The MacBook Pro is back on the Consumer Reports’ recommended list of laptops after Apple ensured the Safari bug that had been blamed for causing inconsistent battery drain has adequately been dealt with.
The recent re-test of the MacBook Pro devices returned excellent battery runtime figures of 15.75 hours on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and 17.25 hours on the 15-inch MacBook Pro. Things are prolonged to as much as 18.75 hours on the 13-inch MacBook Pro sans the Touch Bar.
The above figures are far better and more in line with what Apple believes the latest MacBook devices are capable of. The first test of the devices saw the battery times vary from as low as just 3.75 hours to as much as 16 hours in another test, figures that earned the MacBook devices the ignominious ‘not recommended’ rating for the first time.
Subsequent investigations by Apple identified a sparingly used and rather hidden setting in the Safari browser as the culprit. The anomaly has since been rectified with the macOS 10.12.3 beta that, Apple said, will be made available to the general public soon.
Apple also insisted the Consumer Reports method of testing laptops has little to do with the way the devices are used in real life. However, there have also been numerous instances when the 2016 MacBook Pro devices have been found to lag considerably on the expected battery life times.
Consumer Reports, on its part, stated they have tested the MacBook Pro devices with the new update multiple times using the same method that they apply to hundreds of other laptops.
Apple claims to fix MacBook Pro Battery issues with new safari bug update
However, Apple didn’t mention if the same update targeting the Safari bug will also set right the other instances where the MacBook Pro has been found lacking in its battery performance. Apple is claiming the new laptops will allow for 10 hours of battery life under normal usage scenario though many users have claimed they are getting around half of that, or even less when subjected to processor intensive apps.
