Apple offers the MacBook Pro with two processor options — 2.3 Ghz and 2.6 Ghz.
I'm wondering if the more powerful CPU drain the battery more quickly by any significant degree.
(And incidentally, would additional RAM consume additional power?)
MacBook – Would a 2.6 Ghz CPU drain a laptop’s battery faster than a 2.3 Ghz CPU
batterymacbook pro
Related Solutions
Even in CPU-intensive tasks, the difference is going to be more of the "noticeable in synthetic benchmarks" variety, rather than "I see it in the real world" variety. I'd save the money and put it first towards an SSD option, then more RAM.
Processor speed is almost flat these days, so minor bumps aren't worth the money.
My very aging MacPro got a new lease on life when I replaced the boot disk with an SSD earlier this year. There's nothing better for improving perceived responsiveness.
The flash modules and controller of the SSD are blades (think naked SSD). They are not up to 3rd party configuration (at this time), but according to bmike, they are not soldered onto the main board and are actually discrete components.
However, there is no information as to what kind of proprietary (if any) configuration the blades come in, or whether they require an additional proprietary onboard controller (this may be likely given Apple's tendency to create speciality hardware for their line-up). So it most likely isn't the case that one could just crack open an existing SSD and use the blades within. A manufacturer would have to specifically design a unit for the new notebook. This isn't unlikely, but price will be the determining factor as it will be a speciality component.
It is also not clear at this time if Apple will make the components upgradeable, which is also a distinct possibility given how quickly SSDs are saturating the market place.
At best, it's a tentative "maybe."
You can read more about the new machine here: http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/design/
Related Question
- MacOS – Can CPU Speed Stepping be prevented
- macbook-pro – Disable SpeedStep for Battery-less MacBook Pro Usage
- MacBook – Battery life of macbook air with different hardware configuration
- MacOS – How to disable SpeedStep/XCPM on Macbook Pro 11,1 OSX 10.10.2
- MacBook Pro Battery Life with Android Studio – Optimization Tips
- Xcode Development – Single Graphics vs Dual Graphics for Mobile App Development
Best Answer
If everything else was equal (CPU architecture, generation, manufacturing process, OS, power management strategy, software running etc.) the answer is maybe. Modern CPUs like the i3/i5/i7 series downclock themselves when idle so it depends what you're doing and what the actual CPUs are. If everything is as equal as you can make it and you compare CPUs of identical generation, one with maximum clock speed higher than the other and you are using the CPUs to their maximum capacity - then the more powerful CPU does drain the battery faster - but it gets more work done in the same time too, and might get back to the idle state faster.
You can only really answer this question if you test your exact scenario.