New 13" MBA owner, question on battery life...

[snf122]

I just purchased a brand new 13" MBA 128 GB base model, and I am currently only running chrome with the backlit keyboard off and the screen brightness is at 40%.. My battery is at 95% and it says that I have 5 hours remaining of battery time. Should this be a concern, or does this seem to be the standard battery time...

Thanks in advance

 

[GGJstudios]

I just purchased a brand new 13" MBA 128 GB base model, and I am currently only running chrome with the backlit keyboard off and the screen brightness is at 40%.. My battery is at 95% and it says that I have 5 hours remaining of battery time. Should this be a concern, or does this seem to be the standard battery time...

Thanks in advance

It's normal. Read the BATTERY LIFE FROM A CHARGE section in the following link. Also, there are hundreds of threads on this topic you can check out by searching the forum. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[mfram]

I just purchased a brand new 13" MBA 128 GB base model, and I am currently only running chrome with the backlit keyboard off and the screen brightness is at 40%.. My battery is at 95% and it says that I have 5 hours remaining of battery time. Should this be a concern, or does this seem to be the standard battery time...

Thanks in advance

Sound about right to me. Want more battery life? Turn down the backlight more.

 

[snf122]

Thank you for the help, I will make sure to search next time

 

[kulimer]

I was surprised too, but in order to have 7 hours, you need to NOT DO a lot things, that's how they tested the battery when they made the laptop at Apple.

 

[bp1000]

Calibrate your battery, see the link above.

It makes the estimate more accurate. Mine was about 6-7 hours out of the box, dropping with usage, after calibration it was 10-11 hours at 100% charge. Has no problem achieving 7hours of usage providing the screen is 30% or less, backlight keyboard off, Bluetooth off and rogue CPU cycles killed.

 

[Shapethelola]

Calibrate your battery, see the link above.

It makes the estimate more accurate. Mine was about 6-7 hours out of the box, dropping with usage, after calibration it was 10-11 hours at 100% charge. Has no problem achieving 7hours of usage providing the screen is 30% or less, backlight keyboard off, Bluetooth off and rogue CPU cycles killed.

Please do not listen to that. Latest MacBooks are pre calibrated and do not need to be calibrated again.

 

[bp1000]

Worked for me

Any battery needs to be treated correctly. You carry on doing what you think is best.

 

[fireworksdesign]

I just purchased a brand new 13" MBA 128 GB base model, and I am currently only running chrome with the backlit keyboard off and the screen brightness is at 40%.. My battery is at 95% and it says that I have 5 hours remaining of battery time. Should this be a concern, or does this seem to be the standard battery time...

Thanks in advance

this is normal, my advice, turn the keyboard lighting off unless it is really necessary.

stay away from flash websites or install plugins like click to flash, ad blocker.

when browsing, keep it simple , dont open too many tabs or applications.

 

[onthecouchagain]

I cannot imagine using my Air at any lower brightness setting than about 70-80%, unless I'm in a completely dark room. Anything lower and the screen is so dim that I can barely see anything.

And yeah, as such, my battery life only reaches anywhere from 5-6 hours.

 

[GGJstudios]

Worked for me

Any battery needs to be treated correctly. You carry on doing what you think is best.

Calibration won't change the amount of time you get from a charge or affect the health of your battery. It only serves to make the readings more accurate. Shapethelola is correct. All MBPs with built-in batteries since mid-2009 come pre-calibrated and do not require regular calibration. Read the Battery FAQ I posted earlier for more information.

 

[Mayo7]

Calibrate your battery, see the link above.

It makes the estimate more accurate. Mine was about 6-7 hours out of the box, dropping with usage, after calibration it was 10-11 hours at 100% charge. Has no problem achieving 7hours of usage providing the screen is 30% or less, backlight keyboard off, Bluetooth off and rogue CPU cycles killed.

sounds like it started over estimating the battery life after calibration

 

[bp1000]

Calibration won't change the amount of time you get from a charge or affect the health of your battery. It only serves to make the readings more accurate. Shapethelola is correct. All MBPs with built-in batteries since mid-2009 come pre-calibrated and do not require regular calibration. Read the Battery FAQ I posted earlier for more information.

I understand the new, built in batteries are pre-calibrated but what about future use.

Afaik, batteries still need treating correctly. I work with the charger plugged in 90% of the time, every few days letting it drain to 70%, sometimes 50% and charging back up fully. Once a month i let it drain completely and charge back up again fully.

So far using this method all batteries has lasted well.

 

[GGJstudios]

I understand the new, built in batteries are pre-calibrated but what about future use.

If you suspect your battery readings are inaccurate, it won't hurt to calibrate it, but the pre-calibrated batteries do not require regular calibration.

 

[bp1000]

If you suspect your battery readings are inaccurate, it won't hurt to calibrate it, but the pre-calibrated batteries do not require regular calibration.

Perhaps i was reading too much into it

It is just i've had 2 MBA's and both did the same thing. I.e. i fully charged it on first use. Removed the power source, desktop idle, no programs running, not spotlight indexing, pure idle, bluetooth off, same wifi location and both laptops reported around 7 - 7hrs 30 mins on 100% charge. As soon as i calibrated it the same test on both laptops displayed between 10 and 11 hours at 100%.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence