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iPad iPad Air vs MacBook Air battery life

iRock1

iRock1

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 23, 2011
1,083
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The 13" MacBook Air has a 12 hours battery life, while the iPad Air has a 10 hours battery.

So, except for the obvious – the price –, what makes the iPad a better choice over a full featured computer with superior battery life?

I remember that a few years ago the new tablet party made sense, since the 10 hours battery vs the 5 hours batteries found on most laptops was a pretty big deal.

But now the story is different. Shamelessly, Apple has kept the same battery life on the iPad since its very first release in 2010.

So again, what's the point?

Cheers. :apple:
 
The point is to NOT have a keyboard, so it's easier to hold in your hand.

Last week, I was updating all the iWork and iLife apps on my MacBook Air, and I ended up reading on it while I was waiting for the downloads to finish. My god, did the keyboard get in the way! Laptops are great for typing long documents, but for any use that doesn't require a lot of typing, tablet form factor is superior.
 
I think Microsoft is really onto something with the detachable keyboards, to add to the point above. Tablets offer a better experience with consuming and sometimes creating. They're more enjoyable to use, to read with, to browse, and most of that has to do with the form factor, but it's partially due to the delight we feel from direct manipulation - using touch. I think for that reason they're the future, and keyboards/pointer devices will become accessories until we can envision and design a way of creating without them (and trust, this'll happen). Hope that unrelated explication answers your question.
 
Night Spring said:
The point is to NOT have a keyboard, so it's easier to hold in your hand.

Last week, I was updating all the iWork and iLife apps on my MacBook Air, and I ended up reading on it while I was waiting for the downloads to finish. My god, did the keyboard get in the way! Laptops are great for typing long documents, but for any use that doesn't require a lot of typing, tablet form factor is superior.
Click to expand...


zbarvian said:
I think Microsoft is really onto something with the detachable keyboards, to add to the point above. Tablets offer a better experience with consuming and sometimes creating. They're more enjoyable to use, to read with, to browse, and most of that has to do with the form factor, but it's partially due to the delight we feel from direct manipulation - using touch. I think for that reason they're the future, and keyboards/pointer devices will become accessories until we can envision and design a way of creating without them (and trust, this'll happen). Hope that unrelated explication answers your question.
Click to expand...

Well, it's curious at least, because before 2010 nobody complaint about how awful the notebooks were for reading.

I'm an iPad user since the very first model (even though I skipped the 4th gen) — and I tell you, now with that amazing MBA and superior battery life, my reasons to buy the iPad seem to disappear. It's not like having a keyboard stops me from a comfortable reading experience...
 
iRock1 said:
Well, it's curious at least, because before 2010 nobody complaint about how awful the notebooks were for reading.

I'm an iPad user since the very first model (even though I skipped the 4th gen) — and I tell you, now with that amazing MBA and superior battery life, my reasons to buy the iPad seem to disappear. It's not like having a keyboard stops me from a comfortable reading experience...
Click to expand...

Even though my iPad doesn't load pages as quickly as my MacBook, whenever the two are side by side I always reach for the iPad. There's something way more satisfying about flicking and tapping my way through the web with the screen right before me than pounding some keys and having a board between me. Direct manipulation is king, not to mention the iPad can be lifted, and held much easier.
 
iRock1 said:
Well, it's curious at least, because before 2010 nobody complaint about how awful the notebooks were for reading.

I'm an iPad user since the very first model (even though I skipped the 4th gen) — and I tell you, now with that amazing MBA and superior battery life, my reasons to buy the iPad seem to disappear. It's not like having a keyboard stops me from a comfortable reading experience...
Click to expand...

Yeah, we actually did, and that's why so many people were excited for the first iPad when most of the rest of the world was busy thinking it was just a big phone. The reading experience is FAR better on an iPad than on a computer. Now that the iPad is smaller and down to a pound in weight, it will be better still. I guess you must think it'd be an improvement if magazines started being produced in a clamshell design you had to sit on your lap. :rolleyes:
 
iRock1 said:
...So, except for the obvious – the price –, what makes the iPad a better choice over a full featured computer with superior battery life?...
Click to expand...

