Battery Life Improvements 2018 (13")

[zedsdead]

I just wanted to let people know that without question the battery life has improved in the 13".

Unlike the 15" which got desktop class RAM, the 13" didn't and the added size is definitely helping.

I had the 2016 13" model for about 3 months before giving up on it. When I had that machine I noticed immediately how poorly the battery life was. The best estimates from the machine when it was 100% charged was 6-7 hours (which was hard to attain in actual usage). From day one the battery life was poor on those machines.

Since the 2018 machine has settled and been setup, I charged it fully. Using it for over an hour at over half brightness, documents and web usage. It is STILL at 92%. Estimated life was over 10 hours.

Apple didn't change the estimates because the 2016-2017 models were grossly exaggerated as has been discussed many times.

I am very happy so far....obviously it is early days, but there is already a noticeable difference.

EDIT:

- i7 Model
- 16 GB RAM
- 1TB
- Battery Health 2 (app)

 

[mikethebigo]

i5 or i7? How much RAM in your system?

And what utility are you using there to monitor your battery?

 

[zedsdead]

i5 or i7? How much RAM in your system?

And what utility are you using there to monitor your battery?

- i7 Model
- 16 GB RAM
- 1TB
- Battery Health 2 (app)

 

[mikethebigo]

- i7 Model
- 16 GB RAM
- 1TB
- Battery Health 2 (app)

Thank you! Very good to hear. Just picked up the i7 today, haven't tried to put the battery through its paces yet but was a little worried about the power draw of the higher clocked chip.

 

[zedsdead]

Thank you! Very good to hear. Just picked up the i7 today, haven't tried to put the battery through its paces yet but was a little worried about the power draw of the higher clocked chip.

Yes, I agree. Of course if this is pushed it is going to drain and not 10 hours....but the 2016/2017 models had such a reduced battery from the 2013-2015 ones that when pushed there simply wasn't enough battery to draw from. I haven't done video editing or anything hard yet but it is a proposing improvement.

SIDE NOTE: I am probably in the minority on this, but I miss the loud keyboard...lol...it is noticeably quieter and a tad softer. Hopefully it is more reliable though. I did like the Butterly mechanism since the gen-2 models (aside from the even sized arrow keys and I miss how the bottom row used to be larger than the other keys on the previous keyboards).

 

[wchigo]

Good to know, kind of assuages my fears. I'm currently using a nTB 2016 13" and am thinking of getting the TB 2018 13", albeit going just for the i5 rather than the i7. If you're getting that good an estimated battery life, the i5 (which should run cooler) will perhaps yield even better results.

 

[sergeyz]

I can not wait for users to install BatteryTruth app on new laptops, but at least according to the specification the battery capacity of new 13" MacBooks is 20% more (15" - 10%)

 

[unagimiyagi]

I doubt the 2018 Touch Bar models battery life outpaces the 2016 non Touch Bar, simply b/c the 2018 touch bar has a Touch Bar and more power hungry chips. however, the 2018 touch bar models likely do outpace the 2017 touch bar models. battery capacity is the main driver of battery life, regardless of what optimizations are done. It's like the saying you can't teach height in basketball. you can work around being short on battery capacity, but it is in the end a questionably useful exercise.

 

[zedsdead]

I had the non Touch Bar for a few weeks also in 2016 after I had the get rid of the Touch Bar models....2018 Touch Bar model is similar in battery life thus far...again early days, but its definitely a major difference and closer to the quoted estimates.