Apple to Charge $199 for Battery Replacement on MacBook Pro with Retina Display

A7ibaba said:

hahaha,everytime something weird pop up out of the sky from Apple,there is always some people who finds it a very reasonable choice.Like they would find it ridicilous ever.They asking 200$ for battery.Really? And thats reasonable? Yea,right.Especial when is not covered by Apple care warranty.I would call that on my scale from insane to idiotic VERY TO HIGH REASONABLE!Riiight. Shut up and take my money,because im retarded.

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To you, the people who shrug at this say, "So what?" seem brainwashed. To me, your crusade against this decision by Apple looks terribly naive and misguided. The battery lasts this long because they fill up the internal of the computer with an irregularly-shaped thing, glued to the computer. And they can make the computer itself thin and light while you still get a unique, ultra-fast computer with a matchless screen. Don't like it? Buy a Dell, or any of the dozens of PCs they make. They have batteries, standard-issue. You can buy a replacement. It's heavier, it makes the battery rattle, the computer needs to be bulkier, there's a door that the hinge breaks on it. But you can replace the battery for cheaper.

When you include the labor for unsticking the old battery and regluing another one in, $200's not bad. Bet over the life of your Dell, you'll spend more than that on replacement batteries.

Eriamjh1138@DAN said:

I worked in the lithium-ion battery industry for a while. Here are some things I learned:

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Great info for the original poster.

Another thing to note is that these batteries cannot survive if left topped-off. That means if you keep it plugged in all the time the battery does a trickle-charge, causing some charge to be let out and then replaced. This is happening constantly while your device is plugged in and at 'full capacity.'

Leaving your computer plugged in all the time will slowly go through, what Apple refers to as, complete charge cycles.

A7ibaba said:

hahaha,everytime something weird pop up out of the sky from Apple,there is always some people who finds it a very reasonable choice.Like they would find it ridicilous ever.They asking 200$ for battery.Really? And thats reasonable? Yea,right.Especial when is not covered by Apple care warranty.I would call that on my scale from insane to idiotic VERY TO HIGH REASONABLE!Riiight. Shut up and take my money,because im retarded.

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huh.. the battery is covered by the warranty. What are you talking about. I have had multiple batteries changed for free.. in warranty that is .

Digitalclips said:

You got that right, a total retard. Have you seen the batteries in there? It cost $60 but a low level tech to even look at a stove or a fridge these days. That's before they do anything or parts.

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Was that English or just missing some punctuation?

kockgunner said:

It makes me wonder if today's processors are really more energy efficient. The preunibody 2008 Macbook Pro's battery had a footprint smaller than a CD case and still gave 4-5 hours. Now we see laptops having half the case with battery, yet they give a similar runtime.

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They're more efficient in the sense that, if you had the same number of cores and clock speeds in the 2008 MBP as you have today, the battery would last minutes.

That said I suppose a big power sucker on this retina MBP is the GPU, in order to drive all those pixels. The display panel, like the new iPad, probably also needs stronger backlight to punch light through those extra signal lines.

If I leave it plugged in for two years does that still count as one charge?

Soy Cowboy said:

The new battery is $200. The old battery was $130. Taking a dollar off the price is a psychological trick to fool people into thinking the price is lower than it actually is. As a reporter rounding up the price would be more instructive to you readers. Also, less annoying. Please don't participate in the scam.

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The price is $199 and $129, not those numbers you quoted. It's not a scam, the price actually is lower. Buyers need to learn for themselves that $199 is $1 less than $200.

Back on topic, I think the high price is a non-issue. 1000 cycles and still at 80% is an amazing promise, by then you would have done around 7,000 hours of work/play on your mac, that's like 3 cents an hour. Super cheap for such a nice computer.

:shrug: I'd likely never have to pay for battery replacement. It's more likely I'd need to upgrade given the built in obsolescence anyway. With annual release cycles for OSX, I'm dubious of the current RMBP hardware being up to the task in 3 years. Of course, one doesn't NEED to run the latest version of OSX. Heck, my C2D late 2006 MBP is phased-out of ML, so I'll need to run SL or Lion until I decide what move to make: pony-up more money on an average yearly basis to stick w/ Apple, or look elsewhere. Man, I really don't wanna look elsewhere. Oh well, no matter what, I've had a good run w/ Apple.

