The Verge: There is a noticeable difference in battery life between models with the M1 Pro and those with the M1 Max

I ordered a 16" with M1 Max with the expectation that it would consume more battery than Pro models. That said, the battery life so far has been satisfying, even slightly beats my expectation. As an empirical evidence, an 1 hour of voice calling with Safari browsing and note taking left me with ~92% capacity, which translates to a full day’s workload with comfortable headroom.

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I ordered this one. But don’t get too excited, :slightly_smiling_face: this is the same adapter that it ships with, which I was told is fast charging (~50% in 15 minutes). I typically have tree adapters—one in my laptop brief case, two in the office.

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You know, my charges up so fast I guess I’m just being greedy but it is a great idea. These machines are flying, flying, zooming,

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Does the shoe actually pinch? :slight_smile:

It seems Verge may have overstepped here. With that said, battery usage is highly subjective.

This review, for real world test by the same person (The verge used real world test but compared usage for two different people), get 13 hours battery life for the Pro and 11 hours for the Max. A 2 hour hit for additional cores sounds reasonable.

Battery life is discussed in the last 5 minute portion of the video

I was tempted to switch to the Pro but I am going to stay with the Max. it feels good having the most powerful chip

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I’ve asked Apple messenger support a few times about the difference between a 16" M1 Pro and M1 Max in battery life when both have 16GB RAM and gotten these responses from various reps:

  • Absolutely no difference
  • A slight difference
  • The Max lasts longer
  • The Pro lasts twice as long as the Max
  • “M1 Max battery last up to 18 hours after one charge. For M1 Pro it’s about same. But because M1 Pro is carrying less heavy GPU and CPU, it’s actually not same!”

Useless, but pretty funny. :smiley:

And they all close out the chat before you can ask a clarifying question.

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I’ve decided I don’t care. :slightly_smiling_face: 10, 12, 18 hours—I can’t see myself using the MBP for 10 straight non-stop hours. With fast charging I could go 18+ hours with only one additional fast charge. I’ve never needed that much sustained time on battery. If I can get a good 10-12 hours, I’m fine in the worse case scenario. I’d rather have the available power of the M1 Max—I’m more likely to need that than a few extra battery hours.

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I tried this also and got the response regarding the battery life between the two: “they are the same.” No difference. I did not make the request multiple times for scientific purposes, but maybe I should! I do agree with @Bmosbacker’s sentiments: all the reports that I read show that the Max’s battery life will cover my needs and the fast charging will bridge the gap if there is one.

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Thanks for sharing those power draw numbers. How are you able to measure them with such precision please?

I have a power bank that shows the draw on each of its outputs. There are inline USB devices that do the same.

Something like this would also do the job:

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It long ago occurred to me that all power outlets should be re-engineered to show power consumption. Either with a small LED display or as a smart device. For the latter the challenge would be cost and compactness.

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Well, I’m glad I was able to see these reviews. They really helped me get a better handle on my needs rather than just specimg out a system.

On announcement day, I immediately (and probably a bit recklessly) ordered the M1 Max, 64GB, 4TB SSD…for $4899 - yikes!

After watching the reading the Verge review and checking out a few other “buyer’s guide” videos, I decided that was overkill for me.

My initial reasoning went like this: “I want the best just in case I need it…and even if I never use it, I will get my money back when I sell it!” Uh….sure, rright?

Okay…time for a reality check. For starters, this is my personal computer - not producing a regular income with it. With that alone, even an M1 Pro may be overkill, but I digress.

My primary creative workflow involves photo editing in PS/LR with many related plugins. I do some basic video editing and slideshow production…but nothing heavy or very frequent.

In the long run, I will benefit far more from the longer battery life with the Pro than the extra graphics processing power of the Max.

I do like the option to have my photo library on my system drive rather than an external drive so I did opt for an M1 Pro, 32 GB, 2 TB SSD for $3499 - reducing my cost by $1400. Honestly the 32 GB may be unnecessary but since it can’t be upgraded later I would rather have it than not.

The biggest downside to this is that my original order was supposed to be delivered between Nov 10 -17. My new order is estimated out to Dec 16 - 23! :confused:

I hear ”patience is a virtue”…I guess I am going to become more virtuous!

Edit:

After further consideration I have cancelled my 2021 MBP order altogether. I already have a 2019 16” i9 that is fine for my needs right now.

After reviewing https://isapplesiliconready.com/ I found that several apps I use have not yet been converted to support Apple Silicon natively.

Think I will rock the Intel machine until the next generation Apple Silicon chips are released. Hopefully the conversion will be close to complete by then.

Most of my stuff would run in Rosetta, but I would rather have native support!

These machines are amazing and extremely tempting…but I can wait another year or so!

Hope you all enjoy them. I will be reading your comments and the reviews.

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It is and you already sound quite virtuous. :slightly_smiling_face:

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There are devices for the main electrical panel that will monitor usage by circuit.

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Yeah, this basically has to happen if people are going to be more conscious about their usage…

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Rene Ritchie tweeted this earlier this week about his battery experience on the M1 Max:

I would agree with Rene Ritchie on this one. After using it for a long work day (10 hours), I still had over 30% battery life remaining.

My use case:

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95% of the time, my MacBook is connected to the LG 5k Ultrafine display.

What is the model if I may ask?

MacBook Pro 16inch Max chip