Slashdot Mirror
MacBook's "Unremovable" Battery Easy To Remove
Slatterz writes "Going just a bit further than your average unboxing, someone has stripped a new 17-inch Apple Macbook Pro to its component parts revealing one or two little surprises. The biggest of which is that the built-in battery is easily accessible, requiring the tinkerer to remove just the 13 Philips screws which hold the bottom cover in place, and the three tri-wing security screws which hold the battery in place."
Someone for forgot the <sarcasm> tag in the article summary.
A total of sixteen screws. To change the battery. And that's "easy"?
My laptops require zero screws to remove. What does that make them?
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
the mounting hardware for clip-in hardware uses up a fair amount of space that you could use for a larger battery. While Apple's decision is inconvenient for travelers that like to switch to spare batteries. It is probably a useful change for most customers who would rather have 10% more battery capacity, and to Apple who probably saves a little money on build costs. The third party battery market probably won't even hiccup at the difference, eventually providing users the ability to buy a battery (and throw in a couple of screw drivers as a "kit"). How often do you replace a weak/broken battery? Once every couple of years and hopefully not more often than that.
Given that Apple assumes you need to take it to a certified apple tech to replace the battery, they will either have to eat the cost of replacement or bundle the price in with the battery part cost. But overall it is probably a net savings for Apple.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Just 16 screws? How does Jobs do it?
You know some people don't realize how easy it can be to change to a generic power adapter by just soldering a new power connector attachment to the motherboard. Ahh, convenience!
Just 16 screws? And it should only take you 20 minutes? I wish I was lucky enough to join the Mile High Club in such style!
If you fly to Australia (presumably from the U.S. and not from NZ or something) and need your laptop the whole time, invest in an airline power adaptor and check to see if your airline has connectors here. Or you know... buy a different laptop.
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
And I thought it was hard to use a two button mouse.
What lesson would that be? The one where they corner the portable music market and become a pop culture icon? Oh...
Well, obviously, but I think it's still a valid design criticism given that battery swapping was trivially easy before - all you needed was a coin or a strong fingernail - and now you need to do all this.
the ipods are a little different story. Apple would like you to occasionally buy a new product from them. They make very little on upgrades, if anything at all. iPods are meant to be replaced every 2-3 years, and computers every 3-5 years. We replace batteries for iPods here all the time. Or you can go to one of several web sites and buy replacement battery kits. FastMac and iFixIt are our two biggest suppliers for ipod batteries, screens, etc.
As previously mentioned several times, Apple is installing a battery with very long runtime and is adding a little capacity by not installing a latch. There's extra space savings by not having a hinged latch or cover too. Not a lot, but every bit helps.
If your battery does get used a lot and wears out (high cycle count) Apple will replace it for a reasonable cost. Or you will soon be able to get replacement battery kits same as the iPods.
My wristwatch requires a special tool to open up because it's a diving watch. I can't change the battery myself. I've been in twice since I bought it to get a replacement battery. At wal-mart of all places. I don't want to sacrifice what it takes to make my battery replaceable.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
or geek up and get the screw driver kit you should already have http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91310
But really, does it save any space at all?
Almost certainly. It saves both size and weight, since you no longer need to reinforce the walls of the laptop to handle the battery connection, and you of course eliminate any casing around the battery itself. You also get rid of the fairly heavy-duty external connector, and at least the iBook batteries were fairly complicated - they had a button and lights to indicate charge.
Now, is it a worthwhile tradeoff? I suppose the market will decide. Personally, I've never removed the battery from any of my laptops (except to replace) so it doesn't affect me. But if I routinely swapped out batteries, I'd have to consider another laptop. Or, more likely, I wouldn't waste money on a new OEM battery and instead I'd get one of those universal external batteries - if only because then you could charge both at the same time.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Do what I do. Forget about changing the internal battery. Instead, take a deep-cycle lead-acid unit with desired capacity, put in a voltage regulator, and solder on a black and red pigtail with a DC plug matching your laptop on the other side. Secure everything with lots of duct tape, leaving a bit of the pigtail to stick out. Make as many of these as you need.
p.s. these are a real hit on airplanes!
Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
"... you can squeeze more cells in your laptop design if you don't put them in a neat, removable package."
Most manufacturers use sets of standard round AA-sized and shaped cells all wired together within the plastic case you think of as "the battery". This means that a good portion of the internal space is simply dead air. (Picture 4 AA's side-by-side.)
Apple, on the other hand, is having the cells custom sized and formed to fit the exact dimensions available to the battery, even to the extent of having the individual cells pressed into rectangular shapes in order to maximize the amount of the space actually dedicated to batteries.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.