MacBook Pro M3 battery life tested — this blows everything else away

Apple has released new MacBook Pros and a new 24-inch iMac powered by its new M3 chip, and now that we've had time to test them ourselves it's clear these are some of the most powerful, longest-lasting Macs yet.

The new Apple M3 chip which drives them is the first slice of Mac silicon fabricated using TSMC's 3-nanometer process, which basically means it's smaller than its predecessors so Apple can cram even more on it, resulting in more speed and better power efficiency.

Now that we've had a chance to put multiple models of the M3 chip to the test during our review process, I'm here to tell you that it helps modern MacBooks deliver new heights of performance while achieving some excellent scores in our battery life test. While we haven't yet had a chance to test the M3 Pro model of either 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook, we have tested the 14-inch MacBook Pro M3 and the 16-inch MacBook Pro M3 Max and found they deliver killer battery life across the board.

However, while these new MacBooks smoke even the best Windows laptops when it comes to battery life, they still can't beat the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2. This reigning champ of the best laptops for battery life lasted over 18 hours in our battery life test, which tasks a laptop with endlessly surfing the web via Wi-Fi until it dies. 

Now we set every laptop's display to the same (slightly low) 150 nits of brightness for this test, so there's no guarantee you'll get the same amount of time with one of these new MacBooks before it conks out on you — cranking up the brightness, playing games, and doing other common tasks will cause your battery to drain faster than it does in our testing lab. 

But don't let that puncture your enthusiasm; we use these laptops extensively ourselves as part of the review process, and I can tell you that great battery life is something you can count on in day-to-day use. I review a lot of laptops here at Tom's Guide, and it feels so nice to be using one that has oodles of battery life because you can carry it around the home, office or classroom all day without having to worry about plugging in to charge.

Some of my favorite Windows laptops only last around 8-10 hours in our battery test, and while I love them I don't love the low battery warnings I get whenever I leave the charger at home all day or get foolish enough to start playing games on one unplugged. So even though you may not get the full 17+ hours of use out of one of these new MacBooks, I think you'll appreciate the extra security and peace of mind you enjoy when watching the battery life indicator take ages to diminish.

To show you what I mean, let's take a quick tour of our battery test results.

MacBook Pro M3 battery life vs. MacBooks

Apple's MacBooks have been leading the market in battery life since they started coming with Apple silicon onboard, so it's not hugely surprising that the new M3 MacBooks we've tested aren't the longest-lived MacBooks ever.

As you can see from the results below, that honor still belongs to the MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023) with an M2 Max chip onboard. That beast of a machine lasted nearly 19 hours in our battery life test, followed closely by the MacBook Pro 13-inch M2 with its 18+ hours of battery life.

However, now that the 13-inch MacBook Pro is discontinued it's fitting that the MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 is the new second-place finisher for best battery life in a MacBook, since it's effectively replacing the old 13-inch Pro.

MacBook Pro M3 battery life vs. competing laptops

When I add in a selection of the latest Windows laptops and compare the new M3-powered MacBooks against the battery life of laptops in general, however, you start to see how good they really are.

As you can see from the broader chart of our testing results below, the 14-inch MacBook Pro M3 lasts nearly twice as long as competing Windows ultraportables like the Dell XPS 15 OLED (2023). The only Windows laptops we've reviewed that can compete are special cases like the Panasonic Toughbook 40, a briefcase-sized rugged laptop for first responders that has built-in battery packs no ultraportable can match.

Outlook

As you can see, the M3 chip gives the latest generation of Apple's Pro-grade MacBooks some stellar battery life. While they can't beat the best MacBooks for battery life, they clearly demonstrate that Apple continues to put Intel and AMD to shame when it comes to portable PC power efficiency.

But while Apple's the undisputed king of laptop battery life in 2023, things could change by 2024. Intel is under the gun to improve the performance and power efficiency of its chips, which is probably why the company is chasing Apple and AMD by embracing a "chiplet" design for its upcoming 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs. 

When the first Intel Meteor Lake CPUs debut in December they could bring some serious competition to Apple's M3 MacBooks with their all-new CPU/GPU/NPU design, which incorporates a built-in "AI" engine just like Apple's Neural Engine. Part of this AI engine's job is to dynamically optimize battery life for the next generation of Windows laptops, so perhaps they'll have a shot at dethroning Apple's MacBooks in 2024. Stay tuned!

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