Apple products scored highly in a computer magazine’s annual reliability survey, “smoking the competition” in all categories, including desktops, notebooks and smartphones. RIM was the cellar-dweller in the handset category, scoring “worse than average” on every ease of use question.
“Can Apple do no wrong?” asked PCWorld, on releasing the results of the Reliability and Service Survey. “Indeed, 2010 was a remarkable year for the world’s highest-valued tech company,” the magazine declared.
Apple’s “Genius Bar” feature in Apple retail locations gave the publication a “warm, fuzzy feeling” while readers pointed to the Cupertino, Calif. firm’s knack for producing stylish hardware and uncomplicated software why the company is rated tops. Additionally, just 8 percent of Apple laptop users experienced problems which confounded support people, causing the magazine to remark the company had a percentage of unresolved technical issues that was “significantly lower” than the industry average.
The only average scores given Apple related to problems related to replacing notebook parts and the iPhone 4’s antenna woes. iPhone owners also did not blame Apple for AT&T service problems. AT&T is currently the iPhone’s sole carrier in the United States. Motorola edged out Apple’s iPhone in terms of reliability.
Although the iPhone was seen as “better than average” in terms of ease of use, the Cupertino, Calif. company was judged as “average” in two out of four “reliability” categories. Motorola, on the other hand, received top marks in three out of four reliability questions.
