I currently have a 13 inch Macbook pro with retina display with 256GB of storage which I got on sale at BestBuy for $1,415 after sales tax ( Sale price was $1,349.99 + a coupon for $50 off on top of that Plus $5 rewards certificate) and mainly got it for battery life and the screen along with the 256GB SSD. As far as the Macbook goes it has the screen and the SSD but is it good enough for me? I need this for college and needs to last me the whole day. I have yet to fully stress test the macbook pro but I am getting solid battery life out of it and i don't mind carrying it around. I am just wondering is it worth returning this and then getting the Macbook for $1,249 at the Apple store with education pricing? The big draw for me is the portability but not sure if it's a good idea at the expense of power and battery life which i have read was average.
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Hmm How is battery life?
- Thread starter Closingracer
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The MBP is rated by Apple to have slightly longer battery life than the rMB (it should - the battery is nearly twice as large!) but in practice either should come close to lasting you an entire day, but battery life is always dependent on the individual habits and practices of the user. It's good for 6-9 hours for me, which is more than enough to make it through an average day for most people - especially if you aren't actively surfing the web the entire time and can keep the brightness at half or so. One additional benefit of the rMB that often goes un-said is that the power adapter is significantly smaller and lighter than the one used for the rMBP, and it can achieve a charge from ~20%-80% in about an hour, so if you have even a short time to plug in during the day you will make it easily.
If you really want long battery life, then you should get a 13" Macbook Air. It easily beats the MBP and rMB in that aspect. And it is more portable than the MBP.
all three are excellent computers that would be great for undergraduates, though it depends on your particular use case. what's your top priority? the 11" mba is the best deal for cost, portability, and power. the 13" is a little heavier, but has amazing battery life. the 13" mbp is probably the sweet spot for most people, because it has an excellent display for a reasonable cost, with so-so portability, and plenty of power. the mb is an amazing device, but relatively expensive (you'll probably need the adapter) -- it's really best suited for folks who demand the most portable device available.
as a side note, i worked as a graduate student for many years using an 11" mba at home and an ipad on campus. i scanned and digitized all of my books, so my small messenger bag maybe weighed about three pounds (something like the mbp) with all-day battery life and a great display
paired with an external keyboard. i wrote a lot of my phd dissertation on it using an external keyboard.
the point is that there are all kinds of possibilities with the apple lineup. nowadays, i use my ipad with my mb -- the same messenger bag, a little heavier, but i have everything i need with me wherever i am.
as a side note, i worked as a graduate student for many years using an 11" mba at home and an ipad on campus. i scanned and digitized all of my books, so my small messenger bag maybe weighed about three pounds (something like the mbp) with all-day battery life and a great display
paired with an external keyboard. i wrote a lot of my phd dissertation on it using an external keyboard. the point is that there are all kinds of possibilities with the apple lineup. nowadays, i use my ipad with my mb -- the same messenger bag, a little heavier, but i have everything i need with me wherever i am.
From reviews I read/watched that the pro 13 lasted longer. either way 9 hours is long enough for me. I just needed something to last longer then the 4 hours the Surface pro 4 lasted me
Plus I already ruled out the Air because of the screen which is the reason why I have the Pro atm.
i could get 9 on my mb, but it would need to have the screen dimmed, and i'd probably have to restrict my activities a bit (wifi off when not in use, no major processing tasks, etc.). it lasts me all day, but not 9 hours. i often have the ipad out instead, so i am usually using the computer off and on -- a 14-hour day only actually has maybe 6 on the computer. if battery life, not portability, is your priority, and you need a retina display (me too), the 13" rmbp is the best solution.
Yeah I was leaning towards keeping the rMBP but I was thinking about the rMB because its $1,209 actually at B&H photo so its $1,300 or $100 cheaper then the rMBP when I got it which is why I thought about it since it has the Retina screen and 256GB SSD.
The 12" MB has a significantly smaller footprint than the 13" MBP and is more than capable for its size and specs.
If I didn't need the additional power and screen real estate from my 15" MBP, I'd snatch up the 1.3 12" right away.
I still may for traveling.
It's all the power of OS X in a device the size of an iPad.
It really is the perfect Mac laptop for the everyman.
The 12" MB has a significantly smaller footprint than the 13" MBP and is more than capable for its size and specs.
If I didn't need the additional power and screen real estate from my 15" MBP, I'd snatch up the 1.3 12" right away.
I still may for traveling.
It's all the power of OS X in a device the size of an iPad.
It really is the perfect Mac laptop for the everyman.
While I love my rMB, im going to disagree with your generalization that its perfect for everyman. Obviously the limitations with the Core M processor will prevent it from being usable by the most hardcore of users who do intense video and photo editing as well as programming. being limited to 8gb ram is a bottleneck. otherwise ill admit its a great machine for MOST people but not all. Id say 80% of the population.
I think by "everyman" they meant the typical person and not every man. It seems like you guys agree.
I get the same amount of time out of my rMB or my I7 SP4 around 6.5hrs average daily use.
My old MBA 11" 2012 is a little tired and around 5 hours on that, newer ones will fare better.
My wife's old 2014 rMBP was well over 7 hours
I own and use both 12" & 13" Retina`s in business and engineering environments; If you want the extra certainty of extended battery run times the 13" is the way to go I can easily squeeze 10 hours out of my 2014 2.8/512 model, the 12" retina I find you have to be more conservative with usage to meet or exceed Apple`s claimed run time.
From my usage the rMB is capable of 6-10 hours use on battery, what I observe is the rMB due to it`s design (electronically) is more sensitive to CPU utilisation and display brightness, so the "peaks and troughs" so to speak are more pronounced than the likes of the 13" rMBP. Where I see the 12" Retina having a district advantage is when we start seeing more USB C type external Powerbanks available potentially more than doubling the rMB runtime off the mains supply.
Q-6
From my usage the rMB is capable of 6-10 hours use on battery, what I observe is the rMB due to it`s design (electronically) is more sensitive to CPU utilisation and display brightness, so the "peaks and troughs" so to speak are more pronounced than the likes of the 13" rMBP. Where I see the 12" Retina having a district advantage is when we start seeing more USB C type external Powerbanks available potentially more than doubling the rMB runtime off the mains supply.
Q-6
I recently switched from a rMBP to the new macbook for the reason of portability. I always carry my macbook in my purse, along with iPad and iPhone so that weight difference really matters to me. The battery lasts me quite a bit of time while at work, and the charging block/cable & adapter (hdmi, usb a/c) aren't as cumbersome to carry around as the rMBP were for me. However, I'm in the situation where I don't find myself using my macbook on battery for more than 6 hours without being near an outlet, so I haven't been cognizant of whether or not I am getting good long term battery life. It's way lighter though, and it's served me well for general usage.
I'm waiting for a proper battery pack for the MacBook. A bit like the one Dell has made for the XPS. Imagine a battery pack with a combined weight of the rMB but still weighed less than the MBA.
Looks very nice. I don't think we'll see something like that from Apple as they're not really into portable batteries, although, the iPhone's battery case could be a sign of things to come from apple?