MacBook battery life news (March, 2011): As I was returning from vacation today, I decided to stop at Best Buy to look at Apple's new MacBook Pro models, as well as their MacBook Air. I've been thinking about buying a MacBook Air or Pro for the last few weeks, but what hit me today when looking at these models is that Apple's MacBook battery life claims have suddenly been reduced by 3-5 hours.
Just last Wednesday (February 23, 2011) the MacBook Air was said to get up to ten hours of battery life, but now the signs at Best Buy and Apple's website say the MacBook battery life is reduced to seven hours. What gives?
MacBook battery life - New battery tests
It turns out that the MacBook battery isn't suddenly defective. Instead, Apple is saying is that they've changed their battery life tests to reflect more "real world" conditions. As a result, their MacBook Air ads now show a maximum battery life of 5-7 hours. Here's an image from their current MacBook battery page:
(new macbook battery life)
And here's a MacBook battery life image from the Apple.com website from just a week ago:
(old macbook battery life)
As you can see, Apple has changed their MacBook battery life claims dramatically, reducing them by as much as 50%. Personally, that would kinda piss me off if I bought the ten-hour battery, only to learn it was really a five-hour battery, especially since long battery life was a big selling point of the MacBook Air. (Before the sale: "Yes sir, that car gets 50 miles/gallon." After the sale: "Did I say 50? I meant 25. But have a nice day.")
I'm currently trying to find the story I read that said Apple had changed their MacBook battery life tests to more accurately reflect real-world conditions, but I haven't found that yet.
Extending your MacBook battery life
In related news, I've written several articles previously about how to extend MacBook battery life. Here are links to a few of those popular articles:
- How to improve your MacBook battery life
- How I extend my MacBook Pro battery life (Part 1)
- How I extend my MacBook Pro battery life (Part 2)
Sorry about the bad news about the new MacBook battery life, but I hope these tips on how to extend your MacBook battery life are helpful.
books by alvin
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