I have a 2011 MBA 11". I had a new battery installed last week and am still getting frustrated with it not lasting long enough. I mostly use Internet, mail, messages etc and rarely watch Netflix (use TV for movies) on it. I have all settings optimised for battery saving but find it only lasts a few hours, maybe 4-6 if I'm lucky and I'm forever having to charge it. My iPad Air 2 (and my previous iPads before that) seem to last so much longer - am I just spoilt with iPad battery and should just resign to fact that if I have to charge my Mac more? I find I'm using my iPad more and leaving Mac in cupboard as I got so sick of the warning message coming up each day. Or should I buy a new MBA? Would battery life be better?
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Battery on MBA 11" sucks
- Thread starter ccrgt
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There are a variety of factors to consider... hardware and software. Right off the top, are you using Google Chrome as your browser? There have been various reports of Chrome having a significant impact on battery life of notebooks. I experienced it as well so although I relied heavily on history/bookmark syncing and extensions on Chrome, I switched to Opera... which is lean and mean supports syncing and has the same extensions available that I used on Chrome. I saw a positive improvement on battery life on my 2014 11" MBA.
I had a 2011 MBA and don't think I ever got more than 6 hours battery life. At that time it seemed great since I was coming from a 2008 15" MBP than never ran more than 3 hours even when it was new. 
I upgraded to an 11" 2013 MBA and there was a huge improvement in battery life, more like 10 hours or even more with low screen brightness. So you would definitely get much longer run times on a new 11" MBA. Or you could look for a refurb 2014 or 2013 MBA at Apple's store, they will have pretty close to the same performance as the 2015 models and save you some money.
I upgraded to an 11" 2013 MBA and there was a huge improvement in battery life, more like 10 hours or even more with low screen brightness. So you would definitely get much longer run times on a new 11" MBA. Or you could look for a refurb 2014 or 2013 MBA at Apple's store, they will have pretty close to the same performance as the 2015 models and save you some money.
5 hours is what Apple say you get from a 2011 MBA lol, upgrade to a newer model with a more efficient chipset for better battery life. The 2015 11" MBA has closer to 9 hours battery life i think.
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LOL what did you expect, 15 hours??
4-6 hours is how it's supposed to be for 11-inch 2011. Your results are very good.
If you want more - pay more.
4-6 hours is how it's supposed to be for 11-inch 2011. Your results are very good.
If you want more - pay more.
I'm new to the MBA after years of using (and currently using) iPhones and iPads so I was not aware that a 2011 MBA only lasted about 5 hours. I had a new genuine Apple battery installed and thought that would increase battery life dramatically but that's not the case and now I see why thank you. Looks like I may upgrade to a new one next year then. I appreciate your help
My 2012 MacBook Air only gets 3-3/12 hours and that's with the keyboard lighting off and the screen not super bright. I just mainly use Chrome to surf the web and sometimes watch video. The battery was the only complaint I have for the most part. Otherwise my MacBook Air 11 has always been my favorite Apple device. I decided I'm getting a new 2015 model with a faster processor with more RAM, and more storage. My 128GB HD now is about full.
This is why you do research before you buy stuff, so that you don't have to go to a forum that's not even owned by Apple to complain about things that are never meant to be.
Unfortunately you just picked a bad year for the MBA. Starting in 2013 Apple greatly improved battery life and also made several other significant design changes including much faster 802.11ac wifi, a faster SSD and USB 3.0. Aside from these however, the 2011 MBA is a pretty nice machine - I was very happy with mine at the time.
I see it less as a complaint and more as a call for advice from like-minded Apple users, with more experience than me
CCRGT,
I also have two 2011 11" MBA, and can confirm the battery life has never been anywhere even close to spectacular. It's actually quite dismal. That aside, they have both proven themselves to be solid and capable of every day use, even running 10.11.1
I'm going to try and hold onto them both for as long as possible.
I also have two 2011 11" MBA, and can confirm the battery life has never been anywhere even close to spectacular. It's actually quite dismal. That aside, they have both proven themselves to be solid and capable of every day use, even running 10.11.1
I'm going to try and hold onto them both for as long as possible.