Monday the company Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), launched two new models of MacBook Air, the version with a 13-inch screen being able to reach an autonomy of up to 12 hours while surfing the Internet connected to a Wi-Fi network. Several American publications managed to get hold of some test units and the first reviews made by them confirm the autonomy specified by Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), at the WWDC 2013. Those from Engadget succeeded to obtain almost 13 hours of autonomy for MacBook Air 13 inches, Laptop Magazine got it 11 hours of autonomy, and those from Forbes got it between 8 and 9 hours of autonomy under conditions of use at almost maximum capacity.
If that didn't impress you enough, there's one area where the performance has really gone off the charts, and that's battery life. Apple rates the 2013 edition of the MacBook Air for up to 10 hours of battery life playing video or 12 hours of wireless web surfing. Our standard rundown test, as it happens, also entails playing video and last year's machine managed just over six and a half hours before expiring. We were, then, skeptical that this new edition could manage nearly twice that longevity — but it actually did better. This year's Air survived 12 hours and 51 minutes on a charge. That's a stunning number from a laptop this thin, achieved with WiFi enabled and without any external batteries.
At the moment, no MacBook Air competitor is able to obtain such autonomy without the use of external batteries and things will become much better in the fall, after the release of OS X Mavericks. Those from Apple promise more improvements in terms of battery autonomy, so theoretically a MacBook Air can exceed the 12 hours promised by the company, and at that moment it will outperform any competitor without a right of appeal, as long as the competitors do not use the Intel Haswell platform, which could bring them to the same level as Apple.
