Base 14" MacBook Pro vs. M2 MacBook Air - Which has better battery life?

[TSE]

This is one of the weirdest topics for me and I am incredibly happy with my MacBook Air's battery life, but just for curiosity sake, which has better battery life? The base 14" has the best battery life of any of the 14" MacBook Pros out there, and the M2 MacBook Air now has improved efficiency cores. But reviews seem to be strangely divided on which has better battery life, some say the 14" Base does, and others say the M2 MacBook Air.

Anyone have any input?

 

[1BadManVan]

This is one of the weirdest topics for me and I am incredibly happy with my MacBook Air's battery life, but just for curiosity sake, which has better battery life? The base 14" has the best battery life of any of the 14" MacBook Pros out there, and the M2 MacBook Air now has improved efficiency cores. But reviews seem to be strangely divided on which has better battery life, some say the 14" Base does, and others say the M2 MacBook Air.

Anyone have any input?

It’s the m2 air. Even most reviews I’ve seen say the same thing. The 14” pro still gets great battery life but the m2 air still wins in that category

 

[jabbr]

The higher resolution 14" miniLED panel seems to have the biggest idle power draw. I'm curious to see what kind of battery improvement can be made on future models.

 

[TSE]

It’s the m2 air. Even most reviews I’ve seen say the same thing. The 14” pro still gets great battery life but the m2 air still wins in that category

That's good to know. I read and watched some reviews, not an insignificant amount that say the 14" Pro had better battery life, but yes, the majority say the Air beats it out.

It's so strange to me that with the base 14" MacBook Pro being about $1600 now, so many people recommending to spend "just" a couple hundred more for the Pro over the Air... almost one pound thicker with less battery life for more money for performance that the majority of users are never going to notice just seems like a bad deal.

 

[maflynn]

The battery nod goes to the MBA, but depending on your needs, the MBP, imo is a more robust and overall better option. For me, I like larger screen, that's mini-led, which is also faster then 60hz. I get more ports, and a faster laptop. plus if you need it, you can get more ram when configuring the computer for purchase.

 

[ymarker]

I bought a m2 air and placed it next to the M1 Pro And player the same video, and the blacks (like oled) are quite a bit better compared to air. i returned the air but do feel the weight difference. i had the m1 air before and really liked that device.

 

[callihan_44]

most of the tests I've seen state the air has longer battery life, the reason people recommend the pro over the air is by the time you upgrade the ram to 16gb and drive to 512 you are at pro prices ...personally I like the air more but the pro 14 has a nice display and faster file transfer rates ...

 

[maflynn]

most of the tests I've seen state the air has longer battery life,

So you're saying that the M2 MBA is getting less battery life then the M1 MBA, or the M1 MBP? I can see with an apples to apples comparison the M1 MBA will have better battery life, but is the 14" MBP have less or more battery life?

 

[Zest28]

In terms of battery life.

16" MBP > 13" MBP > 13" MBA > 14" MBP

However, the 14" MBP should be fine in terms of battery life.

 

[maflynn]

However, the 14" MBP should be fine in terms of battery life.

I'm no power user, so I'm incredibly pleased with the battery performance of the 14" MBP. Its hella better then my Razer

 

[callihan_44]

So you're saying that the M2 MBA is getting less battery life then the M1 MBA, or the M1 MBP? I can see with an apples to apples comparison the M1 MBA will have better battery life, but is the 14" MBP have less or more battery life?

I was referring to the m2 mba vs the m1 14" pro, m2 mba has longer battery life. The deciding factor for me in picking the 14 m1 pro was the fact it was on sale when I purchased it and upgrading the m2 mba to 16gb ram- 512gb drive was the same price...all the benchmarks other than browsing the web showed m1 14 pro>>> mba m2 and the pro has a better display- better sounding speakers....honestly though the mba m2 display was nice

 

[maflynn]

I was referring to the m2 mba vs the m1 14" pro, m2 mba has longer battery life.

Thanks for the clarification - I confuse easily

I had no choice in getting the 14" MBP, over the M2 MBA simply because the M2 wasn't out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

there was a pang of remorse when the M2 MBA came out, but I don't regret my purchase.

 

[okkibs]

When even the 14" has about 10-12 hours of battery runtime in light workloads I don't see how relevant it is that the M2 Air does another two hours or so on top of that? On 100% brightness and intense workloads you can empty the battery on both devices in a couple hours. I'd rather have the bigger better screen that can do above 500 nits with 3rd party apps.

