Apple’s new MacBook Pro failed to get a recommendation from Consumer Reports, which recommended all its earlier models. The publications, one of the most thorough in terms of testing on laptops, says the battery life of the laptop has consistency issues. In a blog post on Thursday, Consumer Reports informed consumers of its decision and the reasoning behind it.
Inconsistent battery performance
Apple released its latest batch of laptops in October, and reports of inconsistent battery life have been surfacing since then. The magazine said that the findings are in line with customer complaints.
Apple introduced three new MacBook Pro models, all of which were included in Consumer Reports’ test. There are two 13-inch models, of which one is without the Touch Bar, a new kind of touchscreen integrated into the laptop’s keyboard. There is also a 15-inch model with a Touch Bar.
Consumer Reports stated that the MacBook Pro’s battery life results were highly inconsistent from one trial to the next. The 13-inch model with the Touch Bar ran for 16 hours in the first trial, 12.75 hours in the second and only 3.75 hours in the third.
The 13-inch model without the Touch Bar ran for 19.5 hours in one trial, but in the second, it ran for just 4.5 hours. Running hours for the third model also varied widely from 18.5 hours down to 8 hours.
“Those were just a few of the results; we tested battery life on these laptops repeatedly,” said Consumer Reports.
Apple updates not helping either
Consumer Reports conducts real-world tests on battery life, including turning on the laptop’s screen and surfing webpages using Chrome, according to Business Insider. Even recent software updates did not help the problem, said the publication. In a recent software update, Apple removed the clock icon from the main display amid complaints that the remaining battery time estimate varied widely from the actual battery life.
According to Consumer Reports, “Apple says that these computers should operate for up to 10 hours between charges, but some consumers in Apple’s support forums reported that they were only able to use their laptops for three to four hours before the battery ran down.”
The new laptops are marred by several other issues apart from the battery one, says Recode. Another significant issue is the lack of different ports on the machines, forcing users to use an adapter or dongle to connect everything from an iPhone to a flash drive.
