Unrealistic Battery Expectations for MBA 2014?

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Unrealistic Battery Expectations for MBA 2014?

I have a brand spanking new 11" MBA (iOS 10.9.4 1.4GHz i5 4GB RAM 128GB) and am getting lackluster battery performance.

I bought the MBA a week ago at Best Buy and after a week of what I would consider normal use, averaging less than 4.5 hours, I took it into the genius bar and they said they found a problem in the logic board. I exchanged it at Best Buy today and it seems I'm getting the same performance. (I reset the SMC with the previous machine and the current one; seemed to help initially but not for long.)

I realize that I'm doing several things to decrease the battery charge length, but I'm wondering if I've got a second dud.

Current activity that gives me <5 hours:

1) bluetooth is on for trackpad

2) using external display

3) safari (no videos; 4-5 tabs)

4) mail (for a while, mail was an "app using significant energy")

5) dropbox and a few other programs in the background

6) display is 75%; keyboard backlight is off

Do I just have unrealistic expectations or is this normal?

Posted on Jul 8, 2014 3:02 PM

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Answer 1

Cool mba

Level 1

6 points

Jul 9, 2014 12:51 AM in response to david432

I have the 13" version of your MBA with the exact specs..My user habits are very similar to yours on it i.e. safari, mail, twitter and i get about 8 sometimes 9 hours (sometimes only 7)..Many people say Mavericks is the culprit as with Lion and Snow Leopard battery life was way better..I do think however 4.5 hours is little extreme on a new battery..I think the 13" is supposed to have better battery life but i wouldn't expect it to be by 3 or 4 hours IMO.

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Answer 2

Jul 9, 2014 12:58 AM in response to david432

If you're using an external trackpad then it is constantly receiving Bluetooth messages, and this will wear out the battery. If you're getting more than 4 hours of life then you're doing fine. The other things you mentioned are just normal expected load.

If you want to test for a difference and for realistic mobile battery life, use the internal trackpad and turn Bluetooth off.

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