Apple reportedly failed to make a longer-lasting MacBook Pro battery

Apple’s new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has been a huge disappointment when it comes to battery life, and a report from Bloomberg this morning seems to indicate why. According to the report, Apple was hoping to use a higher-capacity battery that was form-fit to the inside of the computer. But the design is said to have failed a “key test,” leading Apple to scrap those plans and ship the laptop with an older battery design.

That’s very possibly what’s responsible for the laptop’s poor battery life. When it comes down to it, the battery inside the new MacBook Pro, particular the Touch Bar models, has a lower capacity than the battery inside last year’s MacBook Pro, likely due to weight and space constraints. Had this reported design worked out, the story may have been different, and the laptops may have lasted the 10 hours that Apple claims they should, instead of the five to six hours that we saw in testing.

Tim Cook told employees yesterday that “great desktops” are on the way

Bloomberg’s report also explores the state of Apple’s Mac development and the company’s apparent lack of dedication to ensuring its computers are cutting edge and up to date. Apple has put fewer design resources toward the creation of new Macs in recent years and has pulled enough engineers off of macOS that it no longer has a dedicated development team, according to the report. In both cases, the changes were made to redirect resources to the iPhone, iPad, and iOS.

The report also describes Apple’s Mac unit seeing departures by staff uncertain of its future and engineers who feel their time is being split between too many competing prototypes. There’s more in the story, including details on MacBook models that engineers considered but never shipped.

Apple declined to comment on “speculation.” But yesterday, the company’s CEO, Tim Cook, sought to reassure employees that Macs were still a focus, saying that “great desktops” were on the way. Bloomberg says this year’s iMac update will include USB-C ports and an updated graphics processor.