Apple’s MacBook Pro laptops failed to get a “recommended” rating from Consumer Reports earlier, but it didn’t take long for the magazine to reverse course and give a thumbs-up. On Thursday, the magazine said the latest versions of Apple’s MacBook Pro laptops now fall well within the recommended range, according to Fortune.
A software bug to blame
Consumer Reports’ original opinion regarding the laptop came out in December when it said that it wouldn’t recommend the new laptop. This was because in its test, the magazine found that the laptops failed to live up to Apple’s claims of a 10-hour battery life. To make it worse, testing at times showed that the batteries lasted for just four hours, notes Fortune.
It was the first time in Apple’s history that one of its laptops failed to get a recommendation from Consumer Reports. Following this, Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller said that Apple was working with the Consumer Reports to understand their battery tests, as their tests yielded results that are different from those Apple conducted itself.
Apple said earlier this week that it discovered a software bug which could be the reason Consumer Reports was getting incorrect results. The magazine used a hidden Safari setting to develop websites to test the batteries, and this triggered the software bug, said Apple.
After this, the magazine was prompted to try again. It now says that all of Apple’s new laptops run for a minimum of 15.75 hours on a single charge.
Apple laptops OK after re-test
Consumer Reports said about the recent re-test, “The process we followed with Apple is the same process we follow with any manufacturer when we discover a significant problem. We shared our test results with the company so it could better understand our findings and deliver a fix to consumers. Since Apple made a fix, we retested the laptops.”
According to Consumer Reports, Apple has fixed the bug, and the patch will be released in few weeks as part of a broader software update available to all MacBook Pro users. It is said that the bug affects only Safari developer mode, and hence, it is not clear if it was a matter of concern for everyday users as well.
This whole episode should be taken with a grain of salt since real-world usage won’t be the same as an in-the-lab battery test. So to get a more realistic opinion about the laptop, it is better to ask someone who owns the product and has personally used it.
