Touch Bar MacBook Pro Q&A

Revision Published August 17, 2019

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What is the "real-world" battery life of the "Mid-2017" Touch Bar MacBook Pro models? How does the battery life compare to the models replaced?

Please note that all 13-Inch and 15-Inch "Mid-2017" MacBook Pro models have been discontinued. However, this Q&A is up-to-date and can be helpful to anyone buying or selling one of these notebooks on the used market.

In the corporate press release for the "Mid-2017" Touch Bar MacBook Pro models, Apple only makes a claim of "all-day battery life" without going into specifics.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Touch Bar MacBook Pro Models)

Official Battery Life Estimates & Battery Specs

Just as the company did for its predecessors, Apple formally estimates that the glued-in, non-replaceable battery in all three models from the "Mid-2017" MacBook Pro series provides "up to" 10 hours of runtime reflected both by a wireless web test and an iTunes movie playback test.

More precisely, Apple used preproduction versions of the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.3 13" Mid-2017 with a 1 TB SSD and 8 GB of RAM, the MacBook Pro "Core i5" 3.1 13" Touch/Mid-2017 with a 512 GB SSD and 8 GB of RAM, and the MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.8 15" Touch/Mid-2017 with a 1 TB SSD and 8 GB of RAM to calculate these numbers.

It is worth noting that the storage in these test configurations is much larger than stock with the exception of the MacBook Pro "Core i5" 3.1 13" Touch/Mid-2017, which does offer a default configuration with 512 GB of storage.

In fine print, Apple reports that these tests were performed according to the following criteria:

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%.

Without more detail it is not possible to know which websites are being browsed, but odds are good that the company chose fairly simple websites without advanced code or large files that could drain battery life more quickly. It also is assumed that the movie playback test is performed while the notebook is offline to keep its wireless capabilities from simultaneously taxing the battery.

Although the processors are different than those used by the predecessors, their TDP (Thermal Design Power) is the same. The watt-hours of the batteries is the same, too:

	13" i5 2.3 non-Touch	13" i5 3.1 Touch	15" i7 2.8 Touch
Processor Type	i5-7360U	i5-7267U	i7-7700HQ
Processor Clockspeed	2.3 GHz	3.1 GHz	2.8 GHz
TDP	15 W	28 W	45 W
Battery Watt Hours	54.5 W h	49.2 W h	76.0 W h

Because the middle model -- the MacBook Pro "Core i5" 3.1 13" Touch/Mid-2017 -- has a higher TDP, which means that its average power or heat dissipation is higher and its battery provides fewer watt-hours for runtime, it would be reasonable to expect the middle model to perform worse in real-world use despite the official battery life estimates.

Independent Battery Life Test Results

In recent years, Apple's battery life estimates have been reasonable. However, particularly because of battery life issues due to software bugs with the "Late 2016" models, independent, real-world tests are particularly worthwhile for the "Mid-2017" MacBook Pro, as well.

In three separate reviews [no longer all online], PC Mag found each model to have excellent battery life that was better than their predecessors in simple battery rundown tests:

The [non-Touch Bar 13-Inch] MacBook Pro lasted for 16 hours and 26 minutes on our battery rundown test, nearly an hour longer than the current-generation MacBook and the 15-inch MacBook Pro and a staggering four-and-a-half hours longer than the previous 13-inch MacBook Pro. . .

The [13-Inch Touch Bar] MacBook Pro lasted 14 hours and 30 minutes. That's excellent for any laptop, let alone one with a reasonably powerful Core i5 processor. But even more impressive is its 35 percent improvement from the previous generation, which recorded a time of nine hours and 28 minutes. . .

The [15-Inch] MacBook Pro lasted for 15 hours and 9 minutes in our rundown test, beating all comers [with the exception of the non-Touch Bar 13-Inch model]. Last year's model lasted for 11:19.

In its own collection of Wi-Fi tests with the display set at 100 nits of brightness, LaptopMag reported results that were nearly identical to last year's models:

The [non-Touch Bar 13-Inch] MacBook Pro lasted a strong 9 hours and 50 minutes. That beats the ultraportable laptop average of 7:58, but it's less than the 2015 MacBook Pro we reviewed (12:04). . .

The 2017 [Touch Bar 13-Inch] MacBook Pro lasted 8 hours and 40 minutes on the Laptop Mag Battery Test, which is longer than the 8:24 average for ultraportables and close to the time from last year's model (8:48). . .

The [15-Inch Mid-2017 MacBook Pro] laptop lasted a full 10 hours and 59 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery Test. . . Last year's MacBook Pro endured for 10 hours and 32 minutes.

Finally, in the most detailed testing of all, the German NotebookCheck put all three notebooks through their paces in a Wi-Fi test with the display set at a brighter 150 nits and found:

The [non-Touch Bar 13-Inch MacBook Pro] battery runtime in the Wi-Fi test at an adjusted luminance of 150 nits is around 11.5 hours, which is basically identical to the previous [Late 2016] Skylake model. . .

We expected longer battery runtimes from the new [Touch Bar 13-Inch] model, but this is not the case in our Wi-Fi test. The previous model still lasted almost 9.5 hours at an adjusted luminance of 150 nits, but the current model only manages ~8:40 hours. We repeated the test three times, but the result was the same with a couple of minutes' tolerance. . .

Unlike the smaller MacBook Pro 13 however, we can determine slightly longer battery runtimes [for the 15-Inch MacBook Pro] compared to the previous models. The battery lasts for one hour under load, but the realistic Wi-Fi test (luminance ~150 nits) runs for almost 11 hours, so the advertised runtime from Apple (10 hours) is slightly exceeded.

The results from test-to-test vary, but it is clear that the Touch Bar 13-Inch "Mid-2017" MacBook Pro has weaker battery life than the non-Touch Bar 13-Inch and 15-Inch models alike.

Battery Life Summary

Ultimately, it appears that within the criteria of Apple's narrowly defined battery life tests, ten hours of battery life is a solid enough estimate.

However, it also is apparent that the "Mid-2017" 13-Inch MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar delivers inferior battery life compared to the other two models. If battery life is important to you, it would be best to purchase either a 13-Inch non-Touch Bar model or a 15-Inch model.