Is there a difference in performance between mac vs windows laptops when they're on battery?

[Ragnar Lothbrok]

I saw some youtuber saying that there's a difference in performance when mac and windows laptops are used on battery. He was saying that macs deliver the same performance on battery while windows laptops take a hit on performance to deliver a longer use-time on battery.

 

Is this true?

 

I'm planning to buy a new laptop. The new apple m1 laptops are looking really good with 12-15hr battery.

 

But I'm a windows user so I was thinking of going with one of the new dell XPS laptops. But if the performance takes a hit on battery then I'll have to go with a macbook.

 

Let me know. 

 

TIA

[Levent]

Depends on your software configuration. Windows is not that good when it comes to power usage optimization. Its all due to sheer amount of different hardware being used. Apple only uses select number of chips and designs their own board and everything around it, resulting in better control over the hardware. That's why Macs up until very recently outlasted every single windows device when it came to battery life. Also its not a great idea to compare M1 to X86 based Windows devices, they are significantly different but just serve similar purpose.

[Ragnar Lothbrok]

3 hours ago, Levent said:

Depends on your software configuration. Windows is not that good when it comes to power usage optimization. Its all due to sheer amount of different hardware being used. Apple only uses select number of chips and designs their own board and everything around it, resulting in better control over the hardware. That's why Macs up until very recently outlasted every single windows device when it came to battery life. Also its not a great idea to compare M1 to X86 based Windows devices, they are significantly different but just serve similar purpose.

I agree. But for someone like me who spends most of his time in a browser and an email client, I don't think M1 or X86 should matter yes?

 

Based on the youtube videos I've watched reviewing M1 products so far, they seem to tell that everything I need is very well optimized.

 

So even though I've always used windows, in this case a macbook might be a better choice?

 

Or is it better to wait another year and see what the 2nd gen of apple silicon looks like?

[Roswell]

It’s true. There are no power plans or firmware throttling on battery like on Windows. Macs perform the same plugged in or not.

[Commodus]

12 hours ago, Ragnar Lothbrok said:

I agree. But for someone like me who spends most of his time in a browser and an email client, I don't think M1 or X86 should matter yes?

 

Based on the youtube videos I've watched reviewing M1 products so far, they seem to tell that everything I need is very well optimized.

 

So even though I've always used windows, in this case a macbook might be a better choice?

 

Or is it better to wait another year and see what the 2nd gen of apple silicon looks like?

Think you've answered your own question. If you largely spend your life in a browser and email, the new Macs would be better. Longer battery life, a better-balanced display (I'm not a fan of Dell's insistence on either 1080p or 4K) and very quiet. You don't even have to splurge... a base MacBook Air would be more than enough.

 

If you go that route, you might want to try using Safari unless all your data is in Chrome. Apple's browser is more battery-efficient. With that said, from the gains people talk about... you might not be too worried even with Chrome.

[Ragnar Lothbrok]

6 hours ago, Commodus said:

Think you've answered your own question. If you largely spend your life in a browser and email, the new Macs would be better. Longer battery life, a better-balanced display (I'm not a fan of Dell's insistence on either 1080p or 4K) and very quiet. You don't even have to splurge... a base MacBook Air would be more than enough.

 

If you go that route, you might want to try using Safari unless all your data is in Chrome. Apple's browser is more battery-efficient. With that said, from the gains people talk about... you might not be too worried even with Chrome.

I agree. I've never used safari. As long as I can add extensions I should be good.

 

But yeah, I think I was unnecessarily complicating things.

 

Thanks.

[Commodus]

31 minutes ago, Ragnar Lothbrok said:

I agree. I've never used safari. As long as I can add extensions I should be good.

 

But yeah, I think I was unnecessarily complicating things.

 

Thanks.

Welcome. Safari does support extensions, and you can even bring over Chrome extensions (it's not automatic, but it's not hard either).