Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2010/11/05/apple_macbook_air_flash_crash/

Adobe Flash foils MacBook Air battery life

Uninstall Flash, get two more hours' runtime

By Hard Reg

Posted in Personal Tech, 5th November 2010 13:00 GMT

Why isn't Apple integrating Adobe's Flash plug-in into the version of Mac OS X pre-loaded on the new MacBook Airs? Maybe not for the resulting battery life boost, but it's as good a reason as any.

There certainly is an increase. Website Ars Technica tried out the 13.3in Air with Flash enabled - it's easy enough to download the plug-in - and with the Adobe software absent.

The result? "The best time I recorded with Flash installed was just four hours," says writer Chris Foresman. "After deleting Flash, however, the MacBook Air ran for 6:02."

He adds: "With a handful of websites loaded in Safari, Flash-based ads kept the CPU running far more than seemed necessary." ®