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MacBook Air's Battery is Actually Easy to Replace

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the well-that's-not-so-bad-then dept.

pizzach noted that the MacBook Air battery is actually fairly easy to replace. "All it requires is a philips screwdriver. Unlike some of Apple's other products, the battery is not so soldered in which should make a lot of people at least a little bit happier." I think I'll have to wait for something with a bigger screen and a faster clock speed.

2 of 420 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Something bigger/faster by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What *is* the point.

    What market segment up until now were saying to themselves "If only this laptop was exactly the same size but *thinner*"

    My boss travels a lot on airlines and was waiting for an ultraportable macbook. He wanted one *smaller* - that could fit nicely in the limited space on airline seating in the way a normal laptop won't. This doesn't either.. so it's a missed opportunity.

    The other thing he asked for - solid state disks (hard disks don't last long if you fly a lot) - was answered, but he won't be getting the Air.

  2. There are probably going to be battery options... by NeverVotedBush · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's pretty simple, really. The magnetic charge port. Apple can offer a battery pack that recharges the Air's battery, extends operating time, etc. It would be just like the AC power supply except it would run off of DC. It could still run with typical laptop batteries (Li-ion and such) for high power densities but it also wouldn't need to be some oddball configuration that drives up manufacturing costs. It could be a basic brick more or less.

    The Air has a power port. Getting extra run time when on aircraft without power plugs, etc, is nothing more than supplying power to the power port.

    Efficiencies also depend on how Apple configured the power port. With just a little forethought, they could have made it where a portable power pack (i.e. auxiliary battery) just runs the Air itself and doesn't recharge the onboard battery. That would be more efficient than accepting charging efficiency losses and the only down side would be having to carry an assembly with cord instead of just an extra battery. A fairly acceptable compromise to trying to make removable batteries in such a tight form factor.