“Macs tend to fare second best in Consumer Reports testing, partly because the magazine lives in ignorance of the differences between Apple’s computers and Windows boxes,” Gene Steinberg writes for The Tech Night Owl. “But they’ve always been recommended, until recently. I can quibble about the way the tests appear to emphasize features over performance, usability and reliability. In fact, I have.”
“It all started when CR reported wildly divergent battery life results, ranging from 3.75 hours up to 19 hours over three tests for each product. The latter is way more than Apple’s estimates, which range up to 10 hours,” Steinberg writes. “The inconsistency didn’t make sense, and thus marketing VP Philip Schiller posted a tweet — the new normal for getting the word out nowadays — saying that the results didn’t jibe with Apple’s own field tests.”
“Now CR’s tests are intended to be consistent from notebook to notebook. It involves downloading 10 sites from the company’s in-house server until the battery is spent. So just what was going on here, and was the test deliberately designed to leave Safari — and Macs — second best?” Steinberg writes. “Well, that’s debatable, but to achieve consistent results, CR turns off caching on a browser. With caching on, the theory goes that the sites would be retrieved from the local cache, which presents an anomalous situation since different computers — and operating systems — might do it differently. On the other hand, it would also be using the computer normally, not in an artificial way.”
“How can such a test possibly produce results that in any way reflect what a typical user would encounter?” Steinberg writes. “CR should have realized something was amiss as soon as the battery life normalized with caching on. They could have reached out to Apple before the results were published for clarification. As it was, CR got a boatload of publicity for its decision not to recommend the MacBook Pros. Of course, that result will soon be changed if all goes well.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Consumer Reports is, was, and has always been a joke when it comes to testing anything remotely associated with tech to say nothing of devices running the world’s most advanced operating systems. They don’t get the Mac (or the iPhone or the iPad) and they never will.
As Hanlon’s Razor states: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Consumer Reports is an anachronism for grandma to use to reassure herself that she bought the right vacuum cleaner (even though she didn’t unless she bought a Miele – which she almost certainly didn’t since she’s a Consumer Reports subscriber).
SEE ALSO:
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Consumer Reports stands by its weird MacBook Pro battery test results – December 29, 2016
Consumer Reports says do not buy Apple’s new MacBook Pro, citing erratic battery life – December 23, 2016
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Is Consumer Reports having its revenge against Apple? – July 10, 2012
How Apple and facts killed Consumer Reports – March 29, 2012
Consumer Reports was no iPhone killer and they’re no iPad killer, either – March 28, 2012
Tests prove Apple’s new iPad heat levels comparable to Android tablets – March 26, 2012
Expert: iPad heat claims overblown, not a real issue – March 22, 2012
What’s the deal with Consumer Reports and Apple? – March 21, 2012
Consumer Reports’ bombshell: New iPad runs hotter than predecessor but ‘not especially uncomfortable’ – March 20, 2012
FUD Alert: Consumer Reports to ‘investigate’ reports of iPad and ‘excess heat’ – March 20, 2012
Consumer Reports hops off free PR gravy train, officially recommends Apple iPhone 4S – November 8, 2011
Why does anyone believe Consumer Reports? – April 6, 2011
Consumer Reports on iPad 2: We didn’t notice any significant speed improvement – March 15, 2011
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Consumer Reports: Verizon iPhone 4 has antenna ‘problem’; not recommended – February 25, 2011
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Android sweeps Consumer Reports’ rankings as iPhone 4 is omitted – November 17, 2010
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Consumer Reports: Apple’s free Bumper case does not earn iPhone 4 our recommendation – July 16, 2010
Consumer Reports: Apple’s Bumper case fixes iPhone 4 signal-loss issue – July 15, 2010
Consumer Reports continues harping on iPhone 4 attenuation issue – July 14, 2010
Electromagnetic engineer: Consumer Reports’ iPhone 4 study flawed – July 13, 2010
The Consumer Reports – Apple iPhone 4 fiasco – July 13, 2010
Consumer Reports: Oh yeah, almost forgot, Apple iPhone 4 is also the best smartphone on the market – July 12, 2010
Consumer Reports: We cannot recommend Apple iPhone 4 – July 12, 2010
Consumer Reports does their readership a disservice, says viruses target Apple Macs – December 13, 2005
Consumer Reports: Apple’s new iPod screens scratch-prone like iPod nanos – October 28, 2005
Consumer Reports dubiously finds 20-percent of Mac users ‘detected’ virus in last two years -UPDATED – August 10, 2005