Posted on 01/12/2017 10:10:30 PM PST by Swordmaker
New Apple software fixes a battery issue found in CR tests. The software, now in beta, will be part of a broad update soon.
Consumer Reports has now finished retesting the battery life on Apple's new MacBook Pro laptops, and our results show that a software update released by Apple on January 9 fixed problems we’d encountered in earlier testing.
With the updated software, the three MacBook Pros in our labs all performed well, with one model running 18.75 hours on a charge. We tested each model multiple times using the new software, following the same protocol we apply to hundreds of laptops every year.
We first evaluated the MacBook Pro laptops in December, and found that battery life results were highly inconsistent from one test to the next. (They ran anywhere from a low of 3.75 hours up to 19.5 hours between charges.) That led the laptops to receive low overall scores, despite strong showings in areas such as display quality and performance.
The process we followed with Apple is the same process we follow with any manufacturer when we discover a significant problem. We shared our test results with the company so it could better understand our findings and deliver a fix to consumers. Since Apple made a fix, we retested the laptops.
Now that we’ve factored in the new battery-life measurements, the laptops’ overall scores have risen, and all three machines now fall well within the recommended range in Consumer Reports ratings.
The three MacBook Pros in our labs include two 13-inch models, one with Apple’s new Touch Bar and one without the Touch Bar; and a 15-inch model. (All 15-inch MacBook Pros come with the Touch Bar.) The new average battery-life results are, in order, 15.75 hours, 18.75 hours, and 17.25 hours. We bought the three computers at retail, as we do with other products rated by Consumer Reports, to ensure that we are testing the same models a consumer would buy.
Apple’s updated software is available through Apple’s Beta Software Program now, and will be rolled out in a full Software Update to all users in several weeks. According to Apple, the new software fixes a bug in Safari that caused the poor battery-life results in Consumer Reports testing.
Consumers who want to download the new software right now have to sign up for the company’s Beta program. You can confirm you have the new version by clicking on About This Mac under the Apple menu; the operating system will be listed as macOS Sierra Version 10.12.3 Beta (16D25a).
Prices compared to normal laptops?
I’d like a new laptop but then I’d have to have windows 10....I wonder if a Mac is affordable...
Thanks to dayglored for the heads up!
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Wal-Mart sells laptops that still have Windows 7 on them.
Some info from an IT professional.
Macbook Pros last (and are functional) for 5 years. Windows more like 3.
Lady Bender uses a older Macbook Pro that works well for her home use so we haven’t even looked at the new ones.
You don't have to buy a full MacBook Pro if all you do is surf the net, write, work with photos, and some video. A nice MacBook Air from Apple's refurbished store which comes with a full new computer warranty (many of them ARE new, just items from large orders that got cut down to a smaller order at after already being removed from "new" inventory) is available right now equipped with exactly the same specs as the $999 new one being sold now:
Originally released March 2015
13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with support for millions of colors<
8GB of 1600MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory
128GB PCIe-based flash storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
Intel HD Graphics 6000
My guess is that those numbers "meet competition" fairly well...
But -- I note that Consumer Reports never did admit that its "standard" battery test in no way reflects real-world Consumer usage (despite their name)...
You and I both know that Apple gear is expensive. Outrageously expensive, no. Is it more than run of the mill Windows gear, yes. Is it higher quality, yes.
Apple does not make low quality anything. If you compare the cost of equal quality Windows gear, it is remarkably competitive.
Is it worth it? That is for you to decide.
IBM has recently been offering employees a choice of Mac or Windows computers. They have a lot of computers and know something about them. The IBM experience has been that Macs are less expensive to own and operate than Windows gear. They cost more up front, but have fewer problems.
Personally, both DW and I use Macs. I run a small rental real estate business, and she runs a consulting business. She used to use a Windows computer but switched about 15 years ago. Too many failures with Windows, especially with a deadline approaching. I have always used Macs, but had Windows forced on me at work about 15 years ago, maybe 5 years before I retired. Windows has more failures, more problems, and is just plain harder to use.
If you are a computer jock Windows is far better for you, because you can dink around under the hood a lot more. If you just want to start it up and use it all day long A Mac is the way to go unless you are price sensitive.
Our family uses computers to earn income. They have to work every day, and "I can't find that file right now" can cost more than the price of a high end computer. But, a full time IT guy is more than we want to pay, so we have Macs.
My MBPro is starting its 4th yr. No problems [KNOCK on wood!!]
The OS saves time here and there while performing tasks (auto download and install of printer drivers, etc), and that time does add up.
I MUST run MS-Windows for work, so I run VMWare. It partitions the HD, and uses more than a little space. I open VMWare, and install the Windows OS. Shutdown VMWare, and copy the Windows OS image to a new image. Reopen VMWare with the copied Windows OS image, and load all of the MS OS patches until the OS is “stable”. Shutdown VMWare and copy the new Windows OS image. Start VMWare with the new copy, and load the Oracle DB, etc. This way, I always have a clean Windows OS image to start over if I screw up an install, or get a virus, or need SQL Server instead of Oracle, etc.
If anything goes wrong anywhere, I just go back to the previous image, make a fresh copy and tally-ho. Meanwhile, I still have a working Mac for email, messaging, etc.
EXPENSIVE, but stable, and it works for me.
Every one I've owned that I've been able to track is still going strong, some twenty years or more! A couple I'd love to track and know how they're doing, and also so I could put their next after me "owners" in jail, because they were stolen from me, each after giving me more than five years of great performance! You generally have to beat Mac notebooks to death with a Mack truck!
But sometimes even that won't do it as there are verified reports of Macs being run over by Mack trucks and surviving with little damage and still running and even one that fell out of a plane from 1500 feet and survived, a bit bent, screen cracked, but still displayed and worked!
Re: MacBook Air...
Just bought one refurb 11” for my wife $700 on Amazon. Gorgeous little thing. Runs forever on a charge, light, clear display, and she particularly likes the backlit keyboard. Runs quick too.
I don't know. I've had my MB Pro for about 9 years now. Despite daily use and various drops onto the tile/driveway/puddle it's still going strong. If it ever dies I'll probably get a newer version. I'm willing to pay for for a tool that is durable and tough.
I do love the connectivity of Apple products. Other than that, I hate them.
What do you use to generate documents? What software? I use Word, I generate and draft documents all day.
I like Windows 7. Have not installed 10 on my computers.
For text documents both DW and I use MS Word, just like you. It is more or less the de facto standard.
For presentations, DW uses PowerPoint, mostly because she is proficient and again it is the standard. She has to be able to email material to clients and have it work on their machines. I don't do many presentations, but use a drawing program for them.
For technical drawings, I use either MacDraft Pro or Canvas Draw. For more than a decade I used Canvas, designed two houses with it, and was reasonably good, but then they dropped the Mac version and eventually it became unusable. So, I went though the pain of learning MacDraft Pro. A little while ago, Canvas came back to the Mac as Canvas Draw, so now I have two options.
Can you use word on a MacBook?
Best upgrade ever is to put a flash drive in it. It will speed it up tremendously.
You can snapshot using the hypervisor, and not have to do all the copying. I did it for years.
You have to manage your snapshots, but it does work. Also, you can then still run time machine and it will be faster since it’s delta vs whole new files.
Esseentially create your server, get it setup as a VM, then snapshot it. keep that snapshot as the golden snapshot. Restore to it every so often.
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