What the reviewer actually reported
Rahi has recommended MacBook Air models for years, largely because they let you leave the charger at home. He says his time with the Galaxy Book 6 Pro changed that view. The laptop uses one of Intel's Panther Lake processors, which Intel markets as Core Ultra Series 3.
Here are his main findings:
- Battery: He gets around 10 hours on a typical workday. The workload is Chrome with multiple tabs, plus documents, browsing and other office tasks.
- His own caveats: He says battery life depends on workload, display brightness and power settings. His result comes from everyday office use, not from running demanding applications all day.
- Gaming: He reports about 60 frames per second at native resolution in Forza Horizon 6 and Doom: The Dark Ages. He adds that frame rates vary with the game, graphics settings and power mode.
- Touchscreen: The Galaxy Book 6 Pro has one. The MacBook Air doesn't.
- His verdict: He still thinks the MacBook Air suits buyers who want a premium, portable laptop with strong battery efficiency, macOS, and tight Apple-ecosystem integration. He would no longer dismiss Windows ultrabooks over battery concerns alone.
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Why "10 hours vs 15 hours" isn't a fair fight
It's tempting to set Rahi's 10 hours against Apple's headline figures. That comparison doesn't work, because the two numbers measure different things.
Apple's specifications for the 13-inch M5 MacBook Air (2026) are not the source here, but the Apple page itself list up to 15 hours of wireless web and up to 18 hours of video streaming, from a 53.8 Wh battery. Apple's footnotes give the test conditions:
- Apple tested in January 2026 on preproduction systems.
- The wireless web test browsed 25 popular websites over Wi-Fi.
- The video test played 1080p content in Safari over Wi-Fi.
- Display brightness was eight clicks from the bottom, and the keyboard backlight was off.
- Apple says battery life varies by use and configuration.
Rahi's figure comes from a mixed office day on a machine he doesn't fully describe. The Livemint piece doesn't say which processor, screen size, brightness or power mode he used. The two numbers therefore aren't comparable, and no side-by-side test of the two exact laptops under one workload turned up in the material I reviewed.
A fair reading is that Apple still publishes the higher battery claim. Rahi's experience suggests that one premium Windows machine can get through a working day for him. That narrows the gap in practice without closing it on standardized numbers.
What other reviewers found
Other reviewers of the Galaxy Book 6 Pro describe battery life as a strength, though their methods and configurations differ:
- Tom's Guide said its official battery test was still pending. In a PCMark 10 run on "Best Performance," the laptop lasted 15 hours 53 minutes.
- Notebookcheck's review roundup lists the model's 78.07 Wh battery as giving impressive endurance, although real-world results may not match Samsung's claims.
- One secondary review site reported about 19 hours 50 minutes in a video-loop test, which is a different workload from Rahi's.
- Samsung's own product page advertises up to 30 hours of video playback. That is a manufacturer figure for local video, not a mixed-use estimate.
These results point the same way as Rahi's. A modern Panther Lake ultrabook with a large battery can last a long time. They also show how much the numbers swing with the test. A 10-hour office day, a 16-hour PCMark run and a 30-hour video claim can all be true for the same laptop.
Note that the Galaxy Book 6 Pro's battery (about 78 Wh in reviewed units) is much larger than the MacBook Air's 53.8 Wh. Efficiency and capacity are different things. A bigger battery adds weight and cost, and it helps explain why a Windows laptop can approach the Air's endurance without matching its efficiency per watt-hour. That's my own reasoning from the two published battery sizes, not a measurement.
Not every Windows ultrabook is a Galaxy Book 6 Pro
The name "Galaxy Book 6 Pro" covers several configurations. Reviewed units used the Core Ultra X7 358H with Intel Arc B390 graphics and 32 GB of memory. Samsung has also listed lower-tier Series 3 chips for the line. Rahi's gaming results may not carry over to a version with a lesser integrated GPU.
Tom's Guide's gaming result gives a sense of what the top configuration can do. Cyberpunk 2077 at 1800p, Ray Tracing Low and XeSS enabled hovered between 55 and 65 fps. Those settings and that game differ from Rahi's, but they are consistent with his claim that a thin laptop can handle serious games.
The Livemint page also lists several laptops under its "Our Picks" widget. They include Core Ultra 5 and older Core Ultra 9 H-series models at lower prices. Those are different chips and chassis from the Galaxy Book 6 Pro, and nothing in Rahi's account suggests they would match his battery result. Treat "Windows ultrabook" as a range of machines, not one product.
How to use this if you're shopping
- Decide what you need first. Pick a Windows ultrabook if you want touch, a wider choice of designs or the ability to play demanding PC games. Pick a MacBook Air if macOS, Apple integration and the highest published battery endurance matter most.
- Match tests to your workload. Look for reviews that run a web-browsing or office-style test, not just local video playback.
- Check the exact configuration. Processor, GPU, battery capacity and display type all affect battery life and gaming.
- Allow for your own settings. Brightness, power mode and background apps will move your results, as Rahi himself says.
- Check local price and availability. Samsung's U.S. launch pricing doesn't apply in other markets, such as India, where Livemint publishes.
The bottom line
Rahi's report is a credible sign that Panther Lake has closed some of the battery-life gap between premium Windows laptops and the MacBook Air. Other reviews of the same laptop support the idea of strong endurance. None of it shows that the Windows side has overtaken Apple, and the Air's published figures are still higher. Windows buyers now have a better case to make. Whether it wins depends on the exact laptop and on how you work.