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17" Unibody battery.

D

detz

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 29, 2007
1,051
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Given I've only had it one day so I can't say for sure but so far it beats any computer I or anyone else in the office has ever had. I got my macbook at 9:30 this morning and I had a hour meetting at noon. I got it and plugged it in and started loading apps on it. Meeting time came and the boss made it clear to take our power bricks because we would be in there for a while. Well...I didn't take mine and when I left the meeting I still had 59 minutes to spare.(4.5 hour meeting) ;) Needless to say I'm impressed, did it last 8 hours, no but did it lasted at least 5 running full time with wireless, browsing and installing. Has any computer ever done that before..no. Another co-worker has a netbook and his battery lasts for about 4.5 hours, this giant 17" macbook dual-core 7200RPM HD last longer than his netbook. To sum up, great machine and great battery life.

Side note. Can you swap the battery in 30 seconds...No, but we knew this. It took me under 15 minutes to change out the HD today so to change the battery in this thing would probably take anywhere from 5-8 minutes and even less if you didn't want to put back all eight screws. The battery is changeable if you want to carry a screw driver with you.
 
I wonder how long it'll be until a third party develops a replacement bottom lid with easy battery access and matching battery which can be swapped in seconds.

Might not have the same lifetime as the current battery but would allow people to bring several easily swappable replacement batteries for a much longer total run time.

Shouldn't be too difficult to develop such an add-on.


Alternatively, with a huge lid like the 17" MBP has someone should look into snap-on solar panels that plug right into the MagSafe port.
Might not fully charge it while working but might be able to extend the battery life by another hour or two.
 
ajohnson253 said:
say what? :confused:
Click to expand...

There was nothing in the manual that says anything about battery calibration. The battery in the 17" in new and has some cool tech behind it, I'm guessing that battery calibration is a thing of the past.
 
detz said:
There was nothing in the manual, I'm guessing with the new technology they have you don't.
Click to expand...

No, whats clearly going on is Apple wants the battery life to end as quick as possible since its got "1000 charges" and so you have to pay for it to be replaced by an Apple authorised retailer or service person
 
Dreamail said:
I wonder how long it'll be until a third party develops a replacement bottom lid with easy battery access and matching battery which can be swapped in seconds.

Might not have the same lifetime as the current battery but would allow people to bring several easily swappable replacement batteries for a much longer total run time.

Shouldn't be too difficult to develop such an add-on.


Alternatively, with a huge lid like the 17" MBP has someone should look into snap-on solar panels that plug right into the MagSafe port.
Might not fully charge it while working but might be able to extend the battery life by another hour or two.
Click to expand...
But is there really a market for it? What percentage of 17" users do you think would actually go out and use this? It may not be difficult, but is there a product audience that would warrant developing this? I just don't see it happening...
 
MAGICMOXTER said:
No, whats clearly going on is Apple wants the battery life to end as quick as possible since its got "1000 charges" and so you have to pay for it to be replaced by an Apple authorised retailer or service person
Click to expand...


Do you know how long it'll take for the average user to rack up 1000 charges?
 
MAGICMOXTER said:
No, whats clearly going on is Apple wants the battery life to end as quick as possible since its got "1000 charges" and so you have to pay for it to be replaced by an Apple authorised retailer or service person
Click to expand...

It's a 1000 cycles. Big difference.

Before I bought my new 15" MBP I had an 3 y/o Macbook. Absolutely hammered it for almost 3 years, over 500 cycles and 98% battery health when I sold it. Point being, unless you're unlucky, batteries should be fine for years and there's no reason the one in the 17" will be any different.

Being swappable on the go, that's an entirely different debate.
 
and a cycle is a complete 0-100 recharge, if you recharge from 80% to 100% that's only 1/5 of a cycle.
 
I'd still calibrate the battery. Why not, it's not exactly an involved process, you can do it in one night. Couldn't hurt. ;)
 
MAGICMOXTER said:
No, whats clearly going on is Apple wants the battery life to end as quick as possible since its got "1000 charges" and so you have to pay for it to be replaced by an Apple authorised retailer or service person
Click to expand...

As others have pointed out it's charge cycles, not charges. I've had my MBP since early Nov 2007. It's used heavily both on and off charger. It currently has 47 cycles on it. 1000 cycles will last longer than the useful life of the laptop as far as I'm concerned.
 
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