touch bar vs no touch bar battery size

[ghanwani]

It looks like the no-touch-bar rMBP has a battery that has 10% more capacity than the touch-bar rMBP. Yet they both advertise the same battery life (10 hours).

Any idea why the non touch bar one needed a bigger battery?

Edit: Answer is in Post #4.

 

[Spink10]

They make the non touch bar one eat power so you will buy the more expensive one!

 

[ghanwani]

OK, I found a professional talking about this:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/1...-pro-and-how-apples-t1-bridges-arm-and-intel/

The low-end Pro actually has a larger battery than the high-end one: 54.5Whr compared to 49.2Whr. Apple says both laptops have 10 hours of battery life, but the lower-power processor, the larger battery, and the lack of a little second screen above the keyboard should all mean that the low-end model actually lasts a bit longer than the Touch Bar model.

I would be curious to see tests once reviewers get their hands on the touch bar model.

 

[ghanwani]

I found more information that used side-by-side tests.

https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/14/macbook-pro-review-2016/

(Update: It took a few battery cycles and some very specific system settings, but I eventually saw the 15-inch model last 11 hours in the iTunes playback test, with the 13-inch Touch Bar model coming in at nine hours and 55 minutes. The entry-level 13-inch Pro without the Touch Bar lasted 11 hours and 42 minutes in the same test. That said, I've heard other tech reviewers complain of shorter battery life and I believe them — especially if they were judging by everyday use as opposed to video playback.)

So the no-touch-bar model actually has 15-20% more life. I think that kind of settles it for me as to which one to get.

[I've been waiting for an MR post with a collection of reviews...where is that??]

 

[deepdishstar]

It looks like the no-touch-bar rMBP has a battery that has 10% more capacity than the touch-bar rMBP. Yet they both advertise the same battery life (10 hours).

Any idea why the non touch bar one needed a bigger battery?

Two points.

1. The non-touch bar didn't need a bigger battery, but since they had the extra space they chose to use it for that.
2. The advertised battery life is the same on both for marketing reasons. In practice the battery life is longer on the lower end model.