I bought a new genuine Apple battery for my MBP 2011 at eBay for $64.

Take that, Apple!


I'm glad it is easy to remove the old battery from 2011 models, not like 2012 Retina.
You just need a rare Y1 screwdriver, which could be bought really cheap from China.

DAVIDUGLY said:

If I leave it plugged in for two years does that still count as one charge?

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Yes, but it's not good for your battery. The battery should be used properly maybe once every month.

Considering prices for a genuine replacement battery for my 4 year old crappy Dell Latitude (work laptop) are around $100 + shipping for a 56Wh battery charging $199 for a fully replaced 95Wh battery doesn't strike me as being all that unreasonable really...

How much of that $199 is the actual price of the battery itself? Squeezing 95Wh into a battery pack that small must take quite a bit of engineering and can't be all that cheap to manufacture.

DaveMcM76 said:

Considering prices for a genuine replacement battery for my 4 year old crappy Dell Latitude (work laptop) are around $100 + shipping for a 56Wh battery charging $199 for a fully replaced 95Wh battery doesn't strike me as being all that unreasonable really...

How much of that $199 is the actual price of the battery itself? Squeezing 95Wh into a battery pack that small must take quite a bit of engineering and can't be all that cheap to manufacture.

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Agreed, plus the Dell price is for the battery only whereas the Apple one includes labour for them to fit it

No problem. I'm definitely more concerned about the replacement of the screen.

So, in reality you are not going to get your machine back?

They will plug your MacBook into a special transfer machine with a custom lead and simply transfer all your data to an already refurbished machine, give you that one, and your machine will be wiped and put into a large pile to re refurbished again?

Or do we really think they are going to individually strip and un-glue your machine as they are needed by customers?

Swift said:

To you, the people who shrug at this say, "So what?" seem brainwashed. To me, your crusade against this decision by Apple looks terribly naive and misguided. The battery lasts this long because they fill up the internal of the computer with an irregularly-shaped thing, glued to the computer. And they can make the computer itself thin and light while you still get a unique, ultra-fast computer with a matchless screen. Don't like it? Buy a Dell, or any of the dozens of PCs they make. They have batteries, standard-issue. You can buy a replacement. It's heavier, it makes the battery rattle, the computer needs to be bulkier, there's a door that the hinge breaks on it. But you can replace the battery for cheaper.

When you include the labor for unsticking the old battery and regluing another one in, $200's not bad. Bet over the life of your Dell, you'll spend more than that on replacement batteries.

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Without reading all previous posts:

Did anybody mention that batteries are "CONSUMABLES" ?

Nobody complains that they have to exchange batteries in their flash lights, portable other devices etc.

Yes, these are all cheaper than a computer battery, but the principle is the same.:
CONSUMABLES

Between the cycle times, how long the batteries last and performance this should be a non issue.

As somebody wrote it's apr. 3 cents a day over the lifetime of the battery.

Put those 3 cents into a jar each day and you won't have to shell out 199 (plus tax) all at once.

hobo.hopkins said:

You're right. It's essentially $200 - it isn't $200. It wouldn't be accurate reporting if they didn't - wait for it - accurately report.

On an actually relevant note, I'm not entirely surprised by this. I'm not happy about it, but it seems that if the new battery allows for a higher cycle count before needing to be replaced, the price difference is almost moot.

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Actually... given it's probably $199.99.. and even if it's not; after tax it's very safely over $200.

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laserbeam273 said:

Back on topic, I think the high price is a non-issue. 1000 cycles and still at 80% is an amazing promise, by then you would have done around 7,000 hours of work/play on your mac, that's like 3 cents an hour. Super cheap for such a nice computer.

