Apple's MacBooks sweep Consumer Reports laptop rankings
Apple's line of MacBook portables currently stand as the top laptops in every related category ranked by advocacy group Consumer Reports.
Across the board, the consumer group lists Apple's MacBooks as the best, The Loop reports. Access to the recently refreshed rankings and scores requires a subscription.
According to the report, the 11-inch MacBook Air scored a 62 out of a 100, besting Gateway's second-place score of 52. HP came in third in the small laptop category with a score of 49.
Apple took an impressive five of the top seven spots in the 13-inch category. The 13-inch MacBook Air led the pack with 76 points, while Sony and Asus took the final two places. The Mac maker took three of the top spots in the15-inch category, though the competition lagged by just three points.
In the 17-inch category, Apple took the top two spots with scores of 80 and 81. However, it should be noted that Apple did not win the 14-inch category, since it doesn't make a laptop that qualifies for the size class.
Consumer Reports declared the late 2010 MacBook Airs best in their respective classes last year shortly after their October launch.
Apple released the latest batch of MacBook Pros in February, adding Sandy Bridge processors and the new high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology.
Last month, the group rated the iPad 2 as the best tablet on the market. "So far, Apple is leading the tablet market in both quality and price, which is unusual for a company whose products are usually premium priced," said Paul Reynolds, Electronics Editor at Consumer Reports. "However, it's likely we'll see more competitive pricing in tablets as other models begin to hit the market."
The organization sparked a controversy last year after it rescinded its recommendation of the iPhone 4 after testing the device for signal-loss problems. The research group had previously stated that there was "no reason" to forgo buying an iPhone 4 over reception concerns.
Across the board, the consumer group lists Apple's MacBooks as the best, The Loop reports. Access to the recently refreshed rankings and scores requires a subscription.
According to the report, the 11-inch MacBook Air scored a 62 out of a 100, besting Gateway's second-place score of 52. HP came in third in the small laptop category with a score of 49.
Apple took an impressive five of the top seven spots in the 13-inch category. The 13-inch MacBook Air led the pack with 76 points, while Sony and Asus took the final two places. The Mac maker took three of the top spots in the15-inch category, though the competition lagged by just three points.
In the 17-inch category, Apple took the top two spots with scores of 80 and 81. However, it should be noted that Apple did not win the 14-inch category, since it doesn't make a laptop that qualifies for the size class.
Consumer Reports declared the late 2010 MacBook Airs best in their respective classes last year shortly after their October launch.
Apple released the latest batch of MacBook Pros in February, adding Sandy Bridge processors and the new high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology.
Last month, the group rated the iPad 2 as the best tablet on the market. "So far, Apple is leading the tablet market in both quality and price, which is unusual for a company whose products are usually premium priced," said Paul Reynolds, Electronics Editor at Consumer Reports. "However, it's likely we'll see more competitive pricing in tablets as other models begin to hit the market."
The organization sparked a controversy last year after it rescinded its recommendation of the iPhone 4 after testing the device for signal-loss problems. The research group had previously stated that there was "no reason" to forgo buying an iPhone 4 over reception concerns.
Comments
EDIT: are the new sandy bridge MacBook airs out yet? :-S
EDIT again!: nevermind a quick google search just let me know how uninformed I am! Scratch the MBA question! Lol
Well maybe I'm wrong but it does seem like other competitors would have a much harder time competing with the iPad 2's price, since apple makes the OS and the hardware. Not only that but the iPad 2 is simply the best tablet experience out right now IMO! I sure would like to get a new MacBook air. Had anybody test drove the new MacBook airs yet?
EDIT: are the new sandy bridge MacBook airs out yet? :-S
EDIT again!: nevermind a quick google search just let me know how uninformed I am! Scratch the MBA question! Lol
I test drove a MBA at Best Buy(hate that damn place) and it is freaking awesome!!!!!!!!!!!
I have the first generation unibody aluminum macbook from 2008 before it became the macbook pro. Fu***** insane piece of hardware man. Never a virus, never a shut down. Nothing. The experience is beyond words. Screw the pc.
</sarcasm>
Seriously, the competitors just can't touch the entire polished package that the Macbooks have. From the quality construction to the awesome OSX. Oh.. and it'll run Windows too if you must.
Writing this from my late 2010 13" MBA. Absolutely phenomenal machine! Apple earned it!
21"-Matte Display
Just to chime in on the matte display thing.
For the record, the last iMac I bought was back when they had a matte display and I won't buy another as long as they only have glossy displays. The glossy display physically hurts my eyes and I can't use it for very long.
On smaller devices, the glossy display isn't really a big deal to me. iPad has a glossy display and I love it. I suppose the reason for the difference is that you can easily move the smaller device to get a good viewing angle. So on a MacBook Air, I think a glossy display would be less of an issue than on the iMac.
BOTTOM LINE: Apple rocks!
"Even though all of the MacBooks have earned our highest ratings, we cannot recommend them..."
Exactly my first thought, when I read the article. You beat me there.
They are one of the most respected organisations in their field. I often refer to their UK equivalent (Which) when deciding what products to buy.
In contrast I never trust comments in forums like this as they are rarely objective and unbiased.
Just to chime in on the matte display thing.
