The battery of the new Apple MacBook Pro 14 OLED once again drains under load

Earlier this year, we reported on the MacBook Pro 14 and 16 that their power adapters could not meet their power requirements under full load. Both the smaller 14-inch model and the larger MacBook Pro 16 had to draw additional power from the battery under heavy load.

The problem is not with the power adapters themselves, but with artificial limits imposed by Apple. Even using more powerful adapters does not deliver any more power to the devices: The MacBook Pro 14 is limited to just under 100 watts, while the 16-inch model tops out at 145 watts. This problem has historical roots. The design of the MacBook Pro models with Mini-LED displays has remained unchanged for many years. The first generations of M-series SoCs simply needed significantly less power. However, the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips have now become so fast that their power requirements have also increased dramatically.

Hopes were high that Apple would also address the inadequate power supply when switching to an OLED display on the redesigned MacBook Pro. Although our MacBook Pro 14 review unit came with a 140-watt power adapter, our power measurements proved disappointing: The system still limits power draw to 96 watts. As a result, the battery also drains under heavy load on the new model. With the CPU fully loaded and screen brightness set to maximum, our review unit lost around 15% of its battery charge per hour.

We find it incomprehensible, and somewhat embarrassing for a company like Apple, that this problem has still not been resolved on a "Pro" device. After all, we are not talking about a MacBook Air, but a truly high-end device with a starting price of $2,900. All further information on the new MacBook Pro 14 with its PROLED XDR display is available in our in-depth review.