Battery life difference between 2016 Macbook Pro 13 and 15

[Trequartista]

Hello

I recently got a new 15 inch Macbook Pro. Obviously I am not impressed by the battery life. Web browsing keeps me unplugged for like 4-5 hours. If I edit pictures in Lightroom I maybe get 3 or 2 hours. Gaming Football Manager only 2 or 1.5 hours. And this game isn't that hungry.

I wanted to know if the battery life of the 13 inch version is any better?

My last macbook was a 12 inch and I am just impressed by its superior battery life. Even under heavy lightroom editing and exporting I get at least 5 hours. Only browsing maybe 7 or 8.
That's still not 10 hours apple claims for the new pro's, but hey, I never had a laptop having absolutely convincing battery life.

What are your suggestions and experiences?

I probably would exchange my 15 for the 13. But on the other hand I am affraid that Apple will roll out a new version next year with better and less power consuming processor and even the same style of terraced battery like in the 12 Inch.

 

[TheRealAlex]

Hello

I recently got a new 15 inch Macbook Pro. Obviously I am not impressed by the battery life. Web browsing keeps me unplugged for like 4-5 hours. If I edit pictures in Lightroom I maybe get 3 or 2 hours. Gaming Football Manager only 2 or 1.5 hours. And this game isn't that hungry.

I wanted to know if the battery life of the 13 inch version is any better?

My last macbook was a 12 inch and I am just impressed by its superior battery life. Even under heavy lightroom editing and exporting I get at least 5 hours. Only browsing maybe 7 or 8.
That's still not 10 hours apple claims for the new pro's, but hey, I never had a laptop having absolutely convincing battery life.

What are your suggestions and experiences?

I probably would exchange my 15 for the 13. But on the other hand I am affraid that Apple will roll out a new version next year with better and less power consuming processor and even the same style of terraced battery like in the 12 Inch.

Even Before Consumer Reports did its own extensive impartial aka not Apple owns bias tests. I had already returned 2 Junk 2016 Touchbar MacBook Pros Why ? (Consumer Reports Update 12/31/16 Will NOT Recommend the TocuhBar MacBook Pro) first one ever not to qualify.

The 15" Touchbar model got me 4-5 hour of use even after a weeks break in no where near the claimed 10 hours false advertising lawsuit I hear is forthcoming Apple is covering something up and they know it which is why they removed the Remaining Time Esitmate in software that was for legal reasons.

Anyways I really liked and loved the 13 Touchbar Model, Since there's no GPU Eating Battery I was getting 10+ hours and it was Amazing. Until I discovered that 2 of its USB-C ports are useless and only run at a quarter or half speed so again false advertising only 2 of the USB-C ports on the 13" Model are Full speed. So it's like having only 2 ports.

My iPad Pro 9.7 will need to last longer and it gets 11+ hours with various use. Got a Keyboard and it can do 95% of what I need to get done. Zero Reason to Spend $2,700 on Apples weakest MacBook Pro ever.

 

[Qwe9203]

If you need battery life get 2015 15" or 2016 13" Escape Edition. Or wait for the update in spring or summer. They will probably fix the battery issues and Kaby Lake Quad Cores will be 35W instead of 45 which will increase battery life.

 

[jwilson25]

Until I discovered that 2 of its USB-C ports are useless and only run at a quarter or half speed so again false advertising only 2 of the USB-C ports on the 13" Model are Full speed. So it's like having only 2 ports

I just got my MBP 13 TB this weekend, but I hadn't heard about this before? Any more info on that, so I can know which ports to use for data and such, and others to use for charging.

 

[Mxbzz]

I just got my MBP 13 TB this weekend, but I hadn't heard about this before? Any more info on that, so I can know which ports to use for data and such, and others to use for charging.

https://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/28/macbook-pro-tb3-reduced-pci-express-bandwidth/

 

[jwilson25]

https://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/28/macbook-pro-tb3-reduced-pci-express-bandwidth/

Thanks for the link, I appreciate it. Looks like from reading that it affects only Thunderbolt 3 stuff, as it says all ports are capable of delivering USB 3.1 speeds.

 

[ACGarland]

I wanted to know if the battery life of the 13 inch version is any better?

I've used a 2016/15"/2.9 GHz/i7/RP-460/16GB/1TB since late November and after a bit of a rocky start with battery life (migrated my install, eventually reset the SMC which made a significant difference in battery life for me) I'm consistently able to reach the 10 hour actual battery life so long as I pay close attention to graphics use to stay mostly on the integrated graphics. If I run a parallels 12 VM (with windows 7) and set it up appropriately, I'm getting about 6-7 hours of actual battery life--which seems reasonable for a VM where I'm doing development work (compilation, etc.). I'm only able to get those times with display brightness turned down to 50% or slightly less (which is plenty bright in most settings) and with keyboard backlight off.

I've also been able to use 2016/13"/TB/3.3 GHz/i7/16GB/1TB for about 4-5 days and have seen almost exactly the same battery life--perhaps a tad better.

In the light-use cases (10 hours actual time reached) I've been primarily doing investigation/research activity with lots of reading (Preview, Safari on the web, Kindle, other apps) and a significant amount of writing. So constant typing or manipulation of the keyboard/touch pad/touch bar such that the TB has been lit 100% of the time.

The actual times I'm mentioning are constant use--the additional hour or two when I stopped for lunch and let the machine sleep are factored out of the results.

So, for me, after the the initial rocky start with the 15" where I was getting about 3-4 hours actual time and subsequently reset the SMC, both machines are doing reasonable. My understanding is that other users are seeing quite different and even puzzling results so YMMV.

The machines are a real pleasure to use in all other regards (quality build, form factor, display, keyboard--my all time favorite, touch bar).

 

[thesaint024]

Even Before Consumer Reports did its own extensive impartial aka not Apple owns bias tests. I had already returned 2 Junk 2016 Touchbar MacBook Pros Why ? (Consumer Reports Update 12/31/16 Will NOT Recommend the TocuhBar MacBook Pro) first one ever not to qualify.

The 15" Touchbar model got me 4-5 hour of use even after a weeks break in no where near the claimed 10 hours false advertising lawsuit I hear is forthcoming Apple is covering something up and they know it which is why they removed the Remaining Time Esitmate in software that was for legal reasons.

Anyways I really liked and loved the 13 Touchbar Model, Since there's no GPU Eating Battery I was getting 10+ hours and it was Amazing. Until I discovered that 2 of its USB-C ports are useless and only run at a quarter or half speed so again false advertising only 2 of the USB-C ports on the 13" Model are Full speed. So it's like having only 2 ports.

My iPad Pro 9.7 will need to last longer and it gets 11+ hours with various use. Got a Keyboard and it can do 95% of what I need to get done. Zero Reason to Spend $2,700 on Apples weakest MacBook Pro ever.

What the? You must have some real vested interest in bashing Apple. First, the CR tests are a joke. I haven't even read the haters on MR claiming those crazy battery results - 17 hours, then 2 hours?! I guess it's possible if you crank the dGPU the whole time vs. just reading a long webpage another time. And the usb-c ports being "useless"? I doubt you've ever run anything at 5Gps (usb3.1) let alone 4 devices needing 40Gps simultaneously. 2 run at 40Gps and 2 run at 20Gps is useless? In what world do you do these things?