2016 MacBook Pro Denied Recommendation From Consumer Reports Due to Battery Life Inconsistencies

[triton100]

tried one in the store yesterday. felt worryingly flimsy. the touchbar was horrible (often failing to register clicks) - and i'm not sure i'd ever get over not having an ESC button (but somehow the ±/§ button made it through?! i mean, who's ever even used that?) - volume and brightness changes too ages compared to the old buttons, found it really hard to concentrate on two screens at once.

trackpad was too large and i'm not a fan of the haptic button, screen was oddly fluorescent, and a bit flickery compared to the 2012 rmbp i use, it also wobbled like it was about to break with the slightest movement of the machine, even typing caused some wobble - and man, that keyboard was truly awful, i could barely type, i felt RSI building up from the lack of key travel after 15 minutes playing with it. with Apple having put the price of the nearly 4 year old Mac Pro up £700 or so in the UK recently, for the first time since 2003, even as a Logic audio user, i'm really close to switching to PC

Are you sure you were using the right machine ? I'm a power user and the new MacBook Pro 15 is a beast. Slick fast and the touch bar is phenomenal. Speeds up shortcuts no end. Battery could be better and obvs the price makes u take a sharp intake of breath but there's no denying this is an incredible machine. I can't believe how thin light yet solid and sturdy it is.

 

[pmau]

I can't believe how thin light yes solid and sturdy it is.

There is a picture, which I cannot find right now where someone dropped an empty cup on a corner of a closed MacBookPro that was sitting on the desk.
Not only was the corner of the display totally bend, but also the bottom case was warped.
This thing is not sturdy at all.

 

[Jaekae]

Am I the only one who doesn't have battery issues with the 15'' tbMBP?

me neither, but i have graphic bugs instead

 

[triton100]

There is a picture, which I cannot find right now where someone dropped an empty cup on a corner of a closed MacBookPro that was sitting on the desk.
Not only was the corner of the display totally bend, but also the bottom case was warped.
This thing is not sturdy at all.

I would say if one were to drop a cup on any electronic device it's going to receive some damage. I'm not sure what people are expecting. Advsnced electronics needs some degree of protection. Put a case on it. That's like someone not wearing a seatbelt in a car And then complaining the car is not safe when they get injured in a collision.

 

[bsolar]

Am I the only one who doesn't have battery issues with the 15'' tbMBP?

I have no battery issues either but I mainly use Chrome. According to the report the issue only appear when using Safari.

 

[Romy90210]

Can't be... These thing have batteries that will last for days according to Tim and Koolaid drinkers here..

 

[Phoenixx]

The company changed, the products changed in due course. The echo chamber was here ready to be made because many of us who were once excited to buy an Apple product have felt slighted. I still remember buying my first iMac and Macbook Pro (Core 2 versions). I had just switched from PCs and while there were pain points - I felt like I was in a whole new world.

My last Mac that I was excited about was the first generation rMBP. I loved that computer. I didn't get a bad screen on it, and it was beautiful and powerful and relatively light for what it was.

But then ... after Steve's death, it was starting to become painfully obvious that this was not the same company anymore. By the time Apple had acquired Beats and released the Apple Watch I knew that their focus was not on people like me who liked computers. Their focus was on becoming a fashion company, and while their laptops were always very nice looking - they were bringing the fashion ethos into the computing world so that the computer was becoming an iPhone accessory like your Apple Watch and AirPods.

That's not a place I want to go with my computers; I make a lot of money off of my computers and right now I'm writing this on an Alienware Area 51 Desktop since Apple doesn't make anything suitable for me in that price range, and I am using a SurfaceBook because I bought it during the Mac refresh drought thinking that I would buy it to hold me over.

But I have decided that until some major changes are made I will just stay in the Windows and Linux camps with occasional use of macOS for building iOS apps when the need arises.

I am not everyone. But I do think there are a lot of us who have similar (yet different) needs and perspectives regarding the future of Apple. I hope they turn it around, because I have to admit - when I turn on my Retina Macbook (non Pro) I still have glimpses of "what could have been".

Then I start to type on that awful keyboard and I wake up to reality.

