Apple unveiled its new MacBook Pro 2016 lineup in October. Coming in two sizes, 13-inch and 15-inch, buyers have now had nearly a couple of months to get to grips with them. Unfortunately for Apple, it didn’t take long for reports that some devices were experiencing GPU issues to emerge. And even worse, some were also crashing, with no hope for recovery. Now a new problem which revolves around the battery has come to light. It’s a problem which makes a mockery of Apple’s 10-hour battery life claims.
MacBook Pro 2016 battery woes
Imagine that you work hard and have save hard for your shiny new MacBook Pro. It arrives, and you tentatively unwrap it, boot it up and begin to enjoy Apple‘s latest portable–only to discover, that the MacBook Pro 2016 with Touch Bar will shut down much sooner than Apple had promised it would in the literature.
Seeing as these devices can cost anywhere between $1,299 and $2,799, depending on size and specifications, it’s not surprising that owners who have discovered this problem have taken to social media to rant. However, before we point the finger, let’s delve a little deeper into what’s been happening.
10 hours of battery life
Yes, that’s the promise and a big selling point (if you exclude the Touch Bar) of this latest Apple laptop. The Pro’s specification sheet clearly states it will offer:
- Up to 10 hours wireless web
- Up to 10 hours iTunes movie playback
Of course the above figures do depend on how the device is being used, and there’s the fact they are “up to” numbers, the kind of figures broadband providers will give you to get you to sign up, although you never receive them. Nonetheless, it’s still hard to fathom why the MacBook Pro 2016 with Touch Bar misses its battery life promise by so much.
On MacRumors, which has also reported on this evolving story, one MacBook 2016 owner wrote: “My new MacBook Pro 15 is having serious battery issues….just surfing the net drains it. At one point, it went down to 0% while plugged in, I had to call Apple and do some type of reset so that it would run again. Not good for a $3K laptop. I will be returning for a refund and going back to my MacBook Pro 13″…works great.”
It turns out that Apple has offered to replace the user’s machine with a new one. However, judging by the comment above, it’s likely that he may prefer a refund.
On Twitter, the conversation is beginning to take on a more sinister twist, with some users reporting that the battery in their laptop has been bubbling!
Both variants affected
As we discover more about this battery bubbling issue, we will inform you. However, the clear majority of the problems being reported relate to battery life, with some users talking about the problem on Apple’s Support Forum or Reddit. From the information we have seen, it appears that both MacBook Pro 2016 variants are affected.
However, we must state that not all MacBook Pro 2016 users are having this issue. Some have reported via Reddit that their batteries last longer than the 10 hours promised. But this is when they have been working on a non-resource intensive task or have left the computer idle.
For the moment Apple has yet to respond to the battery reports. More than likely, it is trying to determine how widespread the problem is before deciding on a course of action. As this story develops, we will keep you informed.
