Last month, Consumer Reports said that it could not recommend the MacBook Pro due to inconsistent battery test results every time multiple versions of the laptop was tested. During the initial tests, there were widely inconsistent battery life results, ranging between 3.75 hours and 19.5 hours. This is the first time that MacBook computers did not receive a Consumer Reports recommendation. Now, Apple has announced that they have identified the culprit.
According to The Verge, Apple's MacBook Pro's battery issue is caused by a bug. "Consumer Reports uses a hidden Safari setting for developing web sites which turns off the browser cache," Apple said in a statement. "This is not a setting used by customers and does not reflect real-world usage." The company said that low battery results were caused by a software bug in Safari's developer mode that specifically affected Consumer Reports' test methodology.
Some say that this seems kind of deliberate, but Consumer Reports said that they turn off the cache settings on the default browser for all laptops - not just Mac laptops. This way, it would seem like they are browsing thousands of different websites, and not just the same websites repeatedly.
But Apple has posted a fix for the bug. In a new post, Consumer Reports said that the fix is available to those who signs up for Apple's Beta Software program. The beta fix will be a part of a broader software update available to all MacBook Pro users in a few weeks, regardless of whether they sign up for the beta or not.
Consumer Reports said that it will review tests and will make a decision as soon as Thursday as to whether or not it can reverse its initial decision on the MacBook Pro. A spokesperson said that if the score for MacBook Pros would increase, then the laptops would "receive Consumer Reports' Recommended rating" given their performance in all of other evaluations.
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