Apple’s scored itself a trifecta with the release of the June issue of Consumer Reports. If it weren’t for the magazine’s legendary reliability and highest ethical standards, we might have gone so far as to say that CR had a little crush on the Infinite Loop folks. The venerable publication gave the company top rankings in three of its notebook categories: 13-inch machines, 14-inch to 16-inch laptops, and 17-inch models.
The MacBooks bested their competitors, despite the lower cost of many of the Windows machines rated. The $2,000 15-inch MacBook Pro, for example, scored a 75 out of 100 compared to the runner up, a $700 Toshiba Satellite that scored only 64 points.
The 13-inch category in particular was dominated by Apple’s laptop line, topped by the unibody MacBook and followed by both the MacBook Air and the white, polycarbonate MacBook. The 17-inch MacBook Pro also got the highest rating of any notebook reviewed by Consumer Reports, scoring 80 points out of the magazine’s 100 point scale, and nabbed “Excellent” or “Very Good” in every tested category.
Apple’s desktops didn’t fare quite as well, but both the Mac mini and iMac took home silver medals in their respective categories, falling behind an Hewlett-Packard Pavilion and a Dell XPS One, respectively. The company also earned the highest marks for computer tech support in both the desktop and notebook categories.
Last month, Apple topped Forrester Resarch’s list of computer companies in customer support and came in first for J.D. Power’s list of customer satisfaction in smart phones. The Consumer Reports review gives Apple yet another notch in its belt and ceratinly seems to make it the company to beat in the consumer arena.
[via New York Times]