Does updating the Macbook Air to an Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, and 512 GB Flash Storage negatively affect the 12 hour battery life?
3 Answers
Yes, the i7 will extend battery life when doing processor intensive tasks compared to the i5, but eat up more battery when doing low exertion tasks. The more memory you have, the more battery life will be reduced as well — this is why Apple has kept the RAM relatively low in its mobile devices other than laptops. I do not believe that the size of the SSD should have a negative impact on battery life. The larger drives are faster and so should overall reduce battery usage, however, if the drive is crammed full this will reduce battery life simply because there is more information which needs to be available to be accessed.
Your cofiguration of the macbook air 13" will not have any effect on your battery.
Some programs have a higher inpact on your battery, like iMovie, a virtual machine,... Lets say havier programs effect your battery time in a negative way.
The 13 inch MBA gets up to 12 hours with Intel i7 processor.
That is actualy more than the 11 inch MBA which gets up to 9 hours.
Main reason is battery capacity, 38 vs 54 watt hours.
The larger SSD and more RAM have negligible power consumption.
For example: 4 Gig RAM consumes 4 watt, while 8 Gig Ram consumes 8 watt, but on the other hand the i7 CPU consumes up to 100 watt under heavy load.
Apple specifies 12 hours with i7 on 13 inch MBA.
Since the CPU and the LCD screen are the 2 larges power consumers it is safe to say that the 13 inch MBA with i7, 8G RAM and 512 G SSD will yield up to 12 hours on single battery charge.
