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Intel credits Apple with big gains in battery life

The chipmaker attributes significant increases in battery life to Apple pushing it to improve from generation to generation.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers
MacBook Air: Intel says Apple pushed it to double battery life.
MacBook Air: Intel says Apple pushed it to double battery life. Apple

At Intel's investor day meeting Thursday, an executive cited Apple as the primary force behind the chipmaker's push for big improvements in battery life.

"We're extremely excited about the MacBook Air," said Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president of Intel's PC Client Group.

"Essentially, cooperating with Apple doubled the battery life from generation to generation -- from 6 to 12.5 hours on the MacBook Air," he said.

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CNET Reviews said that the battery life on the 2013 MacBook Air with Intel's Haswell processor is "astonishing."

"The previous-generation 13-inch Air ran for 7 hours and 27 minutes in our video playback battery drain test. The 2013 version blows that out of the water, with an astonishing 14 hours and 25 minutes on the same test," CNET Reviews said.

And Skaugen also saw Apple's move to Intel's graphics silicon in its latest MacBooks and iMacs as a huge win.

"We were extremely pleased that Apple has moved a significant portion of their iMac and MacBook Pro line to Intel Iris Pro graphics," he said.