Consumer Reports Doesn’t Recommend 2016 MacBook Pro

Consumer Report Says MacBook Pro Battery Is Miserable

On Thursday Consumer Reports announced they will not recommend Apple’s new MacBook Pro due to the laptop’s poor battery life.

For many MacBook Pro users this isn’t exactly news to them. Taking to social media many users have complained about the short battery life and Consumer Reports’ tests confirm those complaints are justified.

In it’s review Consumer Reports said the battery life was “highly inconsistent from one trial to the next.” One MacBook Pro 13-inch model with the Touch Bar ran for 16 hours in the first trial, 12.75 hours in the second and just 3.75 hours in the third. Another had 19.5 hours of battery life in its better test and dropped to 4.5 hours in its worst.

While battery life can vary in each test, usually a laptop battery life only varies five percent from test to test. Consumer Reports said the type of fluctuation seen in their trails of the MacBook Pro is extremely rare.

Apple

Consumer Reports decided to factor in the lowest battery life measured in each model they tested since averaging battery life length would not reflect what a customer would experience accurately.

With that said their results showed some bad stats. The 15-inch model tested received a score of 56 out of 100. The 13-inch model without the Touch Bar got a 47 and the 13-inch with a Touch Bar only scored a 40.

That put the MacBook Pro well below the MacBook Air, which scored 70 out of 100 and is also a lot cheaper than the Pro.

Apple says the new MacBook Pros get 10 hours of battery life. Of course Consumer Reports and Apple have a history as the magazine failed to recommend the iPhone 4’s even though the phone rated higher than any other smartphone on the market.

 

 

On the other hand Consumer Reports was the first major publication to investigate Apple’s ‘bendgate’ phone cracking controversy. The magazine found that the iPhone 6 was far more durable than what YouTube videos made it appear.

 

Allison Leslie is a University of South Florida graduate with a bachelors degree in Mass Communications. She joined Genesis in 2016. With a passion for sports, Allison has interned with 620 WDAE, Pewter Report, Trifecta Team: St. Petersburg Bowl, Bullscast, and many other publications. Being a native to the Bay Area, she has followed and supported Tampa Bay teams her whole life.