Since the release of MacBooks under ARM (M1) architecture, Apple has announced loud and clear that its computers offer exceptional autonomy. An argument quickly proved to be true, and it’s not one of those marketing jokes as we struggle a lot in the high-tech field. Our own test of the 13-inch MacBook Pro M1 broke all our endurance records with over 20 hours of video playback on Netflix (Safari Browser). So we had to see if the MacBook Air M1 will, too.
Let’s face it right away, the answer is no, but Apple’s Ultraportable hasn’t disappointed us yet! I worked 16 hours and 14 minutes with Netflix in Safari and 11 hours and 43 minutes “only” for the same test on Chrome. Really excellent result compared to the average computers we test in a lab Digital. If Google promises to improve the power management of its Mac browser, it clearly still has a lot of work to do before equating it to the original macOS browser. En usage normal, c’est-à-dire bureautique, web et quelques applications ouvertes, le MacBook Air M1 s’est éteint au bout d’un peu plus de 9 h, de quoi tenir une bonne journée de travail loin d’une Electric socket. Note that Google Chrome has been used, and Safari will probably have to extend this autonomy.
To compare it to its more direct dad, we also ran our battery life test on the 2020 Intel Core i7 MacBook Air. The difference is clear despite the similar TDP (Thermal Design Power), which is 10 watts for the M1 and varies between 8 and 12 W for the Intel version. The MacBook Air Core i7’s autonomy clearly doesn’t come close to that of the M1. We recorded 8 hours and 33 minutes of video playback on Safari. So we roughly go from a single case to a double case. On Chrome, it’s even worse, the older generation MacBook only lasted 6 hours 44 minutes.
Since the chassis of the MacBook Air M1 and Intel are identical and the TDPs are very similar, we can only assume that the optimization of the M1 chip was perfected by Apple, resulting in excellent energy efficiency and battery life for the new MacBooks well beyond that of the Intel versions. For the first iteration, the SoC M1 delivers more than honorable performance in the field, and we can’t wait to see what the next models have in store for us. AMD and Intel are expected to respond on power management, and the battle for the longest independence among manufacturers is just beginning. We look forward to seeing you in a few days to discover the full test of the Apple MacBook Air M1 Digital.
