The new MacBook are slower without the battery

The new MacBook line continues to show an unusual issue: the system is slower when the battery isn’t connected. Some tests performed by Gearlog confirm it.

Even though there was an official announcement from the technical support, back in August, that predicted an update on the new notebook line, the new unibody systems seem to noticeably lower the processor performance when only the electric supply is available. The company sustains that “If the battery is removed from a MacBook or MacBook Pro, the computer will automatically reduce the processor speed. This prevents the computer from shutting down if it demands more power than the A/C adaptor alone can provide”. Which seems a rather inconsistant explanation.

During the test made, the performance reduction is considerable: using the CINEBENCH R10 test on a MacBook Pro 2.53GHz, the performance points go from 5549 to 3504. The difference is so noticeable that the system only uses 63% of its true capacity when connected to the electricity.

This problem is unusual to many PC manufacturers, that often work on the contrary, limiting the processor’s performance in case the system is only connected to the battery, in order to extend the battery’s duration.