Consumer Reports gives Clean Sweep to Apple MacBook and MacBook Pros

The September 2006 issue of Consumer Reports (CR) rates 21 laptops, just in time for off-to-college shopping. CR notes that it has revised the way laptops are tested "to reflect new capabilities and uses." The "New tests and new scores" it trumpets are in bold type.

Whatever the reason, for the first time in memory Apple laptops were tops in every category in which they were rated by CR staff. The Apple MacBook Pro 15" headed a field of five PC laptops in the "15.4 Workhorse Models" category. Not to be outdone, the 17" Apple MacBook Pro out-scored six PC laptops in the 17" portables workhorse group. And, among the "12 to 13.3-inch Slim and Light Models" the Apple MacBook 13.3" model took the honors, besting three PC brands.

A clean sweep. The only category Mac didn't win was the one in which it wasn't entered--the "15.4-Inch Budget Models."

That's not all. While CR notes that feedback from over 49,000 laptop users show minor differences in brand reliability, it reports that "Apple's laptop support has been by far the best" as judged by 5,000 of its subscribers. [Dana Baggett]