Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro and 13-inch MacBook Air models are equipped with the M1, which is the first Apple Silicon chip. In addition to bringing impressive performance improvements, the M1 chip also significantly increases battery life.
The battery in the MacBook Air (49.9WHr) lasts for up to 15 hours with wireless web browsing and up to 18 hours when watching movies using the Apple TV app. The prior-generation model lasted for up to 11 hours when browsing the web, or up to 12 hours when watching movies.
Battery life is even better in the new MacBook Pro, which has a 58.2 WHr battery. The battery lasts for up to 17 hours when browsing the web and up to 20 hours when watching a movie using the Apple TV app. The prior-generation MacBook Pro lasted for up to 10 hours when browsing the web and up to 10 hours when watching movies.
Long battery life is enabled through the four high-efficiency cores that are included in the M1. Apple says that alone, the four cores offer similar performance as the dual-core MacBook Air but at much lower power, providing an efficient way to run simple tasks like checking email or browsing the web.
When needed, the new machines also engage the four high-performance cores of the M1 chip for more demanding tasks and better CPU performance. Apple promises that the M1 chip brings up to 3.5x faster CPU performance, 6x faster GPU performance, and up to 15x faster machine learning.
