MacBook Pro Review: Consumer Reports Changes Recommendation About Apple's Latest Laptop

Last month, Consumer Reports declined to recommend Apple’s new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, but rescinded its decision about the product on Friday.

After a series of tests on the three MacBook models (13-inch with Touch Bar, 13-inch without the Touch Bar and a 15-inch model), Consumer Reports said in December that the new laptop was not worth buying after battery life test results were “highly inconsistent” from one trial to the next.

The MacBook’s battery life ranged anywhere from a low of 3.75 hours up to 19.5 hours between charges. The battery issues led to low overall scores, even though the laptop had strong showings in other areas, such as display quality and performance.

Apple had previously said the laptop should run for up to 10 hours after a full charge, but users had complained online and on social media about the new MacBook Pro’s battery life.

Apple tackled the battery problem by releasing a software update on Jan. 9. The company released a patch for the issue through its Beta Software program and it is expected to be available to all users within the next few weeks.

Consumer Reports says the update fixed the problems they found 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,” said the report. “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.”

Better Battery Life

The 13-inch with Touch Bar model now has an average battery-life of 15.75 hours, the 13-inch without Touch Bar has a new battery life of 18.75 hours and the 15-inch model 17.25 hours.

Apple says the new software update fixes a bug in Safari that caused the poor battery-life results in previous testings.