Who says it is? :confused:

You are comparing Apples and Oranges. Comparing a tablet to what I somewhat inaccurately call a "real" computer is a waste of time. Two different devices with two different missions.

They each have pros and cons, but I can't run Windows on my iPad. And I can't use my MBA while standing in line (I could, but it would be very awkward). The iPad is more portable, and excels at certain things, but since it doesn't run Quicken for Windows, it can't update the firmware on my gadgets, and it can't rip a DVD for me, I still need the MBA.

So for one to be a "better" choice than the other, you would have to consider the intended use.
 
iRock1 said:
Well, it's curious at least, because before 2010 nobody complaint about how awful the notebooks were for reading.
Click to expand...

Before 2010, Microsoft spent at least a decade making tablet computers that nobody ever really used. Even before that, the concept of a handheld, tablet shaped computing device was around in scifi -- see original Star Trek from back in the late 60s. People have been wanting tablet computers for a long time, but it's only now that technology has improved to the point that they are practical to use at an affordable price.

But, if you don't mind the laptop keyboard while reading, well, that's okay, everyone is different. In that case, *for you* there is no advantage to having a tablet. But just becase YOU aren't bothered by the keyboard, doesn't mean other people don't find it useful to not have a keyboard
 
iPad Air vs MacBook Air battery life

Even though I don't necessarily share your points of view, I understand your arguments.

However you have to acknowledge that superior battery life in tablet devices was one of their most remarked features against portable computers. In that regard the last iPad is a huge disappointment.
 
iRock1 said:
Even though I don't necessarily share your points of view, I understand your arguments.

However you have to acknowledge that superior battery life in tablet devices was one of their most remarked features against portable computers. In that regard the last iPad is a huge disappointment.
Click to expand...

How so? :confused:

The iPad 4 has the best battery life of any consumer electronics device I've ever used, hands down.

15-20+ hours of use, every time.
 
zhenya said:
How so? :confused:

The iPad 4 has the best battery life of any consumer electronics device I've ever used, hands down.

15-20+ hours of use, every time.
Click to expand...

20+ hours of use?! Does it have some sort of nuclear reactor inside? :D
 
iPad Air vs MacBook Air battery life

rui no onna said:
Minimum or low brightness, very little or no gaming, yeah, it can actually last that long.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm sure if you decrease brightness and don't do CPU intensive tasks, the battery on the MBA can go far beyond the 12 hours as well.
 
iRock1 said:
Well, it's curious at least, because before 2010 nobody complaint about how awful the notebooks were for reading.
Click to expand...


This reasoning is nonsense. No one complained about X until Y year.

No one complained that the original iPhones screen was low res until the iPhone 4.

People didn't complain about notebooks for reading, because they had yet to experience something better.
 
iRock1 said:
However you have to acknowledge that superior battery life in tablet devices was one of their most remarked features against portable computers. In that regard the last iPad is a huge disappointment.
Click to expand...

Yes, the long battery life is nice, but for me, it wasn't the most remarkable feature of the iPad. The iPad is useful for me because of its form factor, and even had it had only a five hour battery life, I would have been pleased with it. That it had a 10 hour battery life was a nice bonus. I'm pleased that laptop battery life is catching up with the iPad, but it's not like the iPad battery life got worse, so why would I be disappointed? 10 hours is 10 hours -- it doesn't matter to me if that is more or less than the MacBook battery life, because I'm not trying to read on the MacBook for 10 hours, whereas I regularly do spend all day reading on my iPad.
 
OSX is a "real" OS and iOS isn't?
Despite some overlap, they are two different tools with two different purposes.

Just look at the benchmarks... the first gen Macbook Air has higher geekbench scores than the top of the line Air that's currently available. Would you go out and buy a 1st gen air to replace your iPad 4? Probably not.

Some number of people can get by with just an iPad - even for work - and that's great. But not everyone or even most I would suspect.
 
IMO they are complementary devices, I use macbook for some tasks and the iPad for others, but I still use both! :D
 
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