itself.

And yes, Apple was up front about this from the presentation so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

When I said better battery, I didn't mean in hours, because those machines all came with different configurations so you can't directly compare them, I meant in Wh (capacity). Because the machines are running the same configs now, obviously the 16 is going to get a longer life, as it will have a larger capacity battery like every other larger model.

I've clarified the original comment further.
 

Beau10

macrumors 65816
Apr 6, 2008
1,309
665
US based digital nomad
This. My 2019 15.4" gets terrible battery life compared to my other smaller machines.

I think the saving grace though, is I'm expecting this machine (base 14") to easily get a full 8-hour day usage - hopefully, if some web benchmarks are showing well past 10 hours - while being a good 20-30% faster than my i9. The 16" is likely going to get 3x real world battery life of the outgoing 16" due to the silicon improvements, so if you're fine w/ that form factor you can likely do a weekend trip and leave the charger at home. For me I just want to put the thing in a basic sleeve for an all-day outing.
 

CalMin

Contributor
Nov 8, 2007
1,660
2,828
I mean not really. Other than getting through a work day (which both can do) I'm not worried too much about battery life on the 14". It's better than I'm used to and I never really leave home without a charging brick in my travel bag.

There is an irony to this in that the more portable 14" machine has less battery life than the less portable 16" machine. The 16" will spend it's life being tethered to a desk for most buyers, because it's a real chonkster at 4.7lbs.

In my case, even though the 15/16" design has been my default since 2012, I'm now going with the 14". The 16" seems too beefy to toss in a bag for when I travel. That's only a few times a year at the moment, but even the 2019 16" was a real beast to travel with and I hated it every single time I had to open it up in an economy class airline seat.
 

Jacoblee23

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 10, 2011
1,474
717
I think the saving grace though, is I'm expecting this machine (base 14") to easily get a full 8-hour day usage while being a good 20-30% faster than my i9. The 16" is likely going to get 3x real world battery life of the outgoing 16" due to the silicon improvements, so if you're fine w/ that form factor you can likely do a weekend trip and leave the charger at home.
That's true. Ah you have the I9 version of the 2019 15.4" too then? Yes, this machine will have a lot better battery life. I actually love my 15.4" 2019 I9 except for the battery life and it gets hot sometimes.
 

fa8362

macrumors 68000
Jul 7, 2008
1,571
497
Those who are upgrading from the m1 machines last year are already losing enough battery life as it is and now it is being reported the 16" gets even better battery life than the 14".
That info was available during the announcement, so it is not "just now" being reported. On the contrary, it was reported last week, and could have been inferred long before that based on likely battery size differences.
 

CWallace

macrumors G5
Aug 17, 2007
12,016
10,705
Seattle, WA
No because the 16" has a larger battery pack thanks to the larger case volume.

If anything, I'd be annoyed at the FAA/TSA for limiting the MBP 16's battery pack to 100 watts for air travel as I expect Apple might have been able to make it even larger if not for that limitation. :p
 

Jacoblee23

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 10, 2011
1,474
717
That info was available during the announcement, so it is not "just now" being reported. On the contrary, it was reported last week, and could have been inferred long before that based on likely battery size differences.

I guess I must have missed that information beforehand. My bad.
 

Beau10

macrumors 65816
Apr 6, 2008
1,309
665
US based digital nomad
That's true. Ah you have the I9 version of the 2019 15.4" too then? Yes, this machine will have a lot better battery life. I actually love my 15.4" 2019 I9 except for the battery life and it gets hot sometimes.

I have a maxxed 16". I have to hold onto it as it's my work machine, but it will strictly be for work usage moving forward.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jacoblee23

SoN1NjA

macrumors 68020
Feb 3, 2016
2,073
2,183
No? Why the hell do you care anyways if all you want is the 14”? It’s not a pissing match

Also it should be obvious since same chips but one has bigger battery. If there were actual feature differences, sure get mad (like if one had mini LED but the other not), but getting jealous about a another machine being better when yours didn’t get any worse is just an example of how silly humans are
 

Jacoblee23

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 10, 2011
1,474
717
No? Why the hell do you care anyways if all you want is the 14”? It’s not a pissing match

Also it should be obvious since same chips but one has bigger battery. If there were actual feature differences, sure get mad (like if one had mini LED but the other not), but getting jealous about a another machine being better when yours didn’t get any worse is just an example of how silly humans are

I didn't say jealous, I said it was irritating. No need to get snide or rude.
 
  • Like
Reactions: You’re not me

Jacoblee23

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 10, 2011
1,474
717
...larger machine has more space for larger battery. That's how machines work.

It didn't work that way with the 15.4" 2019. It gets worse battery life than any MacBook I have had in quite some time. So keep on being condescending.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.