New MacBook Pro & Consumer Reports

<p>It seems that the much awaited new MacBook Pro has failed to get a recommendation from Consumer Reports for the first time in Apple history. <br>

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-macbook-pro-2016-consumer-reports-2016-12<br>

Is it really an inferior product or are they splitting hairs in their criticism of the new MacBook Pro's battery performance?</p>

<p>I'm loving my maxed out 15" MBP. </p>

<p>Andrew, is this the new one? Enquiring minds would love more details.</p>

 

<p>Yes, brand new (couple weeks), 15" with TouchBar. What do you want to specifically know?</p>

Ming Thein just did a review of the new Macbook pro 13. I'm not a Mac user so not so interested:

 

https://blog.mingthein.com/2016/12/22/review-apple-macbook-pro-13-late-2016-with-touch-bar/

<p>The price of the product has a lot of weight in Consumer Report review. I have never seen CR recommended the best product of any kind because the diminishing return and the best product usually only slightly better than the second best or third best but is much more expensive.</p>

<p>I think there was an easy fix to the "space heater" problem he mentioned.</p>

<p>Funny story: I was in the Apple store yesterday agonizing over a decision I'm not allowed to mention when a business-looking guy walked in to do his Christmas shopping. He pointed at the table covered with all of Apple's laptops and asked "What do you have in stock?" The Apple employee said it was Christmas and stock was pretty low. All they had was the new 13" MacBook Pro without the touchbar and a few MacBook Airs. The business guy pointed at the MBP, which was closest, and said "Okay, give me four of those." When the Apple employee asked what color, the business guy first asked what choices he had and then said "Uhhh, two of each." He later changed one to a MacBook Air for a "little kid." Clearly, not everyone compares specs like I do.</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>The price of the product has a lot of weight in Consumer Report review.</p>

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<p> <br>

The criticism of the product had to do with battery issues. Unless batteries are being sold separately, I doubt price had anything to do with the review.</p>

<p>Dave's story reminds me of something that happened when I was hanging out in a ComputerLand store in Boulder (CO USA) around 1983. Two sloppily-dressed guys came in and bought about $12K of computers and printers in the space of 15 min., for which they paid cash.</p>

<p>We guessed they were laundering drug money.</p>

<p>Consumer Reports bases their recommendations on a weighted list of attributes and test methods. They are usually up-front with their methods, but their results are only important if you agree with that list. In this case, CR found variations in battery life between 16 hours and 4.5 hours. It is not clear what caused this variation and the effect their test methods.</p>

<p>Other publications criticize the new MacBook Pro for having only Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, in addition to a headphone port. While this means users will need a battery of dongles to interface their existing peripherals, the performance of the new interface is so high, it is likely these disadvantages will quickly diminish in importance.</p>

<p>I am not disturbed that Apple eliminated the memory card reader. Readers are subject to a lot of wear, and I go through one or two a year. For about $20 each, I am happy to use external readers, replacing them as necessary.</p>

<p>Thunderbolt 3 to 2 adapters are hard to come by for now, but I managed to find a couple. I also found a nice hub with three USB 3 ports and an SD card reader, and a TB 2 to Firewire 800 adapter for my audio interface rack.</p>

<p>Batteries, hard drives and memory are soldered in place, not replaceable.</p>

<p>My new 13" MacBook Pro, with scroll bar, should arrive just after the New Year.</p>

<p>I normally respect <em>Consumer Reports</em> but I remember years ago they panned the Dyson vacuum cleaner for some reason. I bought one anyone and it's been great for at least ten years. Still going strong.</p>

I agree with you 100% Dave. Consumers loves Hoover vacs which I've owned and broke after their warranty. Several

times. Got a Dyson ball; love it. Runs and runs low past it's warranty. Consumers loves all Kenmore. I've had mixed

success. I am a subscriber but do not think all their findings are sound.

<p>amazon.com "best sellers" is a great metric on what is hot and what is not. It's interesting to follow and see what people are buying.<br /><br>

</p>

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<p>It seems that the much awaited new MacBook Pro has failed to get a recommendation from Consumer Reports for the first time in Apple history. <br /><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-macbook-pro-2016-consumer-reports-2016-12" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-macbook-pro-2016-consumer-reports-2016-12</a><br />Is it really an inferior product or are they splitting hairs in their criticism of the new MacBook Pro's battery performance?</p>

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<p> <br>

It's not just battery problems. Others are having gpu issues, over-heating issues, and many are returning them because they are slower than their current MBP. Mac rumours forum is filled with threads...I've never seen anything like it; the pitch-forks are out. If you're doing video and able to take advantage of the write speeds of nmve ssd, you'll notice that it's faster than previous years. However if like myself and doing Lr and Ps and rely on ram, cpu, and gpu, the 2016 is slower. The monitor is nice though. </p>

<p> Some good posts here from Lloyd.<br>

<a href="https://macperformanceguide.com/related.html?dglyKW=2016%20MacBook%20Pro">Pages keyworded by “2016 MacBook Pro” at macperformanceguide.com</a> https://macperformanceguide.com/related.html?dglyKW=2016%20MacBook%20Pro</p>

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<p>amazon.com "best sellers" is a great metric on what is hot and what is not. It's interesting to follow and see what people are buying.</p>

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<p>And here's what the buyers on Amazon are stating thus far (13-inch Laptop with Touch Bar):<br /> 5 star: 53%<br /> 4 star: 17%<br /> 3 star: 9%<br /> 2 star: 8%<br /> 1 star: 13%</p>

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<p>the pitch-forks are out.</p>

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<p>Certainly from armchair reviewers, some without a lick of experience using the product. </p>

<p>Look at CR's reviews of things of which you have personal expertise, cameras for example, and see how their priorities and rankings hold up. By the time I was in high school, I learned to be highly skeptical af anything CR published. Their burgeoning political activism about that time clinched it for me.</p>

<i>By the time I was in high school, I learned to be highly skeptical af anything CR published. Their burgeoning political

activism about that time clinched it for me.</i>

<p>

i became highly skeptical of apple when the eu revealed the extent of their tax dodging. they are completely amoral and i

won't buy another apple product until they pay up.

