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On the fence about buying a 13in macbook air

T

The Expert

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 1, 2011
25
0
I'm currently on the fence about purchasing a macbook air 13in because of the negative discussions and reviews of the battery life. I already went to my local Best Buy and Apple store to briefly hold the macbook air and see if I like the screen and the weight and appearance. I loved it at first sight and thought it was an amazing laptop overall. I did unplug it from the charger for roughly a minute and the battery meter said around 6-7 hours. I'm not sure if the battery meter was being accurate or not but I certainly thought it was a good reading. My question is, Is it easy to achieve a good six to seven hours on a full charge?

I've heard estimates of as low as 3:30 and as high as around or over 7:30.
I do not want to turn this into a "How much battery life are you getting out of your 13in macbook air?" but I do want someone knowledgeable to tell me how much battery life I will logistically obtain when I receive my laptop.
 
Realistically, if you're doing relatively unintensive tasks like Word/Pages, web browsing, at medium brightness, expect battery life to be between 4-5 hours.
 
The Expert said:
I'm currently on the fence about purchasing a macbook air 13in because of the negative discussions and reviews of the battery life. I already went to my local Best Buy and Apple store to briefly hold the macbook air and see if I like the screen and the weight and appearance. I loved it at first sight and thought it was an amazing laptop overall. I did unplug it from the charger for roughly a minute and the battery meter said around 6-7 hours. I'm not sure if the battery meter was being accurate or not but I certainly thought it was a good reading. My question is, Is it easy to achieve a good six to seven hours on a full charge?

I've heard estimates of as low as 3:30 and as high as around or over 7:30.
I do not want to turn this into a "How much battery life are you getting out of your 13in macbook air?" but I do want someone knowledgeable to tell me how much battery life I will logistically obtain when I receive my laptop.
Click to expand...

I originally got 4 hours 45 mins at full brightness, but eventually was able to pump it up over 7.5 hours. Check out my posts in this link for more details: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1201042/
 
The majority of my time spent on battery will be note taking. Maybe the occasional TV show episode of family guy or a movie here and there but nothing else. Certainly no movie or photo editing or anything else.
 
I'm doing some light web browsing and emailing at work right now and I have an estimated 4:30 remaining. I've had my Air on for a good 2 hours already. I'd say you should expect around 5-6 hours of battery life.

My brightness is usually turned all the way down, or around the lowest setting.

I still think I had better battery life on my 2010 Air, but so far I haven't had any issues losing that extra hour...yet... :)
 
That's not the slightest impressive especially when the Macbook Pro 13in gets a consistent 7 hour battery (Or did I just not research the pro thoroughly and was too busy gallantly staring at the air?)
 
It is all preference and habits. I came from a dell workstation laptop with a 30 minute battery life. I LOVE my i7 11.6" and it only gets like 3.5 hours to the change.

I also am obsessed with high pixel density screens. The 11.6" screen is much higher res.

Also holding the 13" from the corner of the laptop is uncomfortable due to the extra torque on your hand. The 11.6" is so much nicer of a portable size imho. I would feel crippled with the 13"

But thats just me...
 
Samsumac said:
Torque?? LOL:D:D:D:D:D

Buy it...
Click to expand...

lol you have no idea how serious i am. While there might not be "difficult" to hold an opened 13" model in one hand, it is WAY nicer of a feel for the 11.6"

hold them both at the same time, I doubt you will disagree with me. For lounging on the couch or in bed or watching youtube in the kitchen while cooking... etc... you will find that the 11.6" feels SO much more portable.

Unless battery life is the deciding factor, the 11" wins hands down.
 
FieldingMellish said:
Expert, if you need the battery life of 7 hours, stick with your computer and get off the fence.
Click to expand...

Your argument is invalid. I currently have no computer. I'm using my mom's job laptop that she takes each morning with her allowing me access to it only during the evening. I sold my dreaded dell in hopes of getting something lighter with a better battery
 
We bought a 13 inch i7 at work and the battery life is roughly 5-5.5 hours which falls in line with what other people have posted.
 
So far, roughly 5.5-6 hours. Better than the 2010 i7 MBP it just replaced. Either way, manufacturer battery ratings are always generous. If you just sit there and gaze it it with the screen on minimum brightness, you should meet/exceed their rating.

Fortunately, it is pretty nice to gaze at.
 
SpiffyChee said:
lol you have no idea how serious i am. While there might not be "difficult" to hold an opened 13" model in one hand, it is WAY nicer of a feel for the 11.6"

hold them both at the same time, I doubt you will disagree with me. For lounging on the couch or in bed or watching youtube in the kitchen while cooking... etc... you will find that the 11.6" feels SO much more portable.

Unless battery life is the deciding factor, the 11" wins hands down.
Click to expand...

I actually did just hold both.. and I put the lighter one in my dominant hand.. I had a hard time feeling the difference. Maybe more time with them.. but at first heft.. there was nothing in it.. and frankly half a pound isn't much in this form factor... imo.
 
The Expert said:
Your argument is invalid. I currently have no computer. I'm using my mom's job laptop that she takes each morning with her allowing me access to it only during the evening. I sold my dreaded dell in hopes of getting something lighter with a better battery
Click to expand...

It's called advice, young one. Re-read it and recognize the concept regarding your battery requirements remain applicable to whether you own a 13 MBP or not, lol.
 
The Expert said:
That's not the slightest impressive especially when the Macbook Pro 13in gets a consistent 7 hour battery (Or did I just not research the pro thoroughly and was too busy gallantly staring at the air?)
Click to expand...

In Macworld's tests, they were getting slightly better battery times in the 13" Air than in the 13" Pro. The 11" models were getting about 1.5 hours less. Macworld's tests differ from Apple's. If battery life is the most important to you, then get the 13" Air.
 
Day 2 after a full charge i managed to work my entire day of 8 hours typical on the battery.

That was with 1 hours sleep time for lunch and a couple of light sleeps whilst i was on the phone.

Very impressed.

13" i5
 
If you are coming from a Dell, the battery life of a MBA 13 will amaze you. Trust me when I say, I came from a Toshiba laptop, and it got maybe 45 minutes to an hour on a charge. I regularly make it through a full 10 hour work day with it. Granted, I'm not using it non-stop, but it sure feels like it at times :apple:
 
Torque brings forth an image of excess force applied,hence the :D:D's.
The 11.6' is definitely better in what you are describing but then again my preferred mode of operation of the 13" is on my chest over a magazine... My i5 is excellent in its operating temperatures when browsing/emailing/writing..
I cannot possibly live with the 11.6 screen but the 13" has been very portable up to now and very powerful as well.
I was deliberating between a Pro and the Air , and I am happy I chose the 13"Air


SpiffyChee said:
lol you have no idea how serious i am. While there might not be "difficult" to hold an opened 13" model in one hand, it is WAY nicer of a feel for the 11.6"

hold them both at the same time, I doubt you will disagree with me. For lounging on the couch or in bed or watching youtube in the kitchen while cooking... etc... you will find that the 11.6" feels SO much more portable.

Unless battery life is the deciding factor, the 11" wins hands down.
Click to expand...
 
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