New Macbooks: New Features Like Retina Displays More Important Or Battery Life

Considering that this is a focus on social and mobile warriors, new Macbooks coming out of Cupertino (headquarter of Apple Inc) are always welcoming news and drives traffic for Mac and mobile blogs such as this one.  As of now, we are a bit over an hour away from Tim Cook kicking off Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco.

So, let's do a bit of speculation on what new Macbooks will have and what is more important to us mobile users.  Retina Display has been much rumored/speculated about in the blog world.  Even mainstream media, which now relies on us for much of their news, are beginning to pick up on this.  So, I ask you.  Between Retina Display and battery life, which is more important to you?

As the proud owner of an 11" Macbook Air, I am quite happy with the screen quality.  I have never made the mistake of comparing it with my iPhone 4 Retina Display nor my mom's 2012 iPad with its own Retina Display.   Sure, I would be amazed if Apple added Retina Display to the Macbook line and I would be excited to upgrade in a year or so, it would not make me do it right away.

However, as someone who likes to roam around a bit, I would like to see longer battery life in the Macbooks.  Currently, the 11" Air is rated at 5 hours while the 13" has 7 hours of battery life.  I would like that see the Macbook Airs increased their battery life by a two-hour increment while the regular Macbook line go well over 10 hours.

I think if Apple wants to blunt any kind of Windows 8 and ultrabook assault that is sure to come for the second half of 2012, battery life, more than anything, could be a differentiator in the battle for the PC dollars.

Newer features like Retina Displays, Thunderbolt, and better Intel chips might help but as more of us go mobile, it's going to be the battery life that could be the deciding factor.