Consumer Reports v. Apple: It’s About Trust (Premium)

When Consumer Reports refused to recommend the new MacBook Pro because of battery issues, Apple shot back and said there was nothing wrong. But now they've released a software fix that addresses the problem. And because they're Apple, they've further accused the publication of messing up its tests by using a "hidden" setting.

As you may recall, Consumer Reports in late December refused to recommend the new MacBook Pro laptop because of battery life issues. This was the first time any MacBook did not receive a recommended rating from Consumer Reports. And Consumer Reports' findings mirrored complaints that it correctly noted were "popping up online since the laptops first went on sale in November."

The new MacBook Pro is arguably the most controversial product Apple has ever released, and it does not meet the needs of the Pro market it targets in any way. Many, myself included, feel that Apple went too far with "form over function" with this one, and that the firm's collective hubris prevented them from understanding how far off they really were.

But this is Apple. They don't apologize, and they certainly don't fix things that critics say are broken. The "you're holding it wrong" attitude of the iPhone 4 Antennagate event being the most famous example. But Apple's reaction to Consumer Reports---a trusted consumer advocacy group that millions of people rely on for good reason---and others complaining about the battery was particularly amazing.

Apple removed the "time remaining" clock in the Mac display so that users could no longer see how well the battery was performing. (It still displays a percentage gauge, but not the time estimate.)

Yes. Really.

This week, a new chapter in the Apple v. Consumer Reports battle opened up. Consumer Reports says that Apple has addressed a software bug that causes the errant battery results, which makes sense. But Apple says that Consumer Reports's tests are bogus because the publication uses a "hidden" setting that it says impacted the results.

Before continuing, I will just point out that Consumer Reports was using this same "hidden" setting when it tested and recommended all previous MacBook laptops.

So. What's the truth?

First up, Apple.

"We learned that when testing battery life on Mac notebooks, Consumer Reports uses a hidden Safari setting for developing web sites which turns off the browser cache," an Apple statement reads. "This is not a setting used by customers and does not reflect real-world usage. Their use of this developer setting also triggered an obscure and intermittent bug reloading icons which created inconsistent results in their lab."

So, the problem was a hidden setting. Got it.

"After we asked Consumer Reports to run the same test using normal user settings, they told us their MacBook Pro systems consistently delivered the expected battery life. We have also fixed the bug uncovered in this test. This is the best pro notebook we've ever made, we resp...

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