How long does the MacBook Air’s battery last

Apple has so far released seven models in the MacBook Air. The Airs, Apple’s mainstream laptop lineup, features ultralight laptops with minimal ports, low power draw, and fantastic battery life. Versus the more expensive Pro models the MacBook Airs lack miniLED displays, HDMI, are limited to only two ports, and are all fanless. That last means that even though an Air and a Pro contain the same chip, an equivalent Air isn’t as fast as a Pro owing to thermal limitations.

Now let’s look at battery life.

The four generations of 13-inch MacBook Airs released so far come with 49.9 Wh, 52.6 Wh, and 53.8 Wh batteries, with the M2 and M3 models sharing the same battery capacity.

ALSO READ: MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air: Which Apple laptop should you get?

While battery capacity has gone up and SoC efficiency has improved from the M1 through to the M4, the performance of the chip has also gone up significantly with each generation. Also note that the M1 Air had a 400-nit display while the newer ones opt for a 500-nit one.

In effect, all 13-inch MacBook Airs released to date offer roughly the same battery life of 18 hours. This varies by use-case of course and some users report battery life figures as low as 12 hours and as high as 24 hours.

You might think that the larger 15-inch MacBook Airs introduced since the M2 generation would offer better battery life. They feature larger, 66.5 Wh batteries after all. However, it turns out that even these devices are officially rated as offering up to 18 hours of battery life. This largely comes down to the larger screen drawing more power than.

That said, note that the 15-inch Air can give you significantly better standby time and battery life when under light loads.

When shopping for a new Air, get one based on the performance and features you need as battery life doesn’t seem to have an impact on the decision. The new M5 MacBook Airs are expected to offer better battery life, but don’t hold your breath for the launch.