Sadly, I agree with you completely. To me, the first sign that things had gone amiss at Apple was the release of OS X Lion, which was widely regarded as the Vista of OS X. Lion was what drove me away from the Mac. I was a student and needing to upgrade my rather slow 2006 iMac at the time for studies. I could have got a Mac Mini, but I decided to get a Windows 7 machine instead. Even more sadly, I still have this Windows machine, and it is by far the fastest computer in our household!! I never really liked Windows, and was disgusted with Windows 8, so later on I got both an iMac and Macbook Pro to work on, both of these from 2013. I originally wanted to sell off my Windows machine when I got my iMac, but quickly found I couldn't due to the iMac being gutless, unreliable and OS X to be far too iOS based to be used as a serious desktop environment. Both Apple machines have been a huge disappointment, and now I find little reason to buy another Mac.

As far as I am concerned, I didn't abandon Apple, they abandoned me. I'm expecting that in a few months they will completely gut the iMac, and at that stage, they will no longer make ANY computers worth buying.

 

[citysnaps]

do people actually go to CR for computer info? who knew?

It's the same people who ignored, didn't question, or even wonder in the slightest about CR's too-good-to-be-true 18.5, 16, and 12.75 hour results in one set of tests, yet still hold their overall testing methodology, veracity of results, and conclusions in high regard.

CR testing at its finest! All bought by people here lock, stock, and barrel as The Truth.

Hilarious.

 

[ocnitsa]

So I think the issue is the promise not the machine. The promise is a lie. The reality is the machine is a great machine. The issue is the promise was to lofty for this box. The promise should have dropped back to the old 8 hours of battery life and we can all say we can see how you can get any of these new machines to get 8 hours of light use.

The 2 hour difference is the sticking point. I know some people get longer I know some get less. the moving avg is 6~8. so 8 is doable. The 10 is lofty I am not seeing many folks getting 10 hours of promised life.

Apple PR worked off the old eng design or we can call it design prime. This design prime failed to met safety I guarantee. This critical test was something with safety. They went with a safe backup design. Design beta we can call it. Design beta was not ideal it could only eek out 10 under sweet heart conditions. So here we are with great machines but not living up to the promises made by Tim and co.

So what does apple do. I think a apple gift card for the App Store would be a smart move right now. Revise the estimates down to say 8 or 9 hours of light use.

Fix the issue in the update. Then just move on.

They need to some clean up PR.

I for one like the machine. I know I would like it even more if it had the declared 10 hour of light use life that it is advertised to have.



The vitriol needs to simmer down on the forums. I know we all feel like we just got stood up on a date. That pain needs to ease back a bit. The issue is well know the fix is known return or live with it. This is a dead horse we beat into the ground all the way to china and back.

I hope we see some improvements as things move forward I am not holding out much hope though.


I am strongly considering just trading this 15 2016 in for the 13 base model and limping along for the next year or so.

I let my 2012 go already to fund this purchase.

I think you got it mostly right, especially marketing working off the original vision for the model, that has since been compromised. Highly doubt Apple would ever directly confirm a lack of excellence by issuing a gift card. I think they'll bury their heads in the sand and wait for next year and a better iteration. I think the vitriol is fine. It's s nice counterbalance to the apologists or unapologetic-apologists for who Apple can do no wrong.

 

[darzok]

Hello,

Recently I bougth the new macbook pro 15" with touch bar, and today I received an AUKEY USB C - HDMI adaptor (https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01EY187HS/ref=pe_1636431_66412821_cm_rv_eml_rv0_dp).

When I started to connect my Macbook pro to my monitor with this adaptor, the autonomy go down from 95% to 75 % in less than 30 min and the adaptor was really hot.

I don't know if this problem come from the mac os sierra usb-c driver or from the adaptor itself, but, it might be explain that some people notice serious problem with the autonomy.

I would like to know if someone else notice this ?

 

[anoobis]

I had the same experience , drop your brightness to 30% and your battery life shoots up. These machines are made to run efficient settings, though most of us owners used them like prior machines.

So yes you can get good battery life on these machines , but you will have to turn stuff down and stay away from processor intesnsive work

Will try lower brightness and see what kind of battery life I can get.

 

[cardfan]

Consumer Reports lost credibility years ago. Don't let good or bad news sway you there. That said, Apple has more negative PR to contend with. Battery life shouldn't be an issue at this point..

 

[Popeye206]

I hope that this improves the internals for next year's model.

