03-29-2012, 08:52 PM

I'm making the assumption here that the Windows's NT kernel is less efficient than OS X's UNIX (based on my own experience of how much longer my laptop battery lasts when it is booted into Ubuntu Linux vs. Windows).

How long does the battery of a MacBook last under Windows vs. OS X (assuming an optimal time of 7 hours under OS X for a new battery)?

03-30-2012, 01:32 PM

I've not seen any data on the subject but I would expect kernel efficiency to be a very small driver of batter usage; other settings (screen blank, peripherals, other I/O) would drive the vast majority of it and there will be no differences between the OSs there. If you do try a battery run-down test the forum members would be very interested in the result.

cheers

03-31-2012, 08:08 PM

Alas, I've not got a MacBook of any type yet to test it (once I do, I surely will); but on my current notebook the battery will drain in ~2-2.5 hours under Windows, and in ~3-3.5 hours under Ubuntu with an equal workload, screen brightness, WiFi usage, powering the same peripherals, etc.

With such a disparity - a minimum of ~20% more battery life under Linux than the NT kernel - it doesn't seem implausible that there would be a similar difference between the NT kernel and UNIX.

03-31-2012, 09:06 PM

Anandtech had some excellent comparisons on battery like with OSX Vs Windows. It's there somewhere on their site but too busy right now to find the tests.

Windows was much worse on the same Mac than OSX as far as battery life.

03-31-2012, 09:56 PM

Dennis is correct. All the tests I've seen seem to show Windows being less responsive to power saving on a Mac than on a comparable Win machine. So it's no surprise that battery life is less when running Windows dual boot on a Mac.