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

[neuropsychguy]

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.

We haven't met but I like the thinner MacBook Pro. Last year's MacBook Pro was too thick and heavy for me so I compromised and bought a MacBook. I lose a lot of raw performance but portability was paramount. Now that there is a Mac with a lot of performance that is also very thin and light I'll replace my MacBook this next year with one of these MacBook Pros.

 

[AAPL_DayTrader]

People who use consumer reports and the like are precisely who the current Mac market is targeted at.

According to whom? You or did you simply forget to name the source of your claim? In my opinion, Apple's products have always appealed to people who don't need someone else to tell them if something is good for them or not. That was the point of my perspective. Let the Microsofty PC fans of the world rely on Consumer Reports if they choose to follow rather than lead while Apple's loyal customers (at least this one as in me) proclaim their uniqueness by telling Consumer Reports to go **** themselves.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

Anyone who still relies on Consumer Reports for reliable input designed to assist in purchasing modern devices should probably consider trading in their diapers for free potty training lessons. This is the same company that gave high ratings to Samsung's subsequently-recalled grenade-phone.

I'm sure if the batteries in their test units exploded, they wouldn't have recommended the phone. They can only test what they have and the MB Pros they have showed inconsistency in battery life. We're not trying to shoot the messenger, are we?

 

[jujufreeze]

According to whom? You or did you simply forget to name the sources of your claim? In my opinion, Apple's products have always appealed to people who don't need someone else to tell them if something is good for them or not. That was the point of my perspective. Let the Microsofty PC fans of the world rely on Consumer Reports if they choose to follow rather than lead while Apple's loyal customers (at least this one as in me) proclaim their uniqueness by telling Consumer Reports to go **** themselves.

The problem is it doesn't "just work" for 10 hours as advertised.

 

[lcseds]

Does it really make you feel superior to "speak" even though you have no idea what you are "talking" about? Unless you work for Apple, you are clueless as to how long they've been working on this product from its initial conception to its relatively recent release, one that according to the latest numbers has them still struggling to keep up with the high demand. But don't take my word for that. Visit their online store and look at how long you'll have to wait to get something that you falsely claim was a "product rushed to market." You make it sound like they super-glued some old scrap metal parts together in their basement, scotch-taped a new strip of fancy lights across the top and hired hungry pigeons from Amazon to start dropping them at local markets across the globe. Rather than try to denigrate Apple's team of expert engineers, perhaps you should consider dropping your jaw in awe as you contemplate the collective magical genius that makes its way into everything that bears the Apple logo. That's assuming you are actually familiar with any of Apple's products as opposed to joining the merry gang of Apple-bashing critics.

Well I will take the high road which you don't follow. It's apparent they didn't go with the battery pack they wanted. So yes, they did patch it up and send it out for the holiday's. And as long as you don't work for Apple, your not in a place to defend them either. Also, a product shortage or backorder does not necessarily indicate it's popularity. You can't speak for high demand unless you take Apple's word as gospel. Sales figures are never released.

You have a lot of anger my friend.

 

[Ghost31]

So you've had the laptop less than 24 hours and you've already determined you only get 3 hours of battery life? Indexing alone can take several days, along with initial battery conditioning. You're exactly the kind of person the media loves to hear from because they get someone who has no clue what they're doing and write a story about it. In 24 hours you should not be allowed to comment about battery life.

Ohhhhh there we go. Telling someone that has problems that their problems basically don't exist. This go to response of "you're wrong! Indexing and stuff" needs to stop being copy and pasted everywhere when there are clear battery issues.

What do you then say to people who have had theirs since launch and still get crap battery life? Maybe you just don't comment because you don't have anything handy to paste into a conversation. I don't know

 

[Woodcrest64]

Ouch... Hopefully this will provide a much needed reality check to Apple and they can get their act together for next year's model.

Mark Gurman from Bloomberg mentioned that Apple had been working on a new battery design what would of offered better battery life but it failed a key test with a prototype so they reverted back to an old design. We 'may' see this new battery next year. Fingers crossed!

 

[chriscrowlee]

Ohhhhh there we go. Telling someone that has problems that their problems basically don't exist. This go to response of "you're wrong! Indexing and stuff" needs to stop being copy and pasted everywhere when there are clear battery issues.

What do you then say to people who have had theirs since launch and still get crap battery life? Maybe you just don't comment because you don't have anything handy to paste into a conversation. I don't know
[doublepost=1482455438][/doublepost]The comments here remind me of the presidential election. When people hear facts they don't like, they say the source is biased and start smearing them to disregard the results. This is a disgusting trend

I didn't say there aren't issues. I said someone can't make a determination as to their battery life when they haven't even had the laptop 24 hours.

