A new report, citing sources with knowledge of Apple’s inner workings, has shed light on a failed plan to create an advanced, longer lasting battery for the new MacBook Pro.
The Bloomberg Technology report, which casts serious doubt on the Mac’s place in the Apple hierarchy, says the proposed battery failed a test early this year.
According to report, the company wanted to use a new “higher capacity battery pack shaped to the insides of the laptop,” but the failure led Apple to choose an older design rather than delay the launch of the MacBook Pro.
Given the battery life has been a chief complaint from early adopters of the new TouchBar-enabled device, Apple may have been wiser to go back to the drawing board.
The new laptop also suffered from a software issue that led to grossly inaccurate ‘time remaining’ estimates, although that feature has now been removed completely.
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The report goes on to explain how the Mac is now receiving “far less attention than it once did” at Apple.
Those familiar with the situation say employees working on the Mac have “lost clout” with the Jony Ive-led design group, while macOS no longer has a dedicated development team.
Employees are also asked to work on multiple concepts at a time, the sources say, rather than towards a singular vision.
Almost incredibly, the report says engineers are “asked to develop multiple options in hopes that one of them will be shippable.”
The report emerges in the same week CEO Tim Cook promised Apple is working on “great desktops,” following long waits for revamped iMac and Mac Pro models.
On an Apple employee forum, Cook allegedly wrote: “Some folks in the media have raised the question about whether we’re committed to desktops.
“If there’s any doubt about that with our teams, let me be very clear: we have great desktops in our roadmap. Nobody should worry about that.”
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Do you think Apple needs to put more effort into satisfying its most loyal customers or is it the iPhone’s world and we’re just living in it? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
