M3/M3 Pro Battery Life vs M1 air in real life

[haikuhell]

Hello everyone,

I've had an M1 air for 2 years. I'm very happy with it (battery life).

Now I need to change because I need more space and my screen is a bit dead.

I need your help to choose.

My priority is battery life (similar to the m1 would be perfect, more is not necessary certainly not less).

- Buy the M1 with 1To/16gb (good battery, low price, no fan)
- Buy the M3 with 1TB/24gb (more performance, maybe better battery than the m1)
- Buy the M3 Pro with 1to/36gb (more performance and memory, maybe a better battery than the M1 and a higher price)

It's hard to find a real-life battery life comparison between M1 / M3 / M3 PRO.

What do you think? Thanks in advance for your feedback

 

[dizmonk]

Hi. I think I can help a little. I had an M1 Air, M1 MBP 14", M2 15" Air, and now have the M3 (non-Pro) 14. In using all of those devices from my real-world usage, the M3 slightly edges the M2 15". Most of what I do is office software, web browsing, and very light video editing. In the month I've had the M3 I can get two full days without charging. I could get close to that with the 15" Air. It depends on your use case but I would vote for either the 15 Air (which is in the Apple Refurbed store for an even better price) or the M3. But you are right, I never found any really good battery comparisons.

 

[haikuhell]

Thank you for your answer. M2 15" Air has a better autonomy than m1 air ?

 

[dizmonk]

Thank you for your answer. M2 15" Air has a better autonomy than m1 air ?

What do you mean by "a better autonomy?"

 

[haikuhell]

better battery life

 

[dizmonk]

better battery life

Yes. It's been a while since I had the M1 but my sense is the M2 15 is better. According to Apple, the battery life is the same. But from my experience, the dominant differences are the screen and the speakers. I rarely ran out of battery with either the M1 or the M2 but there is a substantial upgrade in those areas I mentioned.

 

[haikuhell]

interesting, thanks a lot

 

[dizmonk]

interesting, thanks a lot

I'd recommend either going to an Apple Store or buying a 15" for a week to see if you like it. I had no plans to sell my 14" M1 but the 15" Air really impressed me.

 

[haikuhell]

I tried the 14" M1 after the M1 air, but the battery life was bad and I sent it back.

If I'm going to buy a MacBook Air, I think it's a good idea to wait for the future MacBook Air m3 coming in 1 to 2 months.

 

[haikuhell]

an other review ?