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Apple Says Battery Can Be Replaced Individually in New MacBook Air With Retina Display

Easy way to quadruple your battery life in all Apple Products.

Unplug 'em & go do something outside.

Upgrade your life!
 
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Typing from a 13 inch mid-2012 MBP (non-retina) that I have upgraded with 16gb ram & 480gb ssd, maybe we will find out those are individually replaceable too... wishful thinking :)
 
Good move - though the product line is all over the place. I’m worried the next MacBook Pro update will bring some gimmick and the air will now be playing catch-up . Just go back to three models.
 
rek89 said:
I absolutely agree with you that there is (or should be) a middle ground, like maybe swapping out a new mother board in an old chassis to bring the chassis and monitor back to life or replacing individual boards when there are multiple instead of the machine in its entirety, but is it practical in this day to repair the motherboard at a component level? The component sizes are such that humans can't make the boards by hand to begin with and they must be populated and soldered by pick-and-place machines. And with the minuscule size of the components, even the removal process can damage surrounding components because of the heat. Moreover, we're slowly moving toward eliminating some of the passive components (resistors/capacitors that could blow, etc.) from the board as discrete components and instead incorporating them into silicon or metal traces on the board, and those certainly can't be made replaceable.

My point being, to what degree can they really make modern electronics end-user repairable? What performance are users willing to sacrifice for that limited repairability?
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Hey good conversion - thanks.

I'm mostly referring to the computer line and not the mobile phone type products.
Example: imac: there should be no reason a video card can't be easily replaced or upgraded. Processor poped out and updated. Some iMac models you can upgrade your RAM and some you can't.
Now I think the screens are glued in place. Really, how hard would it be to design hinge system to allow easy access by a end user or a repair shop. Look nice a clean design wise but lazy on repairability.

On the phones its crazy to pay $1,000 and then have to toss a whole phone because a component inside breaks. And mobile devices should be made more durable to drop and damaged in the first place.

With Apple's prices on the rise - many users are getting priced out of purchasing a NEW Mac and need to keep the old one going. Upgrading would be a great option.

No easy answers - but smart brains can find a solution if allowed or directed to by leadership.
 
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bladerunner2000 said:
There's no downside. If you have no use for the headphone jack, don't use it. I don't complain about bluetooth being in my phone eventhough I never use it.

See? Not that hard.
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Read my comment again - downside was with respect to user-replaceable RAM, headphone jack was that the industry is done with them.
 
Good for Apple but they just couldn’t quite take that whole step and get rid of the glue. Please Apple, go back to sensible design philosophy. It is better for cost, customer, and the environment. Storage, RAM, battery, and even WiFi should all be modular and servicing them should not require replacing ~50% of the computer.
 
bladerunner2000 said:
They should put them back in. That and user installable RAM if Apple really cares about doing the right thing.
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If they put them back in, they would have to remove one or more things that they claim to have fit in with that extra space, but I can't personally think of anything I care less about than analog headphones. Putting the headphone jack back in would be worse for customers at this point since it might affect water resistance, taptic feedback, speakers and maybe even battery life. Maybe they'll introduce a new SE phone with a headphone jack but it's doubtful.
 
Wow... I’m positively surprised. :eek::cool:
scaramoosh said:
I miss the days of when batteries were detachable...
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I don’t. Ever since the OEMs moved to more integrated batteries (yet, still easy to replace e.g. in a Dell) the quality seems to have improved a lot. Before it often was a cheap assembly of a few (typically) 18650 cells.

If you want a detachable batterie these days, just get yourself a powerbank. Latest models have USB-C PD with 30W, which is enough for an Air and way more universal than a detachable laptop battery => The powerbank will also be able to charge all your devices.
 
wigby said:
If they put them back in, they would have to remove one or more things that they claim to have fit in with that extra space, but I can't personally think of anything I care less about than analog headphones. Putting the headphone jack back in would be worse for customers at this point since it might affect water resistance, taptic feedback, speakers and maybe even battery life. Maybe they'll introduce a new SE phone with a headphone jack but it's doubtful.
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What are you talking about? They had the headphone jack with all those things you mentioned before they removed it.
 
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I go through a MBA battery in 2-3 years, which holds me back buying the MBP with the glued batteries.

Big plus for the MBA if it's easy to swap batteries.

Hopefully there's an iFixit video up soon.
 
The glued battery will be an issue if you end up with a premature failure and have to fork out about $500 for the whole replacement and if you're not in States, a wait time of at least 1 week or more.
 
Great, another small thing that makes life easier. Thanks Apple.
Now I’m just waiting for the beauty to arrive.
 
Still not a "right to repair" as now "legal", but its still half way there.

It's better than replacing the top case. at least... so while you gotta still go to Apple store to do it. its still a 'a start"

Now lets go further.
 
polee said:
Good news for new MAC owners. I cannot imagine having to replace an entire top cover whenever a battery is needed.
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Kind of depends. If you had AppleCare and do a battery swap ( free if it is under 80% max battery ) in the last year you are essentially getting a new Top Case.
 
When Apple swaps parts they recycle everything they take back. It doesn't matter whether they swap just a battery, or a battery plus keyboard, trackpad and shell. Nothing's going to waste, and the environmental impact is nearly the same. If you get a new battery plus keyboard and trackpad you're better off, and there's virtually no downside.
 
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