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

[dguisinger]

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.

ah hahaha i thought the same thing when I read it.
Apple has notebooks for more extreme mobility and others for more higher end use. Pick the tool for the job. Unfortunately, in Apple's case, everything is becoming a hammer.... a very thin hammer.... and with each product release, more and more people are wanting to use Apple products as a hammer....

 

[Ampidire]

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.

Mostly unfounded? Did you read the testing methodologies? Someone is in denial.

 

[gertruded]

But I bet that the new MacBook "pro"s are the highest profit margin of all Macs, ever. Cheaping a product and raising the price is a good way to monetize customer loyalty. That is one way to maximize short term profits.

 

[threesixty360]

Yep, their obsession of anorexia is sickening. There comes a point where you have optimal thickness. It didn't turn out so well for Barbie...

How do you know it's the thinness of the machine that makes the battery life inconsistent? If it's a software issue and they had a bigger battery they would still have a problem with battery life! People jump to conclusions as if they are hardware designers! You really don't know what's going on unless you are an engineer at Apple.

 

[jkichline]

HUGE BLOW to apple. They are known for customer service, quality, and ease of use.

They have not had 2/3 above lately... you maybe able to argue 3/3 if you include how clunky iOS has gotten and the Apple Watch UI

I'm not sure about your experience, but mine has been pretty good on the three items you've mentioned. iOS 10 has been pretty much rock solid after a release or two. Support has been helpful on my wife's 2014 MacBook Pro. Compared to other platforms, iOS/macOS is still pretty easy to use. But I would agree that they are slipping slightly.

I'm typing this on my new 2016 MacBook Pro 13" so I'm draining the battery and then fully recharging (after Spotlight and iCloud stop indexing) and see how it performs.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Mostly unfounded? Did you read the testing methodologies? Someone is in denial.

I've tested the new machines thoroughly. When I see people claiming big differences in battery life I check their usage and...that's where the difference lies.

If you have background services from multiple social networks enabled then you shouldn't be surprised if it hurts battery life. Such factors are not included in the numbers given in the spec sheet, rightly so.

But who is going to admit they are a social network addict or that they didn't test properly. No reviewers I have seen are that open or self-critical.

 

[ScottishCaptain]

I love this community.

Apple releases a laptop with a purposefully undersized battery, and everyone blames it on the software, and not the hardware.

Maybe I'm the only one who remembers a point in time where manufactures actually assumed you'd be using 80-100% of the CPU to do stuff, and built their laptops accordingly? Blaming the software is literally the same thing as saying "Don't use the full capacity of this machine, it wasn't designed for that". If the machine wasn't designed to be used, then what was it designed for? It's quite obvious the battery isn't beefy enough to support all the other hardware they crammed in there, but they did it anyways, because if they'd rated the CPU and GPU according to the battery specs, you'd land up with something more akin to a Macbook Air or a netbook.

By all means, keep blaming the software. That's exactly what Apple wants you to do.

-SC

 

[threesixty360]

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)

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.

 

[fermat-au]

weird choice of comparison. you used a severe quality issue that affected safety and was well documented with an issue of extreme variability that can occur in any battery.

thankfully, this doesn't seem to be affecting sales.

No one is denying that the Note 7 severe quality issue that affected safety. That is a reason I used it as an example here. Everyone agrees that Samsung did the right thing by recalling it, despite the fact that most Note 7 owners didn't have any problem.

Even if the majority of users are not have a problems with their new MBPs that doesn't mean that there isn't a problem with many that Consumer Reports is right to point out.

In terms of it affecting sales. I am not an Apple share holder so I don't want necessarily want people to got out and buy the new MBP. If the MBP is a good product for the consumer they should buy it. If there is some issue that some consumers are having potential consumers should be informed. Back the the original post: One person not having issues with their MBP doesn't mean all people are nor having issues with theirs.

 

[benlukes]

Well crap - now I'm torn. I generally do the opposite of what Consumer Reports recommends as I've had horrible experience with their recommendations in the past, but I had already passed on the new rMBP. Looks like I might have to reconsider it. As for the testing, the results from Consumer Reports seems very odd and I suspect that something is flawed in their testing methodology (unsurprising) as it just doesn't seem like someone would see such a drastic variation in battery life like that.

Their standardized test that reports good, normal results for other laptops, including previous Apple laptops reports poor results for the new MBP and your conclusion is that something is wrong with the test?

 

[citysnaps]

I've tested the new machines thoroughly. When I see people claiming big differences in battery life I check their usage and...that's where the difference lies.

If you have background services from multiple social networks enabled then you shouldn't be surprised if it hurts battery life. Such factors are not included in the numbers given in the spec sheet, rightly so.

But who is going to admit they are a social network addict or that they didn't test properly. No reviewers I have seen are that open or self-critical.

And not just social networks.

I have many thousands of photographs in Drop Box and the initial sync takes forever.

 

[benlukes]

weird choice of comparison. you used a severe quality issue that affected safety and was well documented with an issue of extreme variability that can occur in any battery.

thankfully, this doesn't seem to be affecting sales.

