The Ultimate MacBook Battery Life Comparison With All Available Models
Apple is known for making laptops like the MacBook Air and Pro that have some of the best battery life in the notebook market.
But how do these laptops compare to each other when it comes to the longevity of their battery lives?
That’s what I am going to compare today.
Related Product: Check out my favorite MacBook sleeve with a built-in handle (click to view on Amazon)
With the release of the latest 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, Apple is yet again proving that they can deliver extremely powerful computers, while at the same time keeping the unbelievable battery life they’re known for.
Let’s compare the models that are currently available for sale in 2021, then we’ll discuss if there are any surprises in the results.
MacBook Battery Life Comparison
My Thoughts
As we can see in the table, the MacBook with the best battery life is the MacBook Pro M1 from 2020. The one with the worst battery life is the 16-inch from 2019 that uses the Intel CPU and AMD GPU.
That said, the battery in the new 16-inch is almost twice the size of the M1 Pro (58.2Wh vs 100Wh).
What’s interesting is that the M1 MacBook Pro from last year has the longest lasting battery when browsing the web, while the new 16-inch lasts longer if you’re streaming a tv-show or movie on the Apple TV app.
The MacBook Air M1 also has excellent battery life, and it beats the 14-inch. Most likely since it has less performance cores.
The new 14-inch and 16-inch still have excellent battery life and will most likely last most of you a full work-day, but if you’re a pro-user that edits videos you’re probably going to have to plug in after 4-6 hours.
So Which MacBook Is The Best For You?
Which notebook is the best for you depends on what you need to use your computer for.
Do you need a large screen? Do you need the laptop to last all day long or is the performance more important since you can be plugged in all day long?
The M1 Air and Pro from 2020 are very portable, has a long lasting battery, and still performs great.
If you need the best performance, the latest 14-inch and 16-inch are absolute beasts and will perform better overall in every application. They are currently the most powerful portable notebooks made by Apple.
Why Is There No MacBook With A Battery Larger Than 100Wh?
The reason there is no MacBook with a battery larger than 100Wh is because that’s the largest battery you’re allowed to bring onto an airplane. Imagine if Apple released a laptop you couldn’t bring traveling on airplanes, wouldn’t be so great would it?
How Can I Improve The Battery Life Of My MacBook?
The easiest thing you can do is turn down the screen brightness. It takes a lot of battery power to run each pixel on the display, and you can double the battery life by simply reducing the screen brightness.
Another thing you should make a habit is to close any program you’re not currently using. The more applications you have running in the background, the more CPU power will be used, which will drain the battery.
Some applications use more battery than others, and you can use the Activity Monitor (Applications – Utilities – Activity Monitor) to find out which applications have the largest Energy Impact. It will also show the 12 hr Power usage, so you can find and close the app that has drained the battery.
How I Make My MacBook Last Longer When Traveling
One way I keep my MacBook charged when I am out and about is with a portable power bank.
I use the Anker PowerHouse 100, which has a 97.2Wh battery, which means that you can almost fully charge the largest 16-inch. If you have the M1 MacBook Air, you’ll basically have two extra MacBook batteries with you.
