Poor macbook air battery life

[zstar]

I have a 13"/256/4 macbook air.

I'm losing 10% of my battery life per 30 minutes on average. Just using at 50% brightness, iTunes, basic flash-less web surfing and MSN Messenger for Mac in the background. Which equates to about 5 hours till fully drained. Have already calibrated it once, no difference.

Is this normal? I'm beginning to think my 13" has a below average battery compared to what others are seeing here. (i.e. 10hour + for even the 11" which supposedly has a smaller battery capacity than my 13" etc.)

Thanks in advance.

 

[double329]

I definitely don't get 10-11 hours of continue usage on my MBA 13 Ultimate. At the same time, I don't see it drains as quick as you mentioned. But, I didn't really pay attention too much. I used my MBA a lot. I usually get to charge the battery before I go to bed. It did go below 20% before I charge it. Overall, I don't think it was too bad. I just use my MBA and not to worry about the battery. With my normal usage, it lasts to the end of the day.

 

[Jayomat]

I have a 13"/256/4 macbook air.

I'm losing 10% of my battery life per 30 minutes on average. Just using at 50% brightness, iTunes, basic flash-less web surfing and MSN Messenger for Mac in the background. Which equates to about 5 hours till fully drained. Have already calibrated it once, no difference.

Is this normal? I'm beginning to think my 13" has a below average battery compared to what others are seeing here. (i.e. 10hour + for even the 11" which supposedly has a smaller battery capacity than my 13" etc.)

Thanks in advance.

do a calibration (once a month)

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1490

 

[aristobrat]

do a calibration (once a month)

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1490

He already did.

 

[HLdan]

I have a 13"/256/4 macbook air.

I'm losing 10% of my battery life per 30 minutes on average. Just using at 50% brightness, iTunes, basic flash-less web surfing and MSN Messenger for Mac in the background. Which equates to about 5 hours till fully drained. Have already calibrated it once, no difference.

Is this normal? I'm beginning to think my 13" has a below average battery compared to what others are seeing here. (i.e. 10hour + for even the 11" which supposedly has a smaller battery capacity than my 13" etc.)

Thanks in advance.

Im confused, the 13" is advertised to have 5-7 hours battery life. The OP is getting exactly what's advertised isn't he, or am I reading his post wrong?

 

[GGJstudios]

I have a 13"/256/4 macbook air.
I'm losing 10% of my battery life per 30 minutes on average. Just using at 50% brightness, iTunes, basic flash-less web surfing and MSN Messenger for Mac in the background. Which equates to about 5 hours till fully drained. Have already calibrated it once, no difference.

Is this normal?

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/performance.html

The 11-inch MacBook Air has a battery that lasts up to 5 hours, and the 13-inch model lasts up to 7 hours.

The wireless productivity test measures battery life by wirelessly browsing 25 popular websites with display brightness set to 50%. ...

The standby test measures battery life by allowing a system, connected to a wireless network, to enter deep sleep mode with Safari and Mail applications launched and all system settings left at default. Battery life varies by use and configuration.

 

[Jayomat]

He already did.

whoop, must have missed that, never mind

 

[vanyuen]

I do agree. My MBA 13 (128 SSD, 4G Ram) would normally run for 4-5 hours before it go to sleep cos' of low power, with like 50% screen brightness and light use of Chrome for surfing (with flashblocker on).

I did calibrate the battery and It just can't use for over 7 hours like some others claimed (7 -11 hours).....

I just wondering are my MBA batteries a defect?

 

[macbook123]

I do agree. My MBA 13 (128 SSD, 4G Ram) would normally run for 4-5 hours before it go to sleep cos' of low power, with like 50% screen brightness and light use of Chrome for surfing (with flashblocker on).

I did calibrate the battery and It just can't use for over 7 hours like some others claimed (7 -11 hours).....

I just wondering are my MBA batteries a defect?

That's because you need to have hypersensitive retinas so that you can use the Air at 12.5%-25% brightness (and need sunglasses to comfortably see outdoors), which is what some of the posters here are able to do and get 7 hours or more, while others like myself and maybe you would consider 12.5%%-25% too dim to do anything, but are able to see outside without sunglasses. Their genetic makeup has advantages, as does ours...

I'm starting to believe the Apple test conditions weren't what they claim. At 50% brightness there is no way for me to get 7 hours, even if all I do is text editing with WiFi and Bluetooth off. Lowering the brightness even further does the trick, but at the cost of making the laptop unusable but in a dark room.

 

[aleni]

i can use my 11" for 6.5 hours until it dies. yesterday i installed coolbook and reduced the voltage settings. now i can squeeze about 7.5 hours on a single charge. other than the weight, the battery life on my 11" is one of the most appreciated feature for me.

i installed clicktoflash, and only use brightness at about 20% since i never use it on bright place. bluetooth is always off too.

how about you nstalling coolbook? it might helps battery life. it's really worth $10