During summer I regularly used the app Vivid (there are others that work just as well and I think all have a demonstration mode you can use for free) to get the screen brightness above 500 nits and then used it in the summer sun outside with sunglasses on just fine. It lasted only about 3 hours, but with the 500 nits of the Air I simply couldn't have seen much in the first place. I know this for a fact because my previous Mac was limited to 500 nits and in direct sunlight with sunglasses on it was too dark. It was tolerable in the shade, but the 14" is simply much, much better.

And then it has a better build quality as well, and more ports including magsafe freeing up a USB port, more memory options, faster storage, 120Hz and HDR video support, multiple external monitor support, and with the same configuration costs a relatively small premium over the Air.

Unless the 14" is too heavy, which is definitely a real drawback, the 14" overall has the better hardware.

The 24GiB configuration of the M2 Air is nearly as expensive as the 32GiB Pro, and since I consider 32GiB the bare minimum nowadays (I've had 16GiB in my 2012 MBP a decade ago) the Air just seems way too expensive for the hardware it has. It should simply have replaced the M1 Air at the same price point and replaced the minimum config with 512GB/16GiB.

The deciding factor for me in picking the 14 m1 pro was the fact it was on sale when I purchased it and upgrading the m2 mba to 16gb ram- 512gb drive was the same price..

Exactly, pricing makes the M2 Air an unattractive choice.

honestly though the mba m2 display was nice

It is the same display that the 13" Pros have had for years, except taller with the notch. It has nothing to offer over these older Macs except a tiny bit more space and smaller bezels. Then they called it "liquid" retina in the ads, but it's merely the same IPS display Macs have had for years.

 

[rmadsen3]

Yes, the lifespan of the LEDs will be lowered if XDR Brightness is used daily, but no one can say by how much.

That's just how LEDs work.

Heat degrades the junction between the semiconductors, causing less of the electrical current to be converted to light which will make LEDs dimmer over time.

How are LEDs affected by heat?

macOS will stop XDR when the heat passes a threshold, but if you find that the warning icon (⚠️) appears often in the menu bar you might want to use XDR less often.

https://lunar.fyi/faq

 

[callihan_44]

Unless the 14" is too heavy, which is definitely a real drawback, the 14" overall has the better hardware.

The 24GiB configuration of the M2 Air is nearly as expensive as the 32GiB Pro, and since I consider 32GiB the bare minimum nowadays (I've had 16GiB in my 2012 MBP a decade ago) the Air just seems way too expensive for the hardware it has. It should simply have replaced the M1 Air at the same price point and replaced the minimum config with 512GB/16GiB.

I agree on the ram assessment, only doing light tasks mail- safari with 10 tabs - word docs I see 11+ gb in usage , someone who wanted to stream music plus do light photo editing could easily max 16gb

 

[TSE]

When even the 14" has about 10-12 hours of battery runtime in light workloads I don't see how relevant it is that the M2 Air does another two hours or so on top of that? On 100% brightness and intense workloads you can empty the battery on both devices in a couple hours. I'd rather have the bigger better screen that can do above 500 nits with 3rd party apps.

During summer I regularly used the app Vivid (there are others that work just as well and I think all have a demonstration mode you can use for free) to get the screen brightness above 500 nits and then used it in the summer sun outside with sunglasses on just fine. It lasted only about 3 hours, but with the 500 nits of the Air I simply couldn't have seen much in the first place. I know this for a fact because my previous Mac was limited to 500 nits and in direct sunlight with sunglasses on it was too dark. It was tolerable in the shade, but the 14" is simply much, much better.

And then it has a better build quality as well, and more ports including magsafe freeing up a USB port, more memory options, faster storage, 120Hz and HDR video support, multiple external monitor support, and with the same configuration costs a relatively small premium over the Air.

Unless the 14" is too heavy, which is definitely a real drawback, the 14" overall has the better hardware.

The 24GiB configuration of the M2 Air is nearly as expensive as the 32GiB Pro, and since I consider 32GiB the bare minimum nowadays (I've had 16GiB in my 2012 MBP a decade ago) the Air just seems way too expensive for the hardware it has. It should simply have replaced the M1 Air at the same price point and replaced the minimum config with 512GB/16GiB.