What I'd like to see them improve is device continuity. Every Apple device should use the same power cords and standardize on USB 3.0 so you really only need one set of adapters for all your Apple devices. Also, most of all, they should sort out a way to resurrect the Mag Safe connector... IMHO one of the best features of the MacBook line for years. Saved my butt more than once.

Although I can see why Apple is taking the route they are with minimal ports, wireless is the way to go, but working through the transition period is painful and having different cords for iDevices vs Mac devices is getting out of control.

Things I don't care about... touch screen on my laptop or a detachable screen. Both seem like gimmicks to me. I do think different devices have different uses and would rather have devices that are great at what they're intended for than a single device that is mediocre at either.

If I was in charge of Apple product line vision... I'd be pushing for more continuity and making them as easy as possible to use together. Seems Apple has all the right components, but they need to make it stupid-simple to set-up and understand. Besides that... battery life on devices... that should be a huge focus to ensure Apple devices last longer than any comparable device out there.

While I'm on my little idea soapbox, I'd also add an iOS option to make your iPhone as simple as possible and great at making phone calls. I know a number of people (mostly in the 55+ age range) that use smart phones, but are getting overwhelmed with all the features and all they want is something way more simple (make calls, text, map directions, search internet now and then)... but this group could care less about features like ApplePay, iCloud, file sharing and would want the OS to be smart enough to automatically optimize settings for best battery life and internet usage.

 

[ocnitsa]

Your talking about a company that refused to create a two button mouse because they didn't like how it looked!
Apple have ALWAYS been form before function. Where on earth have you been for the last 20 yrs? If you want function before form go and buy a windows box.

Without that mind set we wouldn't have the products we have from them. The whole industry would be full of convoluted Nokia type crap with everything but the kitchen sink stuck in it if it wasn't for Apple almost psychotic approach to form over function. I'm glad they are like this and they shouldn't change.

There are tons of PC companies out there who don't give a sh*t about how any of there products look, go buy their stuff if you can't hack Apple any more.

Fair enough, because there is no posssibility that form and function could be reasonably balanced. Like you say, it's either only one or the other. Apple is pretty good, has a great team of engineers and lots of leet skills in engineering, but they are incapable of wedding form and function. And that's good. I understand you.

 

[MH01]

Will try lower brightness and see what kind of battery life I can get.

Tell us how it goes. I saw a nice boost in battery once I turned settings down, screen was the main one .

 

[sziehr]

I think you got it mostly right, especially marketing working off the original vision for the model, that has since been compromised. Highly doubt Apple would ever directly confirm a lack of excellence by issuing a gift card. I think they'll bury their heads in the sand and wait for next year and a better iteration. I think the vitriol is fine. It's s nice counterbalance to the apologists or unapologetic-apologists for who Apple can do no wrong.

vitriol is out of hand though. I mean we have this spilling over into posts about AirPods what did the lowly AirPods ever do to the MacBook Pro 2016.

The fact they exist must prove apple took away even more focus from the Mac.

The fact is you have over 60% of your cash form mobile and portable your going to spend more than 60% of your time working on that.

The other thing is the Mac are PC with a shinny box and fancy OS. The PC industry of innovation is flat and has been for almost a decade. So what is apple supposed to do.

The took a healthy risk by apple standards. They came up marginally short. I for one am still using the 15 2016 but with every passing day I think about just hunkering down into a non touch bar model and waiting out the storm.

Apple made a mistake finally. Intel screwed them. So you got the best of what apple had left to design with.

 

[Wildkraut]

No but its a black eye for apple as they try to promote this laptop towards consumers and a lot of people rely on Consumer reports. Apple being so image conscience, this is yet another news story coming out putting Apple's MBPs in a negative light.

Well there isn't any hardware or software without flaws.
If we go that route, we could probably advise agains any Operating System, Computer Hardware, Cars, etc. and end in cave trying to light up our fireplace.

The heavy duty Hp Workstation Laptops I have to deal with doesn't last more than 1-3 hours at light usage, and their batteries are usually >90% broken after a year of usage. Is that a reason to not recommend them? I don't think so, we still get the Job done with them. These ugly, heavy, big and bad behaving Hp Laptops (which I personally dislike) still allows us to get the job done and earn few millions per year for the company I'm currently working for.

