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Retina MacBook Q&A
Published July 8, 2017
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What is the "real-world" battery life of the "Mid-2017" 12-Inch Retina Display MacBook? Compared to its predecessor, is it really improved as much as Apple claims?
Please note that the "Mid-2017" MacBook models have been discontinued. However, this Q&A is up-to-date and can be quite useful for anyone buying or selling one of these notebooks on the used market.
In the corporate press release for the "Mid-2017" Retina MacBook models -- the MacBook "Core m3" 1.2 12", "Core i5" 1.3 12", and "Core i7" 1.4 12" -- Apple claims that these systems "provide all day battery-life" without a specific claim of improvement compared to the "Early 2016" models replaced.
Official Battery Life Estimates & Battery Specs
In more detailed technical information, the company notes that wireless web use for both lines is the same ten hours but the "Mid-2017" series adds an extra hour of iTunes video playback (12 hours up from 11 hours).
Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Retina MacBook Battery Design)
Like all Retina MacBook models, the battery in the "Mid-2017" series is "layered in individual sheets that are precisely contoured" to fit inside the notebook without any wasted space. Unfortunately, this battery effectively is in pieces and is glued in place, as well. Self-replacement is particularly unlikely.
The "Early 2016" and "Mid-2017" Retina MacBook models both have a 41.1 watt-hour battery, so any improvement must come from software tweaks.
By comparison, the most recent 13-Inch non-Retina MacBook Air models provide 12 hours of battery life for both wireless web and iTunes movie playback courtesy of a larger 54 watt-hour battery.
Also, the non-Retina MacBook Air series does not have batteries that are glued in place, so fairly simple self-replacement is quite possible.
Official Battery Life Testing Criteria
Apple notes that preproduction versions of standard models were used and details the testing methodology accordingly:
The wireless web test measures battery life by wirelessly browsing 25 popular websites with display brightness set to 12 clicks from bottom or 75%. The iTunes movie playback test measures battery life by playing back HD 1080p content with display brightness set to 12 clicks from bottom or 75%. The standby test measures battery life by allowing a system, connected to a wireless network and signed in to an iCloud account, to enter standby mode with Safari and Mail applications launched and all system settings left at default.
In recent years, Apple's battery life estimates generally have been reasonable, but third-party test results still can be helpful.
Independent Battery Life Test Results
Third-party battery life tests often use different methods and settings than the official tests and can collectively provide a range of results that may better reflect "real world" usage accordingly.
In a simple video playback test of a "locally stored MP4 file containing the full The Lord of the Rings trilogy -- with screen brightness set at 50 percent and volume at 100 percent" -- Computer Shopper [no longer online] discovered:
Here we see the benefit of Apple's decision to go with a low-power Core m3 processor. The fact that Apple gets to optimize its macOS with its own hardware also, no doubt, helped push the new MacBook well above 15 hours, tacking on 4 extra hours versus last year's model. . .The ability to carry this much unplugged productivity time in a package this thin and light is, to our minds at least, probably the most impressive thing about the new MacBook.
In video streaming from the Internet, on the other hand, C|Net found the "Mid-2017" MacBook battery life to be effectively identical to last year's model:
There's been little movement since last year, with the new [Mid-2017] MacBook clocking in at 10:26 on a streaming video battery test. [The Early 2016 model provided 10:33 of battery life in the same test.]
ArsTechnica reported better luck with Wi-Fi browsing, but effectively flat battery life for gaming:
The new MacBook adds over an hour of battery life in our Wi-Fi browsing test, which is a great "free" improvement given that the battery and screen don't change at all. In the more intensive WebGL test, it lasts about the same amount of time as the 2016 version, so don't expect anything to change if you're playing light games or otherwise continuously pushing the CPU and GPU away from an outlet.
Even though both Computer Shopper and ArsTechnica likely used more conservative brightness settings than Apple's official tests, it is a good sign that independent local video playback and Wi-Fi browsing test results exceeded the official estimates.
However, these independent tests also show that video streaming and gaming provide essentially the same battery life as before.
Battery Life Summary
Ultimately, based on the independent tests above, Apple's estimated battery life for the "Mid-2017" Retina MacBook is reasonable within the narrow scope of the tests, but runtime varies significantly depending on the tasks performed and the settings selected.
The "Mid-2017" Retina MacBook series provides excellent battery life overall, but if battery life is more important to you than screen quality, the non-Retina MacBook Air still has longer runtime courtesy of a physically larger battery. The fact that you can replace the MacBook Air battery yourself also is a welcomed advantage.
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