Consumer Reports on Thursday revealed its “Best Smartphones of 2021.” And Apple’s biggest and most expensive model beat every other iOS device. The iPhone 12 Pro Max was named the “Best iPhone”
Apple’s AirPods are some of the top-selling earphones of all time. But according to Consumer Reports, they have a problem: “They just don’t sound great.”
In a series of tests, the consumer testing group pits the second-gen AirPods against Samsung’s Galaxy Buds. And, spoiler alert, their conclusions don’t come down in Cupertino’s favor.
Respected consumer testing publication Consumer Reports has released its full review of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.
While neither Apple handset quite dethrones Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 as the group’s top-rated smartphone, the testing results do highlight multiple improvements from previous iPhones.
From Apple Pay Cash to Venmo, there’s a growing number of peer-to-peer payment services that allow you to send cash to your friends. But which one is the safest to use?
Respected product testing publication Consumer Reports recently tested out the main apps in this space — including Apple Pay Cash, Venmo, Square Cash, Facebook Messenger, and Zelle. Although the report says that all of them work, Apple Pay Cash has one very important selling point that gives it the edge over its rivals.
The top-of-the-line MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i9 processor has gotten some bad press. The new laptop reportedly is subject to thermal throttling, which is a fancy way of saying that its CPU gets so hot that it slows itself down before burning up.
But before anyone criticizes Apple too much, Consumer Reports came to the company’s defense. The consumer-testing organization points out that other laptops with top-tier processors are also subject to thermal throttling.
The camera is a major feature of any smartphone, and Consumer Reports says Apple makes the best. All three of top models in the magazine’s latest ranking of top phone cameras are iPhones, as are six of the top ten.
One of the most reputable tech review sites isn’t that impressed with the HomePod’s superb sound.
While most reviewers have noted the HomePod as the best sounding speaker they’ve ever listened too, Consumer Reports claims Google Home Max and Sonos One sound better.
iPhone X is considered the best smartphone Apple has ever made by almost everyone who’s ever used one. But according to Consumer Reports’ smartphone ratings, it’s not as good as the more affordable iPhone 8 — or the Samsung Galaxy S8.
A leaked Microsoft memo confirms that Consumer Reports was right to retract its recommendation rating from the Surface lineup due to reliability concerns.
Microsoft previously denied that users were experiencing an abnormal number of issues with its devices, but an internal document reveals that the Surface Book and Surface Pro 3 both have unusually high return rates long after launch.
Consumer Reports has pulled the “recommendation” rating it awarded to four Microsoft Surface devices.
The publication says the change was made as a result of “poor predicated reliability,” and said the estimated breakage rate for Microsoft tablets and notebooks was higher than that for most other brands.
Consumer Reports has revised its earlier rating for the new MacBook Pro lineup and now recommends the laptops, after a software update fixed battery problems found in testing.
The respected consumer watchdog previously cited the new laptops’ “highly inconsistent” battery life as the reason it couldn’t give out one of its coveted recommendations — the first time an Apple laptop had failed to make the grade.
The new MacBook Pro is set to receive a “recommended” rating from Consumer Reports after working with Apple to discover why tests showed the laptops suffered from unreliable battery performance.
The culprits? A hidden Safari setting and “an obscure and intermittent” bug.
Consumer Reports just unloaded a mighty smackdown on the new MacBook Pro lineup, citing “highly inconsistent” battery life as the reason the latest Apple laptops failed to earn a coveted recommendation.
It’s the first time the well-regarded reviews organization flunked an Apple laptop. And the test results should give serious pause to anybody who is considering buying a new MacBook Pro.
I was raised by careful shoppers in a home where Consumer Reports magazine was like a second Bible. Cars, a new washer and dryer, and a vacuum cleaner to handle the then-new orange shag carpeting were not purchased without first consulting this venerable institution of objective product testing.
So I hit the pause button on my excitement for the iPhone 7 camera when I read a Consumer Reports review that claimed the iPhone 7 represents “no major leap in camera performance” from the 6s.
We’ve already seen the Apple Watch’s durability get tested in some pretty extreme ways. Now Consumer Reports is weighing in with tests of its own and Apple Watch dominated the smartwatch competition.
Both the stainless-steel Apple Watch and Apple Watch Sport passed their water-resistance test. The stainless-steel model also stood out for its sapphire display after surviving a test of up to 9 Mohs, just below diamond hardness.
Watch the full test below:
Consumer Reports has a history of being hard on Apple. They famously refused to recommend the iPhone 4 because of a so-called “flawed” antenna design.
To test the Apple Watch, though, Consumer Reports is being harder on Apple than ever. They’ve run a gamut of torture tests on Apple’s new wearable to see just how hard the sapphire display actually is. Here’s a spoiler: You won’t be able to scratch it with anything short of a nuke. And even the Apple Watch Sport’s display is nearly unscratchable (although it can be cracked).
