2016 MacBook Pro Demonstrates Impressive Power Gains

The latest MacBook Pro models Apple released last year haven't been met with the same enthusiasm as previous generations of the laptop. The Touch Bar isn't very useful, the performance (and RAM) is lacking for power users, and the prices remain very high. However, Apple does seem to have made a breakthrough in one key area on the 2016 MacBook Pro: power efficiency.

More specifically, the amount of power the latest MacBook Pro ( at Amazon) laptops draw when idling has been significantly reduced. That is the conclusion of one-man Mac software house MacDaddy, which among other things creates the popular free Mac Battery Guru application.

Putting a 15-inch 2015 MBP and a 2016 MBP side-by-side for power comparisons found that the 2015 model idles at 619mA, where as the 2016 model only draws 430mA. That's a 44 percent reduction. Even with screen brightness set to full, the 2015 MBP idled at 1010mA, where as the 2016 MBP only draws 767mA. A reduction of 33 percent.

It's unclear exactly how Apple managed to make such significant power savings, but a number of efficiency gains across more recent Intel processor use, a more efficient display, and better power saving across other components inside the laptop all are likely to play a part. And the power saving is important when you consider the 2016 MBP includes a battery 30 percent smaller (76-watt-hour) than the one in the 2015 model (99.5-watt-hour).

While not a rigorous test, it certainly shows how efficiency has improved inside the latest MacBook Pro models. Imagine how long the battery would last if Apple hadn't decided to make the Pro thinner or decided against adding that energy sapping OLED Touch Bar...

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