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It's a non-issue unless it's an issue. You can rationalize the cost any way you like, but $200 is still $200, and if you don't have it (maybe you received this as a gift, or maybe you've hit hard times since you bought the computer), you can't fix it.

Again... regular maintenance on a Bugatti might be relatively cheap compared to the sticker price and world-class performance, but I sincerely doubt you'd want to pay it, even if you got the thing free somehow.

Analogies aren't very useful in situations like this, as you might have now gathered.

Piggie said:

So, in reality you are not going to get your machine back?

They will plug your MacBook into a special transfer machine with a custom lead and simply transfer all your data to an already refurbished machine, give you that one, and your machine will be wiped and put into a large pile to re refurbished again?

Or do we really think they are going to individually strip and un-glue your machine as they are needed by customers?

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OK one more time for those that didn't catch my previous post on this subject. A battery replacement will NOT mean a new computer from Apple. A battery replacement will also NOT mean that apple is going to take your battery and remove it and fit a new one. On these new Retina MBPs when you go in for a battery replacement you will be getting a new top case which will have the battery pre-fitted to it.

So on the upside should you happen to drop your new machine and put a dent in the top case then just wait it out for a new battery and you will get a new one along with the battery.

theinsider said:

OK one more time for those that didn't catch my previous post on this subject. A battery replacement will NOT mean a new computer from Apple. A battery replacement will also NOT mean that apple is going to take your battery and remove it and fit a new one. On these new Retina MBPs when you go in for a battery replacement you will be getting a new top case which will have the battery pre-fitted to it.

So on the upside should you happen to drop your new machine and put a dent in the top case then just wait it out for a new battery and you will get a new one along with the battery.

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Yes, many people don't get it !

Do they really think APPLE didn't think about what happens when this battery must be replaced and planned for it?

They evaluated the work and came up with $ 199 (plus, tax , plus freight, plus.........whatever

In a way I find it reasonable...a new laptop battery is typically $99-$159 depending on the size/runtime/etc.

On the other hand, this is supposed to be a "pro" machine. Apple's insistence on small form factor really annoys techies like me...that I can't service anything myself and morevoer, I DON'T NEED A PRO MACHINE TO BE thinner and lighter and sexier every year which therefore almost necessitates Apple's crazy approach to assembly. Save that for the consumers. Give me power, flexibility, and the ability upgrade my own stuff.

In the Wintel world, I don't need putty knives and heatguns to pull apart my machines and melt glue and other ridiculous stuff like that. I buy a standard piece of equipment (drive, ram, cd burner, video card, whatever), grab a philips screwdriver, and install the thing in under 5 mins. Impossible in the Apple world for the past 10+ years unless you buy the Mac Pro desktop for $2500+.

Again, Apple should be treating Pro machines with Pros in mind...not folks with extra cash who want the most expensive laptop just because they can afford it.

ericinboston said:

On the other hand, this is supposed to be a "pro" machine. Apple's insistence on small form factor really annoys techies like me...that I can't service anything myself and morevoer, I DON'T NEED A PRO MACHINE TO BE thinner and lighter and sexier every year which therefore almost necessitates Apple's crazy approach to assembly. Save that for the consumers. Give me power, flexibility, and the ability upgrade my own stuff.

In the Wintel world, I don't need putty knives and heatguns to pull apart my machines and melt glue and other ridiculous stuff like that. I buy a standard piece of equipment (drive, ram, cd burner, video card, whatever), grab a philips screwdriver, and install the thing in under 5 mins. Impossible in the Apple world for the past 10+ years unless you buy the Mac Pro desktop for $2500+.

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Apple are not targeting people like you, their definition of a "Pro" machine is vague and it is not targeted at anybody specific. Apple is selling the laptops for the masses and they have zero intentions of being in the market for people who wants customizations and upgradability. They've gotten out of that market years ago and they're never coming back to this.

In addition to this, you can buy the non-retina display to get a chance to *upgrade* the RAM and hard drives.

Also, majority of people who buys high-end computers from Apple do not expect to have to pull their hardware apart to do anything. They expect the hardware to last for a long time without doing any modifications to it. That's what people pay the big bucks for.

