MacBook Air 2013 with Windows 8.1 installed with Bootcamp

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MacBook Air 2013 with Windows 8.1 installed with Bootcamp

Hello , I have a fairly new 2013 MBA 8g , 128ssd, i5 and I installed windows 8.1 with Parallels 9 but it was eating my battery life so so fast and I really didn't like the Parallels experience. I uninstalled and wiped my MBA to factory settings to get a clean MBA.

My question is if I use Bootcamp to install Windows 8.1 will that destroy my battery life just as bad when I'm not booted and using windows but booted and using the MBA OS. I believe you can boot into Mac OS or Windows at start up.

Thanks

Posted on Mar 4, 2014 4:58 PM

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Answer 1

tug-

Level 3

685 points

Mar 5, 2014 6:43 AM in response to Lenny7118

parallels and vm ware are a well known system hog! they will drain your battery while consuming ram and resources. although this is harmless to your mac per say, once turned off the mac goes back to normallity abeit with a low battery.

the answer to your question is bootcamp does not drain your battery any more than normal use would do.

hope this helps.

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Answer 2

Lenny7118 Author

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Mar 5, 2014 4:41 PM in response to tug-

So to clarify , if I install windows 8.1 using bootcamp and when I boot into MBA OSX it will perform as normal and not be eating up my battery ? But when I boot into windows than that's when I would see the battery drain ?

Thank you

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Answer 3

turbostar

Level 4

2,941 points

Mar 5, 2014 5:11 PM in response to Lenny7118

No, you'll see "normal" battery drain under either OSX or Windows. The other OS isn't consuming any power when you're running the other one, if that makes sense. So, your MBA in OSX should consume normal power, and your MBA in Windows should also consume normal power - be mindful that you could have worse battery life overall in one OS vs the other but a function of what' s happening with that OS, not because you dual boot your machine.

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Answer 4

Lenny7118 Author

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Mar 5, 2014 5:28 PM in response to turbostar

So I will see normal battery life and drain starting at 10-12 hours in MBA OSX under light use and when I boot and use windows my battery will start at 10-12 hours but drain faster ?

Thanks

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Answer 5

tug-

Level 3

685 points

Mar 5, 2014 9:55 PM in response to Lenny7118

no, your battery will drain faster while using parallels 9, with bootcamp you will get normal power usage. however it does depend on what you are doing in windows, say you are gaming then it will drain a lot faster.

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