Apple's New MacBook Air Features Impressive Battery Life That Bests MacBook and MacBook Pro - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple's New MacBook Air Features Impressive Battery Life That Bests MacBook and MacBook Pro

by

Apple's newly announced MacBook Air with Retina display and upgraded 8th-generation Intel processors features the best battery life out of any of Apple's notebooks, MacBook Pro and MacBook included.

The new machine, which features a 50.3 watt-hour lithium polymer battery, offers up to 12 hours of battery life when web browsing, 13 hours when watching iTunes movie playback, and 30 days of standby time.

macbookairbatterylife
Comparatively, the MacBook Pro models offer up to 10 hours battery when browsing the web and 10 hours of iTunes movie playback, while the MacBook offers 10 hours of battery when browsing the web and 12 hours of iTunes movie playback.

The MacBook Air is going to provide two extra hours of battery life for web browsing compared to other models, and an hour to three hours more when watching movies. Details on Apple's battery testing procedures are below:

Testing conducted by Apple in October 2018 using preproduction 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-based MacBook Air systems with 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. 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. Battery life varies by use and configuration.

The MacBook Air is equipped with two USB-C ports and charges over USB-C. It ships with a 30W power adapter, much like the 12-inch MacBook.

You can order the new MacBook Air today, and prices start at $1,199. The first orders will arrive next Wednesday, November 7.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Tag: October 2018 Event
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air (Buy Now)
Related Forum: MacBook Air

Top Rated Comments

frou Avatar
frou
98 months ago
You mean Apple's New MacBook Air Features Impressive Battery Life That Beats MacBook and MacBook Pro?
Nope - get out your dictionary
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
T
TrulsZK
98 months ago
I see, thanks.
Should anybody have the exact minute mark on hand that would be extremely useful.
It is at 18:12



Attachment Image
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
P
Pelea
98 months ago
And features a downgraded core y processor to insure minimal performance across all tasks!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
giggles
98 months ago
I'm still wondering why pair a fanless CPU with a fan cooled chassis - I can only imagine either the 8th gen U chips were too hot to properly cool in a machine of this size, were too expensive (I think Y-U price parity was broken with this gen), or this was the only way to actually retain 12h usage (which is a real plus for this machine imo)
To push it from barely above Y to really half way between Y and U when needed.
This sounds all very custom so we’re making assumptions.

From a line up stand point, the Air needs to lean towards the old Air U chips performances.

Incidentally, Microsoft does fanless U 15W in the screen part of the Surface Book 2.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
giggles
98 months ago
Probably it isn't. This is likely a 15W CPU, which will require a bit of active cooling. The fanless 12"MB uses a 5W CPU.
Nope this is a 5W “Plus” cpu with 1.6Ghz base clock and HD 617 graphics.
Like half way but not really halfway between the 5W and the 15W parts.
There are no dual core 8th gen 15W parts, they’re all quad core.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
dbf7
98 months ago
I’d suggest a correction... it has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, not just USB-C, as this may confuse people.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5

Monday May 11, 2026 5:09 pm PDT by
Apple released iOS 26.5 after a few months of beta testing, and while it doesn't have the Siri features we were hoping for since those are being held until iOS 27, there are a handful of useful changes worth knowing about. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. End-to-End Encryption for RCS Support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and...
Read Full Article • 65 comments
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...
Read Full Article • 40 comments
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro May Have 'Aggressive' Starting Price Despite RAM Crisis

Tuesday May 12, 2026 6:53 am PDT by
While the ongoing RAM chip shortage is leading some Android smartphone makers to increase prices, one analyst believes that Apple will take advantage of the situation with the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. In a research note with GF Securities today, analyst Jeff Pu said he expects Apple to outperform in the smartphone market by having an "aggressive pricing strategy" for the ...
Read Full Article • 54 comments