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<p>And here's what the buyers on Amazon are stating thus far (13-inch Laptop with Touch Bar):<br /></p>

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<p> <br>

Yes, aware. I'm not sure why you think going to the effort of finding and posting Amazon data is somehow counter to an argument I'm not even making? MBP historically sells well when first released, it's nothing new. Two months ago though, the first MBP was in eleventh spot, on page two of amazon best sellers. I use Amazon instead of otherwise reviews on biased sites that are monetizing off adverts or clicks. <br>

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<p>Certainly from armchair reviewers, some without a lick of experience using the product.</p>

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<p> <br>

That's big coming from someone that can't even do a simple Lr import test for us and compare his 2013 to the 2016.<br>

http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00eB7U<br>

<br>

(Wish to go another 100 replies? An easy peaceful solution for all of Pn is to just stop quoting me in threads.)</p>

 

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<p>Yes, aware. I'm not sure why you think going to the effort of finding and posting Amazon data is somehow counter to an argument I'm not even making?</p>

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<p>No effort to find and post facts about the current ratings of a product from <strong>actual users</strong> you and a few others (some with, some without experience) are posting from armchairs (at Starbucks?).</p>

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<p>MBP historically sells well when first released, it's nothing new.</p>

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<p>Indeed, the sales records (posted here in another thread) are off the charts.</p>

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<p>That's big coming from someone that can't even do a simple Lr import test for us and compare his 2013 to the 2016.</p>

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<p><strong>Wrong</strong> again. I provided tests that proved (to me, an actual experienced user of the product) that my new MPB was faster than my older one. And with every other function I've used since day one! You don't want to accept the <strong>facts</strong> based on actual experience and don't like the number of files I tested, fine. Go to an Apple store and run your own tests and report them here (not that I care, I'm super happy with my purchase).</p>

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<p>(Wish to go another 100 replies? An easy peaceful solution for all of Pn is to just stop quoting me in threads.)</p>

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<p>I'm only reporting the FUD and misinformation from someone with <strong>no</strong> experience with the product. As I stated above, I've got a few weeks of daily use of a product you haven't (yet you tell us how nice the display is, so telling) and will be happy to report all my opinions, good, bad and even the few ugly, based on <strong>actual usage</strong> to anyone who wishes to know.<br>

<br /> As I also stated in the last post on this subject: If you don't like the spec's or attributes of the new product, don't buy one. If I need an opinion on how to infect all my files with a virus from someone with actual experience doing so, I'll ask you for the details.</p>

<p>I do not subscribe to CR and therefore have not read the report.</p>

<p><em>Extreme Tech</em> has read the report. Here is their take on it:</p>

<p>https://www.extremetech.com/computing/241593-apples-new-macbook-pro-first-macbook-consumer-reports-wont-recommend</p>

<p>It appears the down check is due to battery life.</p>

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<p>The price of the product has a lot of weight in Consumer Report review.</p>

 

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<p>Not true. They may label a product a "Best Buy," meaning it tested well and is low in price, but the tests themselves are independent of price.</p>

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<p>I normally respect <em>Consumer Reports</em> but I remember years ago they panned the Dyson vacuum cleaner for some reason. I bought one anyone and it's been great for at least ten years. Still going strong.</p>

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<p>That was for dust emissions if I remember correctly.</p>

<p>At MacRumors there's an article that goes into some more detail on the test and says that Phil Schiller is negotiating with them, interesting. There's something about a battery life difference between using Safari and using Chrome, even more interesting. As the famous Tallulah Bankhead or someone else may have said, "There may be less to this than meets the eye."</p>

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<p>Their burgeoning political activism about that time clinched it for me.</p>

 

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<p>What activism is that? Do you mean advocating for laws and regulations for things like safety belts, airbags, clean water, etc.?</p>

<p>I've been a long time Consumer Reports subscriber and find their information invaluable. They have been ahead of the curve on many issues. They have saved, or more properly, lengthened countless lives with their safety recommendations for many items, not just cars. Sometimes they seem to worry about different things than I do, on cameras for example, but on safety, from cars to window blinds, they're spot on. Safety is not political.</p>

<p>I remember back in the 70's, my dad visited Japan and brought me back a Nikon F (no meter). Cameras and lenses wee much cheaper in Japan and Hong Kong than the U.S. in those days. I remember reading a review of DSLRs in Consumer Reports and they ranked my Nikon F #13 (probably for lack of features). I was crushed. That didn't deter me and I still have that Nikon F today with a bunch of Nippon Kogaku lenses. All of the equipment still works great and the shutter action is a delight to hear and feel. </p>