There sure are a lot of people who bitched about the laptop being too expensive to buy, and then trashing it even though they don't have it. Seems like some serious personal insecurities and self justifications.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Or, more accurately, you reap what you sew.

Actually you sew what you rip, but you reap what you sow.

 

[69650]

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.

I don't care how thick it is but I do care how heavy it is and how long the battery lasts. IMO Apple keep focusing on the wrong things with the MBP.

 

[Soccertess]

Good. Now learn something from this, Apple.

Like fire Tim Cook? Get Mac back as a priority? Both?

 

[SeattleMoose]

Apple grew so fast that they had no choice but to recruit the entire Microsoft Quality Control department.

 

[Even Longer]

Sad indeed. Along with a lot of long-timers here. I'm seriously hoping for someone to kick someone's butt in management. Not sure this is *all* on Tim's head, but the board needs to exert some pressure.

No one here wants Apple to fail, but we want the "old" Apple back.

So to those incorrigible fanboys: if you're truly an Apple fan, you'll support the criticism.
We don't need Apple bashing, but constructive criticism to get the company to regain its reputation.

I've also invested too much in that walled garden to see it overgrown with weeds and barb wire at the edges.

I've recently tried out the XPS 13 that switchers here often talk about, but returned it due to a number of issues (coil whine, slow SSD, stupid webcam, etc.) I'm still keeping my 2015 MBA, but the jury is out in the future.

Agree, but my way was slightly different: I have replaced my MacBook Pro with Wacom Mobilestudio Pro 16 and after initial roughness I couldn't be happier indeed. Full OS with full touch and pro apps + touch support nailed it for me. Not to mention all those Office Pro tools, which only the Windows version can offer.

Many of my team have also switched to SP4 instead of Apple MacBook and are happy as hell with all that pen and touch possibilities.

Final words: we'll all see, what future brings, but as for now - Apple does indeed undedeliver.

Unfortunately.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

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.

This is just following Jobs' methodology, isn't it? He didn't believe in finding out what people wanted, but rather giving them what he thought they should want.

It was funny when Schiller put up the slide showing how the new MB Pro was 17% thinner than the previous one and waited for the gasps and applause from the audience, only to get silence.

 

[62tele]

They did revise the antenna because of it. Consumer reports looks after the consumer. We need that to keep Apple from screwing us over. They're also independent.

But CR do have their faults, esp the vehicle division that used to be pretty corrupt in the 1980s.

CR isn't going to save anyone from getting screwed over. I had an iPhone 4 and the antenna was not an issue for me. Regardless, what CR reports isn't going to have a major impact on the MBP sales. However, it seems that Apple has usually been correct about battery life claims in previous generations and across it's product lines so it's odd that they could have been so wrong about this. Someone dropped the ball if battery life is so dramatically less than promised.

 

[SeattleMoose]

It was funny when Schiller put up the slide showing how the new MB Pro was 17% thinner than the previous one and waited for the gasps and applause from the audience, only to get silence.

Functionality > thinness - 365 24/7

 

[dogslobber]

People who use consumer reports and the like are precisely who the current Mac market is targeted at.

What does this even mean?

 

[philosopherdog]

Seems they're just joining the pile on. Probably great click bait right Macrumors? Seems mostly unfounded. Every good product Apple ever releases is met with controversy. The iPhone was hugely controversial. The iPad was slagged everywhere. Looks like probably the best computer ever made. It could be better and next iteration it will be.

 

[boast]

Worthless trash publication. CR should stick to reviewing pizza and toilet paper. ZERO useful information in that article, stick to reading experts like Anand.

Your parents read Anand?

According to whom? You or did you simply forget to name the source of your claim? In my opinion, Apple's products have always appealed to people who don't need someone else to tell them if something is good for them or not. That was the point of my perspective. Let the Microsofty PC fans of the world rely on Consumer Reports if they choose to follow rather than lead while Apple's loyal customers (at least this one as in me) proclaim their uniqueness by telling Consumer Reports to go **** themselves.

You have a defensive and superiority attitude throughout all your replies on this thread.

It is very clear many people on here are trying to justify their purchase.

 

[guerro]

527 days to get it right. The MBP costs a fortune. This is silly. It's okay to have issues with a product but at this price point and with so much time in between product update? Come on Apple.

 

[PaulMoore]

The comments here remind me of the presidential election. When people hear facts they don't like, they say the source is biased and start smearing them to disregard the results. This is a disgusting trend

​

This!

FYI I read Consumer Reports and have had Macs only for 15 years (and iPhone, Apple TV, Airport etc.)

