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Battery Life + Charger Size 11inch vs 13inch debate

M

Macbookair2011

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 31, 2011
22
0
Hi, sorry for another ridiculous post about 11inch vs 13inch 2011 Airs...but I am becoming obsessed and should really just buy one instead of taking months to decide and finding Ivy Bridge models are already out haha.

Here is the Q, say I had a day at uni (Americans call it college?) from about 9 to 5 ish. 8hour day. I would only need to be using the Air for about 6hours or so of this day. This would be outside the reach of the 11inch battery, if I wanted some decent brightness, wifi, word, safari etc. Because of that, I would chuck the 35watt charger thingo in the bag (charge it over lunch or something), anyone know what that thing weighs? Because I was thinking that maybe the 11inch + its charger (1.1kg + charger) is going to weigh more than a 1.35kg 13inch without its charger. And also end up taking up the same amount of space as a 13inch Air. Because the 13inch battery, at 7hours give or take (with just word and internet) would last me my whole day, no matter what (no need to take the 50watt charger). Further question: Is the 13inch charger bigger or heavier than the 11inch 35watt charger?

Thanks!
 
I can't answer you regarding the size between the two chargers but I can say that if you want 6-7 hours of battery life you probably will have to spend most of your day with the brightness turned way down (among other things). While the advertised battery life on the 13" is 7 hours, realistically you should expect 5-5.5
 
Yeah I was thinking that. So could only expect 3hours on 11inch and 4.5hours on 13inch...talking reasonable minimums here. 3hours would not get me through the average day but 4.5hours could do it.
 
First full battery charge lasted 5:57 min right out the box on my 13" i5 (with screen and keyboard both at 50% brightness). That was using it mainly for some basic web browsing, emailing, word docs, etc. And of course, YMMV.
 
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They both use the same charger, as per the tech specs on Apple's website, the batteries are just different sizes, if that's any help. I really don't think a 200g difference in total weight will make any sort of noticeable difference.
 
I some times get well over 9h30 out of my 13" 2010 maxed out. It just all depends on your use. Most I got out of it was near 11 hours. That was in an old library with little light, set to just two notches of screen brightness, no wifi on, no Bluetooth on, just writing a report with footnotes, cross references etc. Worked like a charm, but don't expect that when normally using it.
So if you put out wifi, bt, dim the screen to almost nothing, k would expect you could get 7 or 8 hours out of an 11".
What I as a backup is an hypermac battery that is pretty light, but still delivers something like 40wh and doubles the life.
Don't you have a locker at uni where you can put the charger?
What kind of work do you do when at uni? Just type notes in class, or do more extensive tasks?!
 
Ohhh sorry, didn't know chargers were same size haha! Never had a mac before. And not great with comps.

Also, yeah Id just be on word/excel in a tutorial/lecture typing notes (wifi bluetooth OFF). Inbetween classes I would be hooking up to wifi for some safari browsing or just writing reports in the library. I dunno bout brightness, would have to play, but I think around 50% I could manage. Not sure yet. And dont have a locker, so all books + laptop etc are on the back.
 
Anandtechs review shows the i5 13" having only about ?38 min of longer battery life than the 11" model during their light usage test.

I get about 6 hours on my 11" but that's with a screen brightness of 3 bars and just web browsing.
 
Quit obsessing, take the plunge! I always recommend carrying the charger around when you have a laptop. So get the 11" and carry the charger. You will be delighted!!!!!! So run, don't walk and make the purchase.
 
Yea, life is short. They're both great machines, with one being more mobile than the other. That sums it up.

Plus, whichever one you get, you'll want the new version next year anyways!
 
I have the 11" charger and its very light. I think you would have to charge both computers during the day but 11" is much better to use in school.

btw we have power outlets in almost every class room in each row of tables. ;)
 
Thanks guys, your comments have sent me further towards the 128gb SSD 4gb RAM 11inch. I will just chuck the charger in everyday in case...let's face it, you will always be within 4hours time (usually dont have more than 4hours of class straight) (and probably 50m distance anyway) of an ac joint when you're at a university. That takes battery issue out of the equation, brings me back to the screen size....hmmm, love the novely of the 11inch (and portability) but everytime I see them side by side, I hate the fact that the 11inch does not fill to the corners of the bezel as the 13inch does. The 13 really does go right to the edges, making it look so cool, big screened and sexy.

Reason why I havent bought is that the new Air hasnt actually come out in South Africa yet...I need to go home to Australia to buy it haha, RSA is so far behind when it comes to apple...and extremely expensive.
 
and they say you get more battery life on the 11" by disabling flash and bluetooth and with lower brightness setting.
 
kilonet said:
and they say you get more battery life on the 11" by disabling flash and bluetooth and with lower brightness setting.
Click to expand...
Thats true of any laptop though.

Considering that you'll be using this computer as your main machine, I recommend you seriously consider that the 13" screen has a larger display area and higher resolution. You can, and I'm sure people do, live with the 11" but its just so small. I wouldn't get that unless I needed ultra portability. But then, I carry a 15" MBP with me to school.
 
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