Hypothetical Macbook Air: 14 battery life or retina display

[dingclancy]

We all know Apple will go all retina, and to maintain the same battery life they have to fit a larger battery. But what if they skip the Retina for the Macbook Air and just put in the bigger battery?

Which one would you buy? a 14-hour 13" MBA or a 7 hour MBA with retina display?

 

[Moshe1010]

It depends what you need. We all know that it's not a real 7 hour battery because almost nobody is using his or her computer on 40-50% brightness.
7 hours battery it's a realistic 4-5 hours and 14 hours battery would be 8-10 hours.
Anyway, I don't need 14 hours battery, so I would say a 7 hour MBA with retina, only, and only if, they would manage to keep it the same weight (+/- 0.3 pounds) and the same physical size.

 

[korbearus10]

I'm not sure how much more they can take out of the MBA in order to make it run longer. If anything, I'd imagine the extra battery life will have to come from better battery technology, not larger battery.

As for your question, I'd rather have the 14 hour MBA.

 

[dingclancy]

I'm not sure how much more they can take out of the MBA in order to make it run longer. If anything, I'd imagine the extra battery life will have to come from better battery technology, not larger battery.

As for your question, I'd rather have the 14 hour MBA.

Yes, better battery technology is key here. I guess the simple question is 2x the battery or 2x the resolution.