much worse battery life on 2011 MBA 13 vs 2010

[shznit]

Yes, of course it does. It's a much more powerful machine.

Define power.

2010 cpu: Core 2 Duo SL9400 - 17W TDP
2011 cpu: Core i5-2557M - 17W TDP

The 2010 also has the Nvidia 320M which uses much more than the 2011s PCH.

The 2011 should be using less power.

 

[TheRealDamager]

Define power.

2010 cpu: Core 2 Duo SL9400 - 17W TDP
2011 cpu: Core i5-2557M - 17W TDP

The 2010 also has the Nvidia 320M which uses much more than the 2011s PCH.

The 2011 should be using less power.

How about "more capable"? "More processor?" Seriously, you cannot expect to upgrade processor pretty dramatically and maintain the exact same battery life.

 

[bill-p]

Define power.

2010 cpu: Core 2 Duo SL9400 - 17W TDP
2011 cpu: Core i5-2557M - 17W TDP

The 2010 also has the Nvidia 320M which uses much more than the 2011s PCH.

The 2011 should be using less power.

TDP stands for Thermal Design Power, which is more or less the amount of heat a chip emits on average. That doesn't mean that's how much the chip uses.

The i5 in reality can use more power than the Core 2 setup because of Turbo Boost.

 

[shznit]

How about "more capable"? "More processor?" Seriously, you cannot expect to upgrade processor pretty dramatically and maintain the exact same battery life.

Why not? If the total transistor budget is the similar (C2D+320M vs Core i5+PCH), and the 2011 uses a more efficient 32nm process, is it unreasonable to expect at least the same battery lfe?

 

[vitzr]

The battery will use up more power the first few days while Spotlight is indexing. The 2011s drain a bit faster, but you should still get about 5.5-6 hours with the 13" model. Give it a few more days and see if it improves.

I concur, this reflects my experience as well.

After the first few days my side by side testing of my 2010 vs 2011 reveals that the battery run times are only a bit shorter on the 2011. It's not bad at all. I'm completely satisfied.

 

[KPOM]

Define power.

2010 cpu: Core 2 Duo SL9400 - 17W TDP
2011 cpu: Core i5-2557M - 17W TDP

The 2010 also has the Nvidia 320M which uses much more than the 2011s PCH.

The 2011 should be using less power.

The TDP is just the maximum possible power output. On average, the ULV Core i5 and i7 processors use up more power than the ULV Core 2 Duo. They just max out at a lower temperature because it has better capabilities to manage maximum power use.

Although Sandy Bridge is built on a 32nm process vs. the 45nm process of Penryn, it's important to point out that the Sandy Bridge is the second architecture built on the 32nm process. The original Nehalem Core i3/i5/i7 was built on the 45nm process and used a lot more power. Then Intel switched to the 32nm process with the Westmere/Arrandale design, which reduced power consumption but didn't improve performance significantly. Sandy Bridge retained the 32nm process but offered significant performance gains.