I'm not in the market for a MacBook Pro but it does take the sheen off the brand

 

[nocturnum]

I am a person who wished the 2015 MBP was thinner, closer to the light portability of the MB. So now you've met a person online on the planet or wished the machine was thinner, and I'm afraid to tell you, there are many others who feel the same.

Now yes, I and many do not wish for paper thin and light at the cost of significant decrease in performance or battery life. But people who say no one wanted x feature on the planet, I always find funny since it's more the author saying they don't want x feature and they can't comprehend that others who want something different than their own use case.

I've had the MBP with touch bar (and nearly every MBP / Powerbook since then), and so far haven't experienced any battery issues. Yes, my computer gets no where near 10 hours, but as a pro user, real life battery life has never been near those numbers except when on a plane simply watching a downloaded iTunes movie. So perhaps the battery issue is a quality control issue, affecting some but not all users. Hopefully Apple is able to offer a repair program for anyone affected.

Congrats. This is about the dumbest comment I've seen in months. I reckon you misunderstand the purpose of a tool like MBP. There's already MB for the needs you imply, so we may count your opinion as invalid or null.

 

[dguisinger]

Mark Gurman from Bloomberg mentioned that Apple had been working on a new battery design what would of offered better battery life but it failed a key test with a prototype so they reverted back to an old design. We 'may' see this new battery next year. Fingers crossed!

Yes.... but why did they need the sculpted battery? Because they keep shaving off millimeters no one will actually notice when their macbook is in use.

Beyond that, why do all their products keep getting delayed because of Intel's delays? Because of their absurd obsession that everything they have to do has to be incredibly thin. And absolutely silent. And shaped in a way they can't properly ventilate. Intel has plenty of CPUs everyone else uses, they just don't fit Apple's incredibly stringent design criteria that is a self-imposed penalty.

USB? Ethernet? Audio jacks? Can't have them, we must be thinner.
Upgradeable memory? Of course not, we can't fit an SO-DIMM in our laptops.
Battery life? Nope, you aren't deserving of it, we can't be the Chris Christie of laptops

Heck... who asked for a touch pad so big that people run into palm rejection issues?? They could have put a normal size track pad and larger batteries.

I agree with the movie to USB-C as it is where the industry will be, but everything else? Common, I used to lug around 15lb Dells. I don't care about an extra couple of millimeters. I care about my screen being bright and accurate, my graphics being powerful enough to run applications and games, and my CPU being powerful enough to do anything I can do on the competitor's product.

I'm undecided on Cook, but I think he is listening too much to Ive and Ive has to go. I mean seriously, all product design happening out of his office based on looks, then going back to California to get them to cram the innards in? How many rounded rectangles of glass can he design that are fundamentally different? His obsession with thinness is killing the company. I absolutely hate the new AppleTV remote its thin and has no sense of direction when you pick it up. I constantly hold it backwards to try to use it or trigger the trackpad while just holding it. Every other remote ever invented is built for function, just look at them, usually they have a rounded underside that fits your grip so without looking at it you can tell which direction is front or back.

I used to look up to Ive and respect him, now I think he needs to be tossed aside for the dustbin (or throw him into a Mac Pro)

 

[dogslobber]

To be clear, CR is one of the very few unbiased reviewing mediums left on the planet. Every other Apple MBP review is typically done by some obedient Apple lapdog who is willing to republish the Apple Marketing party line. E.g. you get scant criticism of the lack of 32GB option or even this battery issue, as most media fear that they'll be blackballed from the Apple mothership. But the reality is that the 2016 MBP is junk to not have a 32GB option and no amount of Apple Marketing approved responses will convince most techies otherwise.

Now you have CR come out and say the battery is junk that it will force Apple's hand. kudos to CR for being the only media periodical with a spine.

 

[AAPL_DayTrader]

Well I will take the high road which you don't follow. It's apparent they didn't go with the battery pack they wanted. So yes, they did patch it up and send it out for the holiday's. And as long as you don't work for Apple, your not in a place to defend them either. Also, a product shortage or backorder does not necessarily indicate it's popularity. You can't speak for high demand unless you take Apple's word as gospel. Sales figures are never released.

You have a lot of anger my friend.

You say "Sales figures are never released" when the exact opposite is true. Eventually, sales figures are always released to the public although Apple does sometimes group some of their individual products into a major category but rather than talk about something pertaining to the future, check out what Forbes has to say on the matter dealing only with relevant facts that are indisputable even to those adept at spinning rumors into lies:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2016/11/09/apple-macbook-pro-sales-figures/#434f0ec76bf0