MacBook Pro Retina 13' battery life

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Hi everyone,

I want to buy a MacBook and I'm hesitating between the MacBook Air 13' and the MacBook Pro Retina 13'. I'm tempted by the MacBook Pro because it has a better connectivity and a much better screen, but I'm worried about the battery life.

I'm only going to use it to write papers on LyX and browse the Internet, but I plan to use a Bluetooth mouse and tend to have a *lot* of tabs open in my browser, typically over 100. Do you have any idea how long I can expect the battery to last on a full charge with that kind of use?

I know that Apple claims about 9 hours and I've read several reviews that found something in that ballpark, but it's hard to know how it will be when it's used the way I plan to use my laptop, so I was hoping that someone who has a MacBook Pro Retina 13' and uses it roughly the way I plan to use mine could tell me how long his typically lasts on a full charge.

Thanks in advance!
 
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Apple says that the 13" MacBook Air gets up to 12 hours of battery life, while the 13" MacBook Pro Retina gets up to 9 hours of battery life. By that alone, it's a good guess that no matter what you are doing, the MBA will last 33% longer than the MBP-R. I can't guess exactly how much of an impact having 100 tabs open in your browser all at once will have on your battery life (100 tabs... holy mackerel!). I guess that depends on what exactly you are doing in those tabs. No matter what, I am certain that will strain your RAM and caching. For that reason alone, I would consider the MBP-R and go with 16 GB of RAM. That should help performance a bit.
 
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Thanks a lot!

I guess I don't care how much longer the Air lasts, as long as I know I'm going to get at least 8 hours on the Pro.

The reason why I have so many tabs open is that, every time I read an article I find interesting or a book on Amazon I might want to read, I like to leave the tab open for future reference.

Eventually, I just save the session with a session manager like Session Buddy (is there a good one for Safari?), but even so it gets out of control pretty fast when you do that :) So I don't actually use that many tabs at any given time, I'm just sitting on most of them, as it were.

The upgrade to 16Go of RAM is pretty expensive, do you think having 16Go rather than 8Go might affect how long the battery lasts? Why would that be, because it will not have to swap memory on the hard drive as often as if I only had 8Go?
 

cwa107


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If those are your only requirements, I would skip the Retina MacBook Pro altogether and go with the standard MacBook Pro. For one, the Retina display resolutions are **** near useless on a screen that small. Second, the super-hi-res requires more processing power to drive the display, hence the reduced battery life. Additionally, the standard MacBook Pro is just a hair thicker, costs significantly less and is far more future proof (you can easily upgrade the memory and storage, with industry standard parts).

Just some food for thought. Unfortunately, you don't have this option with the 15" model anymore, but if you're good with the 13" screen, I wouldn't even think twice about it.
 
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The reason why I have so many tabs open is that, every time I read an article I find interesting or a book on Amazon I might want to read, I like to leave the tab open for future reference.

Why not just use Safari's existing "Reading List" feature? That's for exactly the purpose you are using the open tabs for. It also won't strain your system resources.

The upgrade to 16Go of RAM is pretty expensive, do you think having 16Go rather than 8Go might affect how long the battery lasts? Why would that be, because it will not have to swap memory on the hard drive as often as if I only had 8Go?

Safari can consume a lot of memory. Having 100 tabs open all at once would consume a LOT of memory! And potentially hit the CPU hard. Honestly, given the reason you are keeping all those tabs open, you'd be far better off just re-thinking your practices.

I don't entirely agree with CWA about his comment that the retina display is "near-useless" at 13"... I know I can tell the difference between the resolution on the 1st iPad and the iPad 4, and that screen is even smaller. But the points about the hit that the display takes on processing power and battery life are very good ones. Personally, I'd just go with the MacBook Air but max out the RAM at 8 GB because you can't upgrade it later. My mother-in-law has an MBA and it is just incredible how light it is. I would only consider a MBP (retina or not) if I genuinely needed the extra processing power and RAM capacity that it offers, and I don't think you do, especially if you modify your habits with the browser.
 

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I guess I don't care how much longer the Air lasts, as long as I know I'm going to get at least 8 hours on the Pro.

"At least 8 hours on the Pro". Apple's battery runtime for a 13" rMBP on a single charge claim is 9 hours (probably under the best of conditions). If you're going to have an "at least number"...I wouldn't pick one so close to the actual claim of 9 hours. There's just too many factors to the battery runtime on a single charge to insist on a number so close to the max. claim.

The 13" MacBook Air battery runtime on a single charge is 12 hours. So if you absolutely-positively MUST get 8 hours of battery runtime out of this computer (or a BIG ROCK will fall out of the sky seriously injuring you);)...then the 13" MacBook Air is probably the better choice.:)

I personally wouldn't go for the MacBook Air at the moment. The hardware in the MacBook Air's (graphics hardware) are a bit dated compared to the MacBook Pro's (except the 2012 model with the optical drive).

If it were me...and I had to purchase a new computer now...I would go for the MacBook Pro.:)

- Nick
 
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I personally wouldn't go for the MacBook Air at the moment. The hardware in the MacBook Air's (graphics hardware) are a bit dated compared to the MacBook Pro's (except the 2012 model with the optical drive).

Not to be argumentative here, but given the OP's needs, is the "dated" hardware really going to impact his personal usage needs as listed? If not, then wouldn't the extra battery life and reduced weight be worth considering as a tradeoff?
 

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Not to be argumentative here, but given the OP's needs, is the "dated" hardware really going to impact his personal usage needs as listed? If not, then wouldn't the extra battery life and reduced weight be worth considering as a tradeoff?

You're not being argumentative at all.:) I'm probably prejudicing my recommendation with the fact that I would prefer to have the more updated graphics hardware in the MBP (Iris vs. HD 5000). Since this would probably extend the "useful-life" of the computer before needing to replace it.

Plus with the MBP...the buyer gets the retina display and more base ram (8gig vs. 4gig).:) But there is also a small difference in price (base MBP more than the base MBA).

If the OP REALLY does need at least 8 hours of battery runtime on a single charge...getting the MacBook Air will most likely meet this parameter better.

With the rumors floating around...I think that there is going to be a lot of changes in store for the MacBook Air in 2015. If I was going to purchase a MacBook Air now...I would wait. Unfortunately (according to rumors)...it sounds like the changes aren't expected until the 2nd half of 2015...and maybe even more like Q4 2015.

I don't think that now is a very good time to get a MBA (unless someone ABSOLUTELY needs 8 hours or more battery runtime).

- Nick
 
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Just FYI for the OP - My 2013 MB Air 13" easily last a full 12 hours. I have used mine to stream talk radio while I am at work, checked mail, and used different programs.

Watching videos will reduce the time to 10 hours if it is constant. If battery life is a concern then the AIr will do better than the MB Pro. If a retina screen and the extra ports are more desirable then the MB Pro is the way to go.

I love the light weight of the Air and using it on my lap. I have a 15" MB Pro and it will get warmer on my lap compared to the Air. Just my preference.

Lisa
 

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