Mac Book Pro 13" - Power Consumption Data

[fos]

Mac Book Pro 13" - Power Consumption Data

Standard Apple supplied 60 watt power supply connected to 120 volt receptacle fed through a P4400 Kill A Watt Power Meter



Charging and operational - 50 watts




Charging, system off - 43 watts (Note: tapers to 13 watts prior to complete charge) Complete charge from full discharge, approximately 90 minutes.




Fully charged and operational - 10.3 watts


Jeff

PS. It is no wonder the MacBook barely gets warm while in operation.

[fos]

For comparison, I checked my Dell Inspiron 1300 series laptop that has a very similar configuration: Core2Duo, 4 gigs of ram, and a 13" display.

The operational consumption for the Dell is: 26.7 watts (almost three times as much)

My Via C7 based Mini-ITX system with 4 gigs of ram has an operational consumption of 19.1 watts. That does not include the monitor which would add quite a bit.

So, hands down, the MacBook Pro is the low power wizard. That is quite a feat considering the amazing speed of operation.

Jeff

[danieldk]

These rates sound familiar. Good thing they dropped the PowerPC chips ;).

[uteck]

Was the Dell power settings at Perforce while plugged in? It seems odd that the same chip sets would operate so differently.

[fos]

The Dell was plugged in during the test. Apple has newer screen technology than the Dell. The Dell power supply consumes 2 watts without the computer plugged in. The Apple power supply doesn't register any consumption. The Apple also adjusts screen brightness to background conditions. I use the Dell at full intensity and maximum performance mode. With my low vision, it is difficult to read the Dell screen at reduced intensity level. The Apple was operating as it came from the factory. I haven't made any power selection options at all.

The Apple evidently has an improved power management system. The MacBook performs much better than the Dell even with reduced power consumption.

Jeff

PS. I still use the Dell and my homebrew CentOS desktop. Not all of my applications have been moved to the Apple.

[fos]

I currently running the latest Intel Atom single core mother board (D410PT using a 45 nm fab process). The video is incorporated in the cpu chip. There are only two significant ICs other than the CPU which is concealed under a large rectangular heat sink. I have it configured with 4 gigs of ram and the 160 gb seagate hard drive that came out of the MacBook Pro.

I have installed CentOS 5.4. It is doing very well. It is quite responsive as expected.

It is a fanless motherboard. I have it installed in a minibox steel mini-itx case. It is the steel unit that has no fan or accommodation for a cd/dvd drive. I am using an HP external cd/dvd when needed. It is 4 usb ports on the back panel and 2 hidden behind the drop down front panel.

This is a very functional and totally quiet computer.

I measured its power consumption in operation. The 12 volt power supply brick consumes 2 watts without anything connected. In regular operation, this set up consumes 18 watts. This does not include the display which consumes a little over 30 watts.

The MacBook Pro 13" is still the clear winner!

Jeff