I'm not buying one in let because of this, and I won't buy one until I am confident that the problem is fixed. Also, "thankfully"?

 

[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.

I didn't say that I don't work for Apple nor did I say that I do. I do, however, own $121,800 worth of the company as of their after-hours close today (1050 AAPL shares@116) although since their market capitalization is well over $620 billion dollars, that's like a tiny crumb from the total AAPL pie. But like many pro-active stockholders, I make it my business to know as much as there is to know about a company that is at the center of my chosen career. Samsung's battery in their recalled flame-throwers was a lot bigger than the one in Apple's iPhone 7 series. They were obviously shooting for bragging rights to having the longest battery life of any smartphone out there and look where that pursuit got them. And that's why I think any complaints about getting a slightly less-than-advertised battery life on any Apple product is the equivalent of nit-picking since there are always incidental risks involved in trying to make something like a battery last longer and Apple has always been unwilling to compromise when it comes to things like safety or privacy concerns. Additionally, no Macbook Pro user will have the same background apps and processes running on his/her device not to mention the apps running front and center. Add that to the infinite variety of screen brightness settings and the like (countless user-defined variables) and what you have is the total inability for anyone to define with any degree of certainty the exact number of hours and minutes of battery life that all Macbook Pro's will uniformly manifest. All I know is that I charge my 2012 Apple iPad (with the same 4.5-year-old battery in it) and my 12.9 inch Apple iPad Pro (bought the first day they went on sale) whenever the battery indicator lets me know the power supply is getting hungry again. And unlike a baby, I don't even have to burp it.

 

[benlukes]

And not just social networks.

I have many thousands of photographs in Drop Box and the initial sync takes forever.

1. Why would that impact standardized tests?

2. Why didn't those identical problems appear with previous laptops?

 

[Shirasaki]

A product rushed to market. No surprise. They really dropped the ball on this. They may as well not released anything "new".

Or we could say they don't use the "4 years" they have to develop a truly stunning new MacBook Pro.

 

[AFDoc]

Not saying the battery isn't crap but CR is notorious for making crap up....... Check out Suzuki Samurai review and consequent legal battle.

 

[Labeno]

Apple will eventually say "Your browsing incorrectly... You need to stay on Apple's website to get 10 hours. We haven't optimized the other billion websites yet."

 

[69Mustang]

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. So whereas they apparently do have a problem with something they portray as a bad batch of Apple's allegedly inconsistent batteries, they don't seem to have a problem with exploding batteries that weaponize from time to time. Such hypocrisy exists somewhere between ridiculous and absurd. I bet if they tested Apple's batteries and Samsung's batteries by replacing their rectal thermometers with them for a few weeks, Apple's brand would win their unanimous approval and highest recommendation especially since they'd be looking for the charred remains of the other guys long after they've been declared the legal equivalent of burnt toast by their Consumer Reports recommended proctologists.

Sweet Jeebus man. You didn't even try to make sense. Your post is literally illogical gibberish. The mental kung-fu and logical gymnastics are astounding. Kudos.

 

[Gusjasso]

In your face, Apple!

 

[M2M]

Smart move by Tim: Create a subpar MacBook Pro(?) which gets low ratings thus people won't buy. Later declare the notebook (and pro) market is dead and kill the line.

 

[69Mustang]

So, Sew, Sow. Hmm - only one relates to reaping.

I giggled. Thank you for doing that. I didn't have the heart to point out the extreme irony in incorrectly correcting someone else.

 

[smacrumon]

"Any customer who has a question about their Mac or its operation should contact CONSUMER AFFAIRS". $2000+ Laptops should work flawlessly. Return for a complete refund.

 

[benlukes]

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)

I have a hard time believing that they couldn't fit RAM chips into their computers if they really wanted to, those things are really small. I think they figured out that sane people weren't willing to pay their absurd markup on RAM and so were buying a computer with the least RAM possible and then ordering new sticks on Amazon. Apple made the change to capture that profit (and a lot more).

I disagree with you on what the MBPs capabilities should be. It is supposed to be, and was, a pro laptop. However, I do agree that I don't care about a few millimeters or grams. Those things are already insanely light and thin. I would gladly carry around a couple more ounces of battery.

 

[Labeno]

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.

I've been following MacRumors for many years, and generally people here are the one defending the Apple products. Over Timmy's leadership, the MacRumors people have slowly been getting more and more frustrated, for good reason, with Apple's empty pipeline, lack of focus, old technology, and increasing prices.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Can we stop calling this a "MBP Battery" issue?

Obviously some piece of sw is draining the battery.
Could be macOS, a driver or any 3rd app that simply behaves bad.

So far I'm not seeing this behaviour on my 15" MB Pro so the hw is obviously not the problem.

Edit: the report actually made quit clear that Safari is the killer. With Chrome "we ran two trials on each of the laptops, and found battery life to be consistently high on all six runs.".

Well, if SAFARI is always supposed to be snappier, it clearly snaps up a lot of battery power!