For the record, the last iMac I bought was back when they had a matte display and I won't buy another as long as they only have glossy displays. The glossy display physically hurts my eyes and I can't use it for very long.
On smaller devices, the glossy display isn't really a big deal to me. iPad has a glossy display and I love it. I suppose the reason for the difference is that you can easily move the smaller device to get a good viewing angle. So on a MacBook Air, I think a glossy display would be less of an issue than on the iMac.
If you can't tilt the monitor, move your desk, dim the lights, alter the angle of the light source, close the blinds or adjust your chair, in your case you are right.
Glossy displays don't hurt your eyes, its the 'relative' intensity of the light that all monitors emit or reflect. There are rooms in my home that I can't watch TV in the day time. But for shaving with my straight razor, they are equally terrible in at night.
As many ergonomist and lighting/office designers will tell you, most working environments are poorly designed for using computers. Great for working on paper, not so on monitors; glossy or matte. Ever notice how bright the outer offices are and how much nicer it is to take your laptop and work on it in the boardroom; that is the room with comfortable chairs, vertical blinds and dimmer switches.
Making excuses for glossy displays, telling people to redesign their room/office or move their screen to what feels like a weird location are not good options, not even practical sometimes. Like the MacBook Pros the iMac needs an antiglare option.
Consumer Reports has *ZERO* credibility. Nothing they say can be trusted at all.
So true. As many people on these forums have convinced me, CR is incompetent and doesn't have a clue what they are doing. Therefore I can only conclude that MacBooks must be total crap computers.
The reception issues were a design flaw Apple overlooked. Which was of course blown out of all proportion. Still real though. A matte option on some of their computers like the iMac would be nice. There's a very vocal group who would gladly pay extra for this. And the group is not small. Blu-Ray is not going to happen at this stage - Steve sees Blu-Ray as a bag of iTunes.
Making excuses for glossy displays, telling people to redesign their room/office or move their screen to what feels like a weird location are not good options, not even practical sometimes. Like the MacBook Pros the iMac needs an antiglare option.
Stop trying to add rational objectivity to this discussion. That sort of talk isn't welcome here.
[But for the record, I agree with you.]
If you can't tilt the monitor, move your desk, dim the lights, alter the angle of the light source, close the blinds or adjust your chair, in your case you are right.
Glossy displays don't hurt your eyes, its the 'relative' intensity of the light that all monitors emit or reflect. There are rooms in my home that I can't watch TV in the day time. But for shaving with my straight razor, they are equally terrible in at night.
As many ergonomist and lighting/office designers will tell you, most working environments are poorly designed for using computers. Great for working on paper, not so on monitors; glossy or matte. Ever notice how bright the outer offices are and how much nicer it is to take your laptop and work on it in the boardroom; that is the room with comfortable chairs, vertical blinds and dimmer switches.
If Apple wants me to buy an iMac, they can make it so I don't have to rearrange my furniture to use it. That was the case with the old matte displays, at least for me.
If Apple isn't all that concerned about whether or not I buy an iMac, fair enough. I'm not all that concerned about buying one myself. There's plenty of other things to spend my money on.
The reception issues were a design flaw Apple overlooked. Which was of course blown out of all proportion. Still real though. A matte option on some of their computers like the iMac would be nice. There's a very vocal group who would gladly pay extra for this. And the group is not small. Blu-Ray is not going to happen at this stage - Steve sees Blu-Ray as a bag of iTunes.
Making excuses for glossy displays, telling people to redesign their room/office or move their screen to what feels like a weird location are not good options, not even practical sometimes. Like the MacBook Pros the iMac needs an antiglare option.
The thing is, most people moaning about glossy screens never really compared them to matte screens at the same time in the same room.
I can tell you by real experience, that matte screens suck almost at the same level. In a room with badly designed lighting the matte screen (in my case a matte Apple Cinema display) shows a terribly bad contrast and like with my glossy screen, I start fumbling with the blinds, trying to change the viewing ankle and so forth.
In my opinion this whole pro and contra glossy screen is very subjective. In my case I still prefer the glossy screen, since it out beats the matte in terms of brightness and contrast as well as color saturation. But of corse it's sometimes irritating to see my own face all the time.- Well I can live with that.
Where you are right, is that Apple should consider to have the option to order a matte screen for a reasonable price difference.
Moreover, video looks much better on the newer glossy screens. I guess both you and Apple are out of luck.
If Apple wants me to buy an iMac, they can make it so I don't have to rearrange my furniture to use it. That was the case with the old matte displays, at least for me.
If Apple isn't all that concerned about whether or not I buy an iMac, fair enough. I'm not all that concerned about buying one myself. There's plenty of other things to spend my money on.
It is also interesting to note that Windows converts (e.g. those accustomed to glossy screens) significantly outnumber the Mac faithful who stuck with Apple through the hard times (e.g. those used to the matte screens). Not to long ago, Apple was lucky to sell 800, 000 Macs a quarter. Now it is over triple that number.
In my opinion this whole pro and contra glossy screen is very subjective. In my case I still prefer the glossy screen, since it out beats the matte in terms of brightness and contrast as well as color saturation. But of corse it's sometimes irritating to see my own face all the time.- Well I can live with that.
Where you are right, is that Apple should consider to have the option to order a matte screen for a reasonable price difference.