I mean we don't know if the websites had flash adverts or crazy ajax/javascript running in the background etc.
They don't say, for what or for who they don't recommend it, they generalise the topic too much.
They are just trying to make some headlines and keep relevant.

In addition to that this weren't real usage or working scenarios.

 

[iriejedi]

Or, more accurately, you reap what you sew.

Hukd awn fonicks werks!

Thank you for the grammar lesson - I fixed my auto correct! Hahahahahaha

 

[SAIRUS]

Oh Tim, you need to start firing some people.

 

[HighDesert50]

Excerpt from CR - "For the battery test, we download a series of 10 web pages sequentially, starting with the battery fully charged, and ending when the laptop shuts down. The web pages are stored on a server in our lab, and transmitted over a WiFi network set up specifically for this purpose. We conduct our battery tests using the computer’s default browser—Safari, in the case of the MacBook Pro laptops.

During the tests, we set each laptop screen to remain on. We use an external meter to set the display brightness to 100 nits—a typical level you might use indoors or out. And, we turn off any automatic brightness adjustment in the laptop’s settings.

We also update every computer's operating system before we begin any testing. We began our tests several weeks ago, but repeated the battery tests using macOS Sierra 10.12.2 after it was released. We saw no difference in the results.

Increasingly, we see that the performance of all kinds of products—not just computers and smartphones—can be influenced by software updates. If Apple updates its software in a way that the company claims will substantively change battery performance, we will conduct fresh tests.

Once our official testing was done, we experimented by conducting the same battery tests using a Chrome browser, rather than Safari. For this exercise, we ran two trials on each of the laptops, and found battery life to be consistently high on all six runs. That’s not enough data for us to draw a conclusion, and in any case a test using Chrome wouldn’t affect our ratings, since we only use the default browser to calculate our scores for all laptops. But it’s something that a MacBook Pro owner might choose to try.

Consumer Reports has shared diagnostic files pulled from all three computers with Apple in the hope that this will help the company diagnose and fix any problem. We will report back with any updates."

Cursory glance says they didn't do anything they don't do with any laptop test. They sent their data to Apple so maybe Apple will confirm your theory.

Thanks for sharing the excerpt from CR. It appears the results are reliable, that is replicable, and the method consistent across computers. As to generalizing of the results to one's specific needs, that is really up to the reader to determine. CR appears to have taken the "high road" and shared the results with Apple. Apple could certainly debate the generalizability of the results, but for us as purchasers, having unbiased comparative testing is an enormous boon. And, this does provide us with interesting insight as to the pre-sales rigor of product testing.

 

[therealseebs]

I didn't like the move and the timing was horrible, but yet people have said that it was never that accurate anyways. I don't know, as I only used the battery percentage not the remaining hours

It was never 100% reliable, because estimates aren't, but it was always pretty good on every machine but this one.

 

[cardfan]

I didn't like the move and the timing was horrible, but yet people have said that it was never that accurate anyways. I don't know, as I only used the battery percentage not the remaining hours

It was never reliable for me either but yeah, bad timing. It'll be interesting to see what Apple does. Despite Cook's memo, that report about no dedicated MacOS team and losing Mac engineers left and right is the only news that is troublesome.

It goes from being excited to see what comes next to just hoping they keep it alive. That's a huge change. And not a good one (incredibly dumb IMO).

 

[sziehr]

So lets assume that these test are indeed conductive scientifically. The wide swings in values should be a very large concern for apple.

This explains once and for all to me why some people are like what are you talking about I just got 12 hours on my 15 while the next guy says I only managed 5 do what they both think are similar duty loads.

I am now very concerned about my laptops I have purchased. These things are going to have little to no re-sale value down the road. I hope we end up with a battery replacement recall in the coming year where we can all go in and get magical new battery with new battery controllers to help mitigate the issue.

 

[pcmacgamer]

So many apologists and deniers omg. This is a very big deal as it's the first MacBook not recommended by consumer reports.

 

[Gudi]

The irony is that not a single person on this planet complained the 2015 was too thick. I haven't met anybody online or offline who said they wished it was thinner. Yet they trimmed it down along with the battery.

The 2015 MacBook Pro is way to thick and heavy. The only reason to use it is when you already owned one prior to October 2016. The 2016 MacBook Pro is still too thick and heavy, but there isn't anything better yet.