With Bendgate causing some worrywarts to question the structural integrity of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Consumer Reports set out to answer the question: “How much force does it take for a phone to bend — and not bend back?”
The independent consumer-testing outfit took six smartphones — including both iPhone 6 models and an iPhone 5s — into the lab and subjected them to experiments using an Instron compression testing machine. The results are surprising.
Here’s what they found (along with a video showing Consumer Reports’ torture testing).
Consumer Reports, the popular magazine and website for figuring out what consumers think about all sorts of products and services, just published its annual reader survey on computer tech support.
Apple not only claimed the top spot in the list this year, beating out all other computer manufacturers, it got an even better score than it did in last year’s survey.
You would think that after year’s of continually being ranked the worst US carrier, AT&T would have done something to pull itself from the bottom. Unfortunately, they haven’t. According to Consumer Reports’ latest rankings, AT&T once again holds the title for overall worst US carrier. AT&T shouldn’t feel too bad as not a single major US carrier scored above an overall satisfaction score of 72.
The advocacy group Consumer Reports wasn’t too friendly toward the iPhone 4, even after Apple offered free bumpers. They didn’t even like the iPhone 4S either. But with the iPhone 5 they’re changing their tune and saying that the iPhone is “among the best smartphones in our Ratings and the best iPhone yet.”
After conducting a series of tests on the iPhone 5, Consumer Reports concluded that the iPhone 5 doesn’t just surpass the iPhone 4S but also a number of other Android smartphones. They even said that despite the widespread criticism its received, Apple Maps is “competent enough.”
The hysterical crybabies over at Consumer Reports — who, ever since the iPhone 4 came out, never have been able to let a new iOS product pass without Chicken Littling it — have just released a report “supplementing” their earlier one, saying that while the new iPad gets “harmlessly hot” in testings (more on this below), well, so do other tablets… like the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (which reached the same 121 degree temperature in their tests) as well as the Asus Transformer Prime (which was close, at 117 degrees).
If you’re interested, you can go read their report here. Here’s something to note, though: although in an email to Cult of Mac tipping us about their additional tests, Consumer Reports writer James McQueen said that the most they found was that the iPad could get alternatingly “harmlessly hot” or “harmlessly warm” (a direct quote), this phrase (or even just the word “harmless”) never appears in their public report, nor did it appear in their last report. Hard to get people all fired up — wokka — about harmless heat, isn’t it?
In most regards, Consumer Reports do great work, but when it comes to Apple’s mobile devices, they’ve historically tended to act like bozos. Quickly jumping upon the Antennagate bandwagon when the iPhone 4 came out, Consumer Reports refused to recommend Apple’s latest handset for over a year. When the iPhone 4S came out, Consumer Reports grudgingly said it was worth buying, but not as good as Android phones. Are you for real?
Anyway, yesterday, in response to reports that the new iPad ran hotter than its predecessor, Consumer Reports eagerly promised to investigate, sniffing another scandal. They’ve now published some preliminary results, though, and surprise! They’re surprisingly sensible.
For the second year running, AT&T has ranked as the worst carrier in the United States in an annual satisfaction survey.
You’ll find a notebook to suit everyone within Apple’s family of notebooks: the entry-level MacBook is perfect for students and casual computer users, the MacBook Air is a blessing to the travelling businessman, and there’s a MacBook Pro fitting for just about everyone. And I’m not the only one who thinks so – Consumer Reports just dealt Apple’s awesome MacBooks a whole lot of love.
The iPad 2 has beaten off competition to earn the top tablet rating in a recent Consumer Reports test. Devices tested along with the iPad 2 included tablets from Archos, Dell, Motorola, Samsung and ViewSonic. In a press release issued on Tuesday, electronics editor Paul Reynolds said that Apple’s device is ahead of its competitors on both quality and price:
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.
Each tablet was evaluated in 17 criteria, which included touch screen responsiveness, versatility, portability, screen flare, and ease of use. The iPad 2 topped the ratings, scoring ‘excellent’ in nearly every category.
Apple’s chief competition for the time being is the Motorola Xoom – which boasts the same 10-inch screen as the iPad but adds a built-in memory card reader and support for Adobe Flash. However, the Xoom’s $800 price tag doesn’t do it any favors.
The biggest difference between the 10 tablets tested was battery life. Obviously the iPad 2 came top with an impressive 12.2 hours of use, while the Archos 70 Internet Tablet could only manage an embarrassing 3.8 hours.
The first generation iPad was also part of the test, beating many of the other tablets but drawing equal with the Xoom.
So, it’s official – right now the iPad 2 is the best tablet available. But you already knew that.
