00:00Which MacBook has the best battery life?
00:02Apple updated the entire MacBook lineup for 2026
00:05and introduced a brand new budget-friendly MacBook Neo.
00:09So of course, we had to put them all through our Tom's Guide battery test
00:12and see how long each one lasts.
00:14Even with battery life on the MacBook Air and Pro
00:17already being among the best, these results were still shocking.
00:23In case you're new here at Tom's Guide,
00:25we run a standardized battery test across every laptop
00:28where the screen is locked to 150 nits,
00:31the laptop is connected to Wi-Fi
00:32and runs a continuous web-surfing loop until the battery runs out.
00:37This way, our battery life test results are consistent
00:39and easy to compare between devices.
00:42If you want to learn more and see our running list
00:44of the best laptops for battery life, I'll link that down below.
00:50Let's start things off with Apple's new colorful budget model,
00:53which has won me over the MacBook Neo.
00:56Targeting value-minded users and rocking an energy-efficient iPhone A18 Pro chip,
01:01the Neo lasted 13 hours and 28 minutes.
01:04That's not quite the 16 hours that Apple claimed,
01:07but for a laptop at this $600 price point, it's still incredible,
01:12even outlasting popular energy-sipping Chromebooks
01:15like the Lenovo Plus 14 and the Asus CX-15.
01:19If you're still on the fence about the MacBook Neo
01:21and you want to see what this machine can really do,
01:23be sure to check out our full BuyerSkip review,
01:25which I've got linked down below.
01:27And now, let's see how it stacks up to the rest of the MacBook lineup.
01:33Chases are, if you're considering a MacBook Neo,
01:36you're also debating if you should spend the extra cash
01:38to get the classic MacBook Air for its larger display,
01:41beefier processor, and maybe better battery life.
01:44In our results, the 13-inch MacBook Air managed 15 hours and 28 minutes,
01:49while the 15-inch model achieved 15 hours and 37 minutes.
01:52That's actually a bit better than Apple's up to 15 hours claim
01:56and is a slight improvement over last year's M4 models.
01:59So, that's about two hours better than the Neo.
02:03But considering that it's about half the price,
02:05it really shows you how good of a value the Neo is.
02:11While the MacBook Pros are more focused on their raw power than efficiency,
02:15their M-series chips and larger batteries
02:17have helped them consistently have some of the best endurance
02:20in our laptop battery life tests.
02:22So, how did this year's models perform?
02:24The MacBook Pro 14-inch equipped with the new M5 Max chip
02:28achieved 17 hours and 58 minutes.
02:30That is one of the best battery life results in any laptop that we tested,
02:34along with one of the best laptop processors,
02:36which is why creative professionals who frequently work on the go,
02:39like myself, continue to love these machines.
02:42And then for reference,
02:42the 14-inch Pro with the M5 processor gets 18 minutes on the dot.
02:47And then, of course, there's the beefier MacBook Pro 16-inch,
02:50which also sports a larger battery.
02:52Our test model is equipped with the M5 Pro chip,
02:55and it achieved a ridiculous 21 hours and 25 minutes,
02:59which is about 40 minutes better than last year's model,
03:02which at the time was our longest-lasting laptop.
03:05Of course, if you're buying a MacBook Pro,
03:07you'll be doing a lot more than just web browsing,
03:09but even with more demanding tasks,
03:11you're not going to find a longer-lasting laptop
03:13than the MacBook Pro 16-inch.
03:17But let's say you prefer Windows over macOS.
03:20Here's how the latest MacBooks compare
03:22to some of the longest-lasting Windows laptops
03:24in their category.
03:25If you're strictly looking at budget, thin and light laptops,
03:29the MacBook Neo is well ahead
03:30of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3's
03:338 hours and 39 minutes of battery life.
03:36And a more budget option is going to be
03:38the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3X,
03:40which you can usually find on sale for under $600.
03:43And with its Snapdragon X chip,
03:45it gets a very impressive 16 hours and 29 minutes.
03:50There are also longer-lasting Windows alternatives
03:53to the MacBook Air.
03:54The Dell XPS 14, for example,
03:56with Intel's Panther Lake CPU,
03:58gets 21 hours and 41 minutes in our test.
04:01You'll have to go with the LED display model
04:03as the OLED lasts about half as long,
04:06but that still gives us about five more hours of runtime
04:09compared to the MacBook Air.
04:11But if you do want a long-lasting OLED laptop,
04:14then you definitely need to check out
04:15the Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Pro,
04:17which gets a solid 15 hours and 17 minutes in our test
04:21with its Panther Lake chip.
04:23So slightly behind the MacBook Air,
04:25but you have a much more gorgeous 16-inch AMOLED display,
04:29which I think is worth the trade-off for a lot of people.
04:32Looking to the MacBook Pros now,
04:34they really don't have many Windows competitors
04:36that can go toe-to-toe in terms of performance
04:39and endurance.
04:40But you still might want to consider
04:42the ASUS ProArt lineup.
04:44When we tested the ProArt to GoPro,
04:46which uses the AMD Ryzen AI Max chip
04:49and Radeon 8060S graphics,
04:52along with 128 gigabytes of RAM,
04:54we still got a very respectable 11 hours and 12 minutes.
04:58Again, not MacBook Pro battery life by any measure,
05:00but still half a day of battery life
05:03for a Windows laptop that's this powerful
05:05is still very solid.
05:07So that's all the battery life results
05:09that we have from Apple's latest MacBook updates.
05:12But let me know in the comments
05:13if you'd like a setup essential video
05:15focused on how to make your MacBook's battery life
05:18last even longer.
05:19You can find links to all the best deals
05:21on the laptops I shared today,
05:23along with our full reviews
05:23for the entire MacBook lineup down below.
05:26Make sure you stay subscribed,
05:27follow me to see what other cool tech I'm reviewing,
05:29and until the next one, I'll catch you later.
05:36I'll catch you later.
05:37till the end soon.
05:48You are乖Jain.
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