If you want to build your own Mac, you can feel free to do so. There are plenty of mackintosh communities to help you with that and they're generally much cheaper to build with.

Soy Cowboy said:

The new battery is $200. The old battery was $130. Taking a dollar off the price is a psychological trick to fool people into thinking the price is lower than it actually is. As a reporter rounding up the price would be more instructive to you readers. Also, less annoying. Please don't participate in the scam.

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Because people impulse buy these things like chewing gum, and are therefore easily fooled. Thanks for watching out for us.

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RBR2 said:

You have a warped perspective. Because someone does not believe that the design is a good one or that the price is a fair one does not make them "Apple haters".

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Well, the design is the design. If you like the ultra thin/light form factor, then you have to live with the logical compromise, which is a lot of custom components and reduced serviceability. If you think Apple should have produced a thin/light design without the serviceability compromises-- then you are certainly entitled to your opnion, but it's not a very smart or well-informed one.

MikhailT said:

Also, majority of people who buys high-end computers from Apple do not expect to have to pull their hardware apart to do anything. They expect the hardware to last for a long time without doing any modifications to it. That's what people pay the big bucks for.

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There is a difference between expectations of a long lasting machine (I have had many long-lasting machines since 1982 from Apple as well as Wintel) and a machine you may wish to upgrade down the road (more ram, 2nd drive, larger/faster/better main drive, better cd/dvd/blurary, etc). A great example is the sad 5400 RPM drives that many laptop come with...you may wish to buy a 7200RPM or SSD DOWN THE ROAD that wasn't available at time of purchase.

I'm not talking about replacing motherboards or cpus or fans or power supplies.

Again, when you label something "pro" it should aim towards professionals. Period. Some companies like to toss the "pro" label around and it seems Apple has joined this group.

I like the Mac Pros style and features, but it's a Bic lighter at the end of the day in the eyes of a techie/pro.

Death-T said:

I can buy a car battery from Walmart for $90. This price is ridiculous. Hopefully it will be cheaper by the time I need a replacement though.

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Can you buy a Prius battery at Walmart for $90? No, they are about $2,500. Comparing a laptop battery to a car battery is about as relevant. Is $2,500 too much for a "battery"?

Did anyone notice that the battery capacity of the new RMBP is significantly larger than other batteries, needed to keep the battery life high with the greater power drain of the display? Isn't it logical that a larger capacity battery might cost more to produce? I'm sure that's why a Prius battery cost more than $90 at Walmart.

theinsider said:

On these new Retina MBPs when you go in for a battery replacement you will be getting a new top case which will have the battery pre-fitted to it.

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Is that verified?

parish said:

Agreed, plus the Dell price is for the battery only whereas the Apple one includes labour for them to fit it

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The price strikes me as excessive, but that is not the worst of it. The worst part though is having to ship your computer off to have the battery replaced. I find that inexcusable.

I will make this observation about the size/weight discussion as it relates to the soldered in RAM. It would be interesting to know just how much space, weight and cost may have been saved by soldering the RAM onto the logic board. While I find the idea unattractive (because RAM is a source of problems and if it is, the entire logic board has to be replaced which, even with Apple care means you probably lose the use of your computer for a while), I stood around the Apple store a few days ago waiting for an appointment. For no particular reason I just watched the people making purchases. They ranged from a guy with a nose ring and ear lobe expanders who bought a Mini, big external speakers and some other things to a family with a daughter purchasing a laptop and a lot in between. I am not sure why, but I drew the conclusion that the overwhelming majority of them would never change anything other than to install some software.

If that is the case, I suppose those of us concerned about expandability and serviceability are truly a minority of Apple customers. (We may be "right", but are still a minority.) If the things Apple are doing result in a smaller, lighter product, characteristics the majority of customers, it would seem, are much more concerned about then I suppose it is the "correct" business decision. That said, it is a shame that Apple appear to be discarding the customer base which favors those things by completely neglecting the segment...witness the Mac Pro situation and the apparent EOL of the 17" MBP.