Built in battery questions

[marc55]

Currently have a Dell XPS laptop, but am considering replacing it within the year with a MBP, but have concerns about the built in battery VS a consumer replacement battery.

What is the life expectency of the battery?

What does Apple charge to replace the battery.

Does it have to be returned to the factory or can you take it to a local Apple store?

Why does Apple continue to bulid products with built in batteries VS a consumer replaceable battery? You would think they would see the handwriting on the wall, and build more consumer friendly products.

Thank you

 

[Freyqq]

battery replacements:
$129 for nonretina mbp
$199 for current retina mbp


I hope they make the battery in the retina mbp removable in the next rev so it goes back down to $129, but there is absolutely no guarantee that will happen.

 

[Crzyrio]

Removable batteries will never come back.

Removable batteries means less space for batteries, means shorter battery life.

Take a look at the iFixit tear downs and see how the batteries are placed, there are a number of battery modules placed here and there using up as much space as possible. This would not be possible with a user replaceable battery.

Heck, when apple went from user replaceable battery to built in the battery life on their macbooks almost doubled, so you can imagine the difference it makes.

I have had my macbook for 3 years now and my battery life has gone from 9 hours to about 5, which isnt too bad considering I use it all the time. It is my only machine. EDIT: 9 to 5 is a little bit of an exaggeration , according to iStat and Coconut battery my batter health is at 81%.

 

[leman]

Apple non-removable batteries allow them to build lighter and more compact laptops without sacrificing battery capacity (Crzyrio above explains it nicely). Apple notebook batteries are especially heavy-duty, as they are designed to keep at least 80% of their original capacity within first 1000 cycles. For comparison, figures given by other manufacturers are 300 cycles for reaching 80% of the capacity (e.g. HP). In another words, expect Apple batteries to last 2-3 times longer than on your average Windows laptop. The battery on my 2009 MBP still has 85% of its original capacity after 39 month of really heavy use (and I mean it, I really trashed it and never payed any attention to 'good battery practices'). This means that you have to replace the battery only once in 3-4 years or even 5 if you use your machine only occasionally.

 

[Arnezie]

Removable batteries will never come back.

Removable batteries means less space for batteries, means shorter battery life.

Take a look at the iFixit tear downs and see how the batteries are placed, there are a number of battery modules placed here and there using up as much space as possible. This would not be possible with a user replaceable battery.

Heck, when apple went from user replaceable battery to built in the battery life on their macbooks almost doubled, so you can imagine the difference it makes.

I have had my macbook for 3 years now and my battery life has gone from 9 hours to about 5, which isnt too bad considering I use it all the time. It is my only machine. EDIT: 9 to 5 is a little bit of an exaggeration , according to iStat and Coconut battery my batter health is at 81%.

I agree completely great answer!

 

[marc55]

Just watched a video on youtube, and the battery looks extremely easy to replace!

Thanks guys.