Exactly, pricing makes the M2 Air an unattractive choice.


It is the same display that the 13" Pros have had for years, except taller with the notch. It has nothing to offer over these older Macs except a tiny bit more space and smaller bezels. Then they called it "liquid" retina in the ads, but it's merely the same IPS display Macs have had for years.

I travel a lot and any amount of battery life advantage and weight/size reduction is welcome. I agree, for most users the 14" base model Pro is the better value, but I'm one of those where it wasn't.

 

[Mcdevidr]

When even the 14" has about 10-12 hours of battery runtime in light workloads I don't see how relevant it is that the M2 Air does another two hours or so on top of that? On 100% brightness and intense workloads you can empty the battery on both devices in a couple hours. I'd rather have the bigger better screen that can do above 500 nits with 3rd party apps.

During summer I regularly used the app Vivid (there are others that work just as well and I think all have a demonstration mode you can use for free) to get the screen brightness above 500 nits and then used it in the summer sun outside with sunglasses on just fine. It lasted only about 3 hours, but with the 500 nits of the Air I simply couldn't have seen much in the first place. I know this for a fact because my previous Mac was limited to 500 nits and in direct sunlight with sunglasses on it was too dark. It was tolerable in the shade, but the 14" is simply much, much better.

And then it has a better build quality as well, and more ports including magsafe freeing up a USB port, more memory options, faster storage, 120Hz and HDR video support, multiple external monitor support, and with the same configuration costs a relatively small premium over the Air.

Unless the 14" is too heavy, which is definitely a real drawback, the 14" overall has the better hardware.

The 24GiB configuration of the M2 Air is nearly as expensive as the 32GiB Pro, and since I consider 32GiB the bare minimum nowadays (I've had 16GiB in my 2012 MBP a decade ago) the Air just seems way too expensive for the hardware it has. It should simply have replaced the M1 Air at the same price point and replaced the minimum config with 512GB/16GiB.


Exactly, pricing makes the M2 Air an unattractive choice.


It is the same display that the 13" Pros have had for years, except taller with the notch. It has nothing to offer over these older Macs except a tiny bit more space and smaller bezels. Then they called it "liquid" retina in the ads, but it's merely the same IPS display Macs have had for years.

I think it’s actually not the exact same display. The M series brought a reduction in response times from low 30s to mid 20s. So there is that.

 

[imdropbear]

It is the same display that the 13" Pros have had for years, except taller with the notch. It has nothing to offer over these older Macs except a tiny bit more space and smaller bezels. Then they called it "liquid" retina in the ads, but it's merely the same IPS display Macs have had for years.

It's still a very good display nonetheless. You make this sound worse than it actually is. The 14" MBP has a better display (and ProMotion) but let's not act like the M2 Air display is terrible.

Regarding M2 MBA vs. M1 Pro MBP I was in a very similar position.

I was very close to buying an M2 MBA but I wanted a) at least 16 GB RAM and b) I wanted it to have 2x 256 GB SSDs due to the higher read/write speed compared to just 1x 256 GB SSD.
Those start at ~1,850 € (~$1805) which is basically equal to the price of a 14" M1 Pro MBP which starts at 1,895 € (~$1,850) on Amazon.

Even though I would have preferred the smaller form factor of the 13" M2 MBA and even though I wasn't planning to spend almost 2,000€, they succesfully managed to convince me buy the 14" M1 Pro MBP instead (good job Apple I guess).

 

[benobi]

Just to offer my 2 cents, but I almost always use Low Power Mode since it has been offered in Mac laptops. This is where I saw a dramatic difference in battery life with the M2. I would get about 9-11 hours with the 14" MBP, about 12-14 hours with the M1 MBA but with the M2... I am now consistently getting about 15-17 hours with the M2 MBA for the same tasks and brightness (a 50% improvement over the 14" pro!). The new efficiency cores of the M2 are really something special.

I have also not noticed any performance differences between the two devices (14" Pro vs M2 MBA) when in Low Power Mode specifically - in fact the M2 MBA is often a tad snappier due to its better single core performance. I should also note that Low Power Mode disables the 120hz Promotion of the 14" screen, eliminating one of the panel's primary benefits over the M2 Air. . The 14" still has better contrast, but if you prioritize battery life and use LPM often like I do, the M2 Air is clearly the superior device.