Apple isn’t accustomed to getting negative feedback about one of its products. Typically, the company drops a new product, and an appreciative public gobbles it up in massive numbers. But the recent release of the latest iteration of the MacBook Pro is not receiving such rave reviews.
Right out of the gate, tech industry reviewers Consumer Reports offered a “thumbs down” on recommending the MacBook Pro. Major issues the company pointed to included inconsistent battery life.
According to Consumer Reports, the MacBook Pro’s battery life proved to be “highly inconsistent from one trial to the next.” What did they mean by “highly inconsistent”? Well, in one test, the notebook lasted for about 16 hours … before racking up a “whopping” four hours in the next test. Another unit was good for nearly 20 hours in one turn before putting up a pathetic four-ish hours in another test.
Fluctuations of battery life are to be expected, based on what the notebooks are expected to do during that span, but a more than ten-hour gap is staggering…and, according to Consumer Reports entirely unacceptable.
Apple claims the MacBook averages about ten hours of battery life, but they have yet to officially respond to Consumer Reports’ study results.
Another dubious factor – the Touch Bar. Apple seems to love this innovation … and they may be the only ones who actually appreciate it. Billed as a cool interactive tool that changes controls based on which program is currently running, the Touch Bar has not been well-received by Mac’s core buying group. Designers and videographers have been griping about the loss of shortcut keys at the top of the keypad … exactly the target market Mac can’t afford to aggravate.
In case the computer buying public thinks Consumer Reports is just another group out to get Mac, this will be the first time the organization has failed to recommend the latest MacBook. Sure, the company didn’t much like the iPhone 4, but they still thought it was the best smartphone on the market at the time.
And, of course, there was BendGate, a YouTube phenomenon that claimed the iPhone 6 would “crack” if handled a certain way. It was none other than Consumer Reports that led the myth busting on that story. So, no, the company is not out to get Apple … they just genuinely don’t like the new MacBook Pro, and this is a review Apple may want to take seriously.