# ** Is the battery of the MacBook Pro 2023 as good as Apple advertises** ** The professional model used by Apple to talk about the battery is very impressive. In fact, the machine can meet the needs of heavy work, enough for a working day.** Before the MacBook Pro 2023, I used to have many years of using Windows computers because of special requirements. After switching to Apple’s new computer model, the way I use my laptop has changed dramatically. The biggest difference in recent times is probably the battery on the MacBook is enough for a working day, usually about 20% left at the end of the day, so I reduce the number of times I have to find an outlet at the cafe, when I go out. outside. Another impressive point, to me, is the ability to achieve peak performance even when on battery. With the Windows laptops I’ve used, the machine only runs at full speed when plugged in. ## Nearly 9 hours of mixed use During the last weekend’s business trip to Hoa Lu (Ninh Binh), I only brought a 16-inch MacBook Pro for personal work. The configuration of the device is an M2 Pro chip, 32 GB of RAM, 2 TB of memory and a 99 Wh battery. The “extraordinary” shift starts at 5pm, because during the day I have to participate in many pre-scheduled activities. The machine starts with 100% battery, not stuffed during the experience. I start with text editing. During this process, I opened many Chrome browser tabs to search and aggregate information. In addition, Spotify also plays music in the background. Volume, screen brightness of the laptop is set at 80%. After 2 hours of operation, the device has 83% battery left. Using nearly 2 weeks later with general office tasks, Apple’s new MacBook model usually meets about 12 hours of continuous use. This is an impressive number, although still lower than the 15 hours of web browsing that Apple announced. This may come from Chrome’s performance is not as optimized as Safari developed by Apple itself. However, after a long time using Chrome with all kinds of data tied to a Google account, I can hardly choose Apple’s browser just for better battery. One of the reasons I’m still loyal to Windows computers, even though the MacBook is a great fit for my work, is because of its ability to play games. I’ve been playing *League of Legends* for over 10 years. However, most of that period, this game only supported Windows operating system in Vietnam. Until recently, when the game was transferred to VNG Games, a new MacOS version appeared. With the powerful chip, my MacBook Pro model can handle this game well. Unfortunately, this is not a task that is really suitable for the machine. After nearly an hour of experience, the 16-inch MacBook Pro drained about 20% of the battery. Compared to normal work and entertainment tasks, *League of Legends* “burns up battery” much more. Part of the reason is that the game is run on a high-resolution screen, and the current version is not compatible with computers running Apple Silicon chips. Late at night, I go back to editing photos with the Adobe Lightroom application. The device runs smoothly even without a charger. Importing, exporting images, selecting subjects automatically responds very quickly. Compared to the Windows model that costs about 50 million VND that I used to use, Apple is quite far ahead in terms of optimization. My old machine will have a very loud howling fan when starting to orthopedic, the temperature also increases quickly, easily felt in the palm rest area. This does not appear on the MacBook Pro 2023. After an hour of work, the machine lost 13% more battery. Apple equips the new Pro series with an SD card slot. Unfortunately, I’m using a Nikon Z6, which only supports the XQD standard. In addition, the card reader is also not compatible with MacOS. As a result, my orthopedic procedure was not seamless. I mixed work on Chrome, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop for about another 2.5 hours before going to bed. These software are all compatible with Apple Silicon platform, so they run smoothly and consume less battery. Ending the day’s work with 6.5 hours of work, Apple’s computer model still has 28% battery left. ## Just fold the device Another change in the user experience is turning the device off and on. After completing the work, I just need to fold the device, the machine is put to sleep mode. Windows computers also have this feature, but it is not stable. My back got hot many times when wearing the backpack containing the computer behind because it still works after “sleep”. In addition, applications are retained by MacOS as when the device is closed. The morning of the second day of the business trip, my computer still had 26% battery left. Thus, after one night, the device loses another 2%. 16% of the 16-inch MacBook Pro’s battery still provides about 2 hours of mixed work, mainly text editing before the low battery alarm. Overall, I got about 8.5 hours of use with 90% of the device’s battery. With the remaining 10%, the machine can continue to handle office work for about 1 hour. However, to ensure optimal performance and maintain a safe level, I decided to pause the test and recharge the device. Apple equips the product with a charger that comes with a capacity of 140 W, through the new MagSafe port. It took me about 1.5 hours to fully charge the device. This charging standard makes the device safer when accidentally touching the wire, and the connection is also faster than the USB-C standard. However, I had to bring an extra cord instead of using the same cable that came with my computer to charge my Android phones. However, the MacBook Pro 16’s charger is as big and heavy as the 180 W charger of Windows manufacturers. I also have no other options on the market, because the 140 W PD standard is only provided by Apple. In fact, my experience in the short time of evaluating the MacBook Pro 2023 battery is not as complete as the objects the company targets. The new M2 Pro chip is made for heavier tasks, like processing 8K movies, RAW or doing 3D animation. However, the battery and performance of the device still surprised me. The unsatisfactory point in the experience is that the game response is not good, nor is it optimized for the games I often play. In terms of battery, a few Windows-based competitors can get close to the MacBook Pro 16’s usage time such as Dell XPS, Asus ZenBook, LG Gram. However, with Windows laptops thin and light, the device often does not have good enough performance when not plugged in. If you want to achieve MacBook-like performance in professional applications, you’ll need to invest in a gaming or workstation computer, which often has a large and heavy design.
