Why is the MacBook Air configured with standard power settings?

Help me understand something here. The MBA is targeted to the truly mobile individuals right? I’m talking about folks that are on the run more than they’re sitting still at a desk. In fact, I suspect most consumers really don’t fall into this category as the bulk of them likely use their notebook at a desk.Let’s circle back to the battery situation on the MacBook Air. Yes, we’ve harped on the fact that truly mobile individuals will be challenged by the lack of a user-replaceable battery. Why? Because truly mobile individuals don’t often rely on finding an electrical outlet during their daily travels; they instead plan ahead by purchasing and carrying a spare battery. Let’s face it: if your first battery runs out and you’re not able to find an electrical outlet, are you carrying a mobile computing device? I suppose so, but you can’t use it for mobile computing at that point. Personally, I’d prefer to carry a spare battery than carry an AC adapter of any size as well; just my personal preference and it’s certainly debatable.

Hardware design decisions aside, why are we reading report after report of battery life in the MacBook Air in the three-hour range at best? jkOTR reader TaxMan, might have solid evidence and it points to the default power settings on the device:

“One thing I noticed was that Apple doesn’t set the MacBook up to maximize battery life by default. On battery, the screen is set for maximum brightness and the power option is “normal”, not the “longer battery life” setting. In a well lit room at night, I can comfortably use the Air at the lowest screen setting, one click above dark. I also reset the power saver option to “longer battery life.” Now, I’m not watching a DVD or rendering video, but I think some of these battery tests may be running using Apple’s default battery settings.”

Changing the default power settings, yielded 3 hours and 29 minutes for him and still left 24 minutes of battery life showing in the power indicator. That’s nearly four-hours with the wireless radio on and a little more tolerable for a mobile device.So exactly why are the power settings not optimized for a device that’s targeted for on-the-go use? One could easily argue that UMPCs and sub-notebooks running on Microsoft Windows aren’t optimized either; they’re usually set at the default power options unless the OEM has tweaked the installation. That would be a valid argument, but I still see a missed opportunity here by Apple. Instead of showing off the gorgeous screen by having it set for full brightness, why not “hone the tool” so it better serves its intended purpose and set the power settings appropriately?In the end, mobile device users tend to follow a function over form approach as opposed to the reverse. Sure we want our devices to look nice with a bright screen, but only for a minute; cranking down the screen brightness is often my very first step with a new device. No, we’re more interested in getting as much use on the road from our device.I’ll be the first to agree that Apple’s design and engineering is top-notch. I guess that’s why I’d expect them to pre-configure the most appropriate power setting for a device of this type. Yes, it’s a small hiccup (at best) and certainly easy to fix by the end-user, but it’s a situation that could easily be rectified.

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