An Apple employee points to the Touch Bar on a new Apple MacBook Pro laptop during a product launch event on October 27, 2016 in Cupertino, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Stephen Lam)
The MacBook Pro 2016 has been under fire as of late, much of which was tied up to the erratic battery performance the latest notebook had. Consumer Reports initially reported their findings but a collaboration between the two groups eventually singled out a bug on the Safari browser as the cause of the erratic longevity of the battery.
Consumer Reports initially ran tests to measure the longevity of the MacBook Pro 2016 battery. The results initially varied with the group applying common methods that included testing locally stored websites with the default browser and disabling the data cache. Through the process, displays made use of 100 nits of brightness until the notebook’s battery ran out according to their initial review. GSM Arena reported.
Apple came forward to question the methods, singling out the tweaks as the reason behind the inconsistent behavior. Disabling the cache of Safari triggered the bug and the Cupertino company added that they are working on a fix for release soon.
Consumer Reports ran a second test where the cache was re-enabled together with Apple’s patch. The results showed improvement, enough to now recommend the MacBook Pro 2016. The Safari Bug fix is available from the Apple site but only available to enrolled members of the Apple Beta Software program
Apparently, the alleged hidden Safari settings are something meant for web developers. For common users, such was not needed or used. Regardless, most MacBook Pro 2016 owners are hoping that the fix does address the battery drain issue which may raise the stakes of the highly criticized MacBook.
The recent update gives Apple a bit of a reprieve considering the MacBook Pro 2016 has drawn heavy criticism. Aside from the battery problem, there are those who question the choice of chipsets and RAM limitation.
The Cupertino company opted to remain with the Intel Skylake chipset and set a 16 GB RAM limit. The main purpose for these specs was to align the MacBook Pro 2016 with energy-efficiency, something most failed to appreciate due to the battery drain issue.
With the review now explained, most are likely to wait for Apple’s patch for the issue. There is no timetable though it does soften the backlash the MacBook Pro 2016 has been getting the past months.
Check out the latest updates on the MacBook Pro 2016 in the video below.
