Battery life on top spec 13-inch rmbp

[dankev]

That actually astonishing, although it's the 2.4 i5. Maybe I should choose the golden middle option, the 2.6 ghz i5.

Yeah, I'm very happy with the battery life. This is my first Mac in a while, and I'm lukewarm on a lot of it, but battery life is super important to me.

I don't know how long it will be before good info starts coming out comparing battery life on the 3 processors, but assuming the 2.4 does last longer, ask yourself if you really use your computer in a way that necessitates a faster processor. Certainly, most people don't. The only reason I bought this instead of an Air is for the screen. I don't need more power.

One last thing, I'm hoping my particular machine isn't an outlier. I need to swap it for a new one. One of the keys on my keyboard clicks, and it drives me nuts. I'll be disappointed if I get the new one, and the battery doesn't last as long.

 

[EatingApples]

Yeah, I'm very happy with the battery life. This is my first Mac in a while, and I'm lukewarm on a lot of it, but battery life is super important to me.

I don't know how long it will be before good info starts coming out comparing battery life on the 3 processors, but assuming the 2.4 does last longer, ask yourself if you really use your computer in a way that necessitates a faster processor. Certainly, most people don't. The only reason I bought this instead of an Air is for the screen. I don't need more power.

One last thing, I'm hoping my particular machine isn't an outlier. I need to swap it for a new one. One of the keys on my keyboard clicks, and it drives me nuts. I'll be disappointed if I get the new one, and the battery doesn't last as long.

I am completely new to mac, I have used windows all my life. Do you think I should change my mind or do you think I am better off with mac os, than with windows 8? You said it was you are "lukewarm on a lot of it", what in particular?

Regarding your clicking keyboard key:
I think if it's only one key that clicks, they should be able to fix it, without having to replace the whole machine. Also I can't see why the battery life should be different if you get a replacement with the same configuration.

 

[PDFierro]

Some people going on long-haul flights, will hopefully report back, so we can get a proper estimate!

I won't be on my 13-hour flight until next year, so unfortunately I can't test it until well after my purchase.

But I'm more interested in knowing how long the i7 would last on continuous video playback. I probably won't be doing things like surfing the web/typing on a long flight, but those usages should be similar in terms of battery life.

Again, these things are really a light workload. So there should not be a big difference in battery. Only when you get into medium/heavy workloads should the i7 drain faster. I'm sure the i7 does draw more power under any situation, but from last year's reviews it was only about 30 minutes or so when doing these basic tasks.

 

[dankev]

I am completely new to mac, I have used windows all my life. Do you think I should change my mind or do you think I am better off with mac os, than with windows 8? You said it was you are "lukewarm on a lot of it", what in particular?

Regarding your clicking keyboard key:
I think if it's only one key that clicks, they should be able to fix it, without having to replace the whole machine. Also I can't see why the battery life should be different if you get a replacement with the same configuration.

As far as replacement goes, if I could walk in to a store and walk out a few minutes later with my key fixed, I'd do it. But I'm assuming I'd be without my computer for a few days, and I can't do that.

PC vs Mac... I've used Macs occasionally, but it's been since the '90s that I've actually owned one. I know how to do everything on PCs. Day to day stuff as well as the slightly more advanced. Setting up the Mac on my home network (seeing other PCs and printers) has been pretty much a nightmare. I almost returned it for that alone. But the hardware is nice, I'm in love with the battery life, and the the enterprise networking software at my law school works much better with Macs than PCs. So I think I'm probably going to keep it. My wife is getting an XPS 12 soon, though, and if I love it, I may take back my Mac. I also dislike Win8 and touch screens on laptops, btw, so I feel like I'm losing with either OS.

 

[EatingApples]

As far as replacement goes, if I could walk in to a store and walk out a few minutes later with my key fixed, I'd do it. But I'm assuming I'd be without my computer for a few days, and I can't do that.

PC vs Mac... I've used Macs occasionally, but it's been since the '90s that I've actually owned one. I know how to do everything on PCs. Day to day stuff as well as the slightly more advanced. Setting up the Mac on my home network (seeing other PCs and printers) has been pretty much a nightmare. I almost returned it for that alone. But the hardware is nice, I'm in love with the battery life, and the the enterprise networking software at my law school works much better with Macs than PCs. So I think I'm probably going to keep it. My wife is getting an XPS 12 soon, though, and if I love it, I may take back my Mac. I also dislike Win8 and touch screens on laptops, btw, so I feel like I'm losing with either OS.

Thanks for elaborating! I feel the same way...there are drawbacks on both OS. My current machine (HP, DV6, i5, 6gb ram) still runs, so should there be anything I can't figure out to do on a mac, ill do it on my old laptop if I have to.

 

[Starfyre]

What a nice distribution of pollers so far, looks like not all batteries were created equal.

 

[lg251]

I'm doing some light web browsing currently for about 20 minutes unplugged. The battery indicator still shows 100% and 11:22 remaining.

13"r/i7/16GB/512GB

X2

Same specs this is pretty much what mavericks is indicating. I'm doing a little less than that real life though.

**Airplayed music all night yesterday, with screen brightness all the way and Mavericks was estimating over 17 hours haha!

 

[vraxtus]

i can't ever tell on mine. i've been on wifi for 45 minutes and burned about 7% but that would still translate to about 10 hours total despite what the battery read is telling me.

 

[rMBP2013]

What a nice distribution of pollers so far, looks like not all batteries were created equal.

Or it could indicate that not all folks use their computers the same way...

 

[PDFierro]

From the two posts above, seems like good battery life on the i7! A light workload really shouldn't change a thing.

 

[EatingApples]

I have been on the phone with Apple this morning, asking them a few questions, incl. the battery life on the i5 (2,6 ghz) vs. i7 (2,8 ghz). The guy on the phone didn't know that, but was keen to find out so he asked their technical department. So basically, he told me that the i7 in fact uses less power than the i5, if only doing light work on it (even joking that the i7 would fall asleep, if only doing word processing). He also added that if the i7 is doing heavier work, it will consume more power, than the i5, because it's more powerful.

So I am still confused, but I was told that I can trial the device for 2 weeks after purchase and if I am not satisfied I can return it.

 

[PDFierro]

I have been on the phone with Apple this morning, asking them a few questions, incl. the battery life on the i5 (2,6 ghz) vs. i7 (2,8 ghz). The guy on the phone didn't know that, but was keen to find out so he asked their technical department. So basically, he told me that the i7 in fact uses less power than the i5, if only doing light work on it (even joking that the i7 would fall asleep, if only doing word processing). He also added that if the i7 is doing heavier work, it will consume more power, than the i5, because it's more powerful.

So I am still confused, but I was told that I can trial the device for 2 weeks after purchase and if I am not satisfied I can return it.

Yeah, just buy and return if you aren't happy. That's the only thing you can do. But if every i7 processor in the past few years is any indication, then you're not going to see much battery life difference under a light workload.

 

[Tears Apart]

What a nice distribution of pollers so far, looks like not all batteries were created equal.

More like, everybody uses very differently their laptops, perhaps.

 

[ktc]

More like, everybody uses very differently their laptops, perhaps.

Agreed. Maybe we should all use a similar 3rd party power-usage tracking software, too. I'm assuming the starting battery watt-hour is similar fully charged.