We don't know when Thunderbolt-compatible peripherals will be available (although Apple says the first ones should show up in the spring of 2011), how much they'll cost, or if Apple will be adding the technology to future displays or iOS devices. Thunderbolt is envisioned as a sort of future unified successor to USB, FireWire and DisplayPort, allowing peripherals to carry data and video at 10Gbps. To be safe, back up your computer before giving any of this a try, Asedillo suggests.IO, IO, it's off to work we go.

And battery life got to the same ballpark figures that previous MacBooks achieved. By using a combination of these adjustments, she was able to get all three versions of the MacBook Pro to show more consistent results. She dug around online, did some experiments, and cobbled together the following tactics for boosting battery life. The fact that the results varied so widely prompted Asedillo to investigate further. 'But subsequent runs were much lower-down to 6 and even 4 hours long. 'Much like the older models, the laptops started off with 15- to 17-hour results,' Consumer Reports tester Antonette Asedillo says. We saw odd results from our initial battery tests on all three of Apple's MacBook Pro models-the 13-inch models with and without the Touch Bar, and the 15-inch model, which only comes with the Touch Bar. It's possible that a software update from Apple would be able to correct the problem.Īpple has not yet addressed the complaints from users or responded to our request for a comment on the problem.Īs a primary part of our battery life tests, we repeatedly download a set of 10 website pages from a server in the lab using a WiFi connection. We haven't yet identified the root cause, but in our experiments, a few easy-to-do adjustments have really helped. Some users have speculated that the thin new Touch Bar on the keyboard is somehow draining the battery.Ĭonsumer Reports has been testing all three MacBook Pro models in our labs, and we noticed a problem, too.

The company claims the various models deliver up to 10 hours per charge, but some MacBook Pro owners report that they've been clocking only 3. In the past few days, Apple's new MacBook Pro has provoked heated complaints in user forums from consumers disappointed with their new laptop's battery life.

Macbook pro early 2011 battery recall