MacBook Pro M5 Battery Life Results Are IN! Tested Vs. MacBook Air

Tom's Guide

How long does the new MacBook Pro M5 battery life actually last on a single charge? We put it through our Tom’s Guide battery test and compared it to the MacBook Pro M4 and MacBook Air M4 in the scope of the best laptops for battery life.  In this video, Mark goes over the battery life results for the 14-inch MacBook Pro M5, how it stacks up against the previous M4 generation and also gives some context for future 16-inch M5 Pro and M5 Max models.

Transcript

00:00Everyone's asking, how long does the new MacBook Pro M5 last on a single charge?

00:04We ran our Tom's Guide battery test, and in this video, I'll talk about what we found.

00:08If you want a full MacBook Pro M5 review, Tony's video is already live here on the channel,

00:12so be sure to check that out as soon as we're finished up here.

00:16For those new to the channel, at Tom's Guide, we run a standardized battery test across

00:20every laptop.

00:21The screen is locked to 150 nits, the laptop is connected to Wi-Fi, and it just keeps surfing

00:26the web until it dies.

00:27This way, the results are consistent and easy to compare, so much so that we even keep

00:31a running list of the best laptops for battery life, which I'll link below.

00:35And I'll tell you right away, the MacBook Pro M5 earns a spot on that list.

00:39Our test shows a runtime of 18 hours, 14 minutes.

00:43That's basically in line with the 1831 of the 14-inch M4.

00:47Before you worry, keep in mind laptops generally don't see huge leaps in battery life, generation

00:51to generation.

00:53The M5 isn't about extending battery hours.

00:55It's about 12% to 15% faster performance and roughly the same endurance.

01:00That's a win if you're exporting a video edit, compiling code, even gaming, or other heavy

01:05workloads without losing battery time.

01:07But how does the MacBook Pro M5 battery life compare to Apple's ultra-portable MacBook Air

01:12M4 13-inch?

01:14The latest-gen MacBook Air lasted 14 hours, 51 minutes in the same test, so we're looking

01:19at over three hours more on the M5 Pro.

01:22That's a big difference if you're planning to work away from a charger all day.

01:25If battery life is a priority and you want more screen size and performance, the 14-inch

01:30MacBook Pro M5 is still the better pick between the two types of Apple laptops.

01:34Which brings me to an important point.

01:36At the time I'm sitting down to record this video, Apple only has the 14-inch MacBook Pro

01:40M5 available.

01:42The 16-inch M5 Pro or M5 Max will likely arrive in a couple of months, and those will have

01:47higher-end chips and probably even longer battery life than the base M5.

01:52For reference, the 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro lasted 20 hours, 46 minutes.

01:57It's one of the longest-lasting laptops we've ever tested, period.

02:00I'm not expecting huge jumps in battery life between the M4 Pro and M5 Pro, but let me know

02:05if you want us to run battery tests on the future 16-inch M5 models in a future video.

02:10Now I just can't compare apples to apples.

02:13I wanted to know how the MacBook Pro M5 stacks up against a comparable Windows rival.

02:18We tested alongside the Dell 14 Premium, one of the more popular 14-inch Windows laptops

02:23out there.

02:24The Dell lasted 8 hours, 16 minutes on our Tom's Guy battery test.

02:28That's less than half of the MacBook Pro M5's battery life.

02:30Yeah, ouch.

02:32But the Dell 14 Premium does have an OLED screen, so that very likely plays a part in why we see

02:37such a huge gap in results.

02:40So is the MacBook Pro M5 battery life good?

02:42Yes, totally.

02:4318-plus hours on a 14-inch laptop is very impressive, and Apple once again proves it can navigate

02:49power efficiency better than almost every other laptop maker out there.

02:53On this machine, you can do a full day of work without reaching for a charger.

02:57The small dip from the M4 is basically irrelevant for most users, and you get more power in return.

03:03If that sounds good to you, I'll link the MacBook Pro M5 in the description.

03:07And if you found this video interesting, be sure to give it a thumbs up, and hey, why not subscribe

03:11to the channel and see more videos on Apple devices, including more of our battery tests.

03:16For Tom's Guide, this is Mark Spoodallen.

03:17For Tom's Guide, this is Mark Spoodallen.

03:18For Tom's Guide, this is Mark Spoodallen.

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