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MacBook Pro 17" Battery Replacement $179 and Other Notes

VoR said:
Isn't that what he was saying in his post? :)

User accessible hard disks, ram slots, and a removable battery have been sacrificed for a seamless base on the laptop - they should have been working on the black strip below the hinges if they want a sleek looking machine for photos.
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Media card reader? That would be nice, I dont know of anyone who uses the USB cable with their camera. its a cable, apple doesnt like cables.

You could spend 20 bucks on a external media card reader, but why not have it already preinstalled?

lifeinhd said:
Why does everyone seem to think that professionals never leave their desk? They like to meet with customers at their places, or in cafes with customers, or work during the commute in the train, or whenever. Professionals can't be tied to a desk.
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thats why there are "pro" laptops out there.
 
kornyboy said:
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The titanium powerbook allowed access to the RAM through unlocking and lifting the keyboard up. Maybe they will bring this back. I would really hate to find out that you have to remove 25 scews to get to upgrade the RAM.
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And just how do you propose users lift up the chicklet keyboard? :rolleyes:
 
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lifeinhd said:
kornyboy said:
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The titanium powerbook allowed access to the RAM through unlocking and lifting the keyboard up. Maybe they will bring this back. I would really hate to find out that you have to remove 25 scews to get to upgrade the RAM.
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And just how do you propose users lift up the chicklet keyboard? :rolleyes:
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I wasn't proposing anything. Just stating a thought. Apple doesn't pay me.
 
.Chris said:
Media card reader? That would be nice, I dont know of anyone who uses the USB cable with their camera. its a cable, apple doesnt like cables.

You could spend 20 bucks on a external media card reader, but why not have it already preinstalled?
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Did you quote the wrong person? :)

But to respond, yeah there's no card readers, limited ports, limited display options, removable drive bays, removable batteries, docking options etcetc - all because they're limited to such a brand image focussed look.

Looks quite sleek in a website gallery (unless you look at the back), but it's hardly a cutting edge professional machine - just priced like one :)
 
rjfiske said:
Given that very reasonable example, is there any study that compares Apple's claims of the Air (i.e. if the battery life dwindles as time goes on) vs. what the real world shows? I know they exist for the Macbook & Macbook pro but I'm wondering if there's precedent for an existing non-removable battery.
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Not owning a MBA I have never bothered looking for any comparisons, but I am sure they are out there. I do know that my 4.5-5 hour battery has only ever lasted 2 hours even when running minimal apps with brightness down. The 2 hour mark has now gone down to about 1 hour of real usage. The only reason I can find this somewhat dealable is because I am able to take a spare battery with me.
 
i really can't blame for apple and the battery. it seems like they did a good job with it, even though not everyone will be happy. but what exactly is the problem with accessing the ram and hard drive? i sure hope that the battery isn't the problem here
 
Of course, this is another reason is doing non-replacable batteries ... so they can jack the price up and get more money.

Sorry, but they said the battery life on an older MBP was like 5 hours and they are full of it. I very much doubt you will get 8 hours on the battery, Apple has a nasty habit of grossly exaggerating the battery life.

Not acceptable, Apple really needs to wake up here.
 
I wasn't proposing anything. Just stating a thought. Apple doesn't pay me.[/QUOTE]

I think you must have missed the whole unibody thing...this means it is in one piece so there can't be anything to lift up. Change that and the whole point of having one solid piece of Aluminum goes out the window.
 
.Chris said:
Why do people always say that? :rolleyes:
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I could not agree more! I hate that as only Apple apologists are allowed to make comments, or so it would seem as of late. This was a silly idea by Apple and if it happened in the 17" it will surely be moved to the other models as well. Bad news - very bad.

D
 
starflyer said:
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Don't complain. If this is not for you, then don't buy it. I am curious about the RAM being user replacable.
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So, basically you are suggesting that all of us just stop buying Apple laptops ? Sure, I know this is for the 17" model but its only a question of time before ALL Apple laptops pull this crap.

*IF* Apple is retarded and makes all laptops not have replaceable batteries then my only choice on upgrading will be a hackintosh. Sorry, but that is not an acceptable solution.
 
Interesting that they can predict they'll charge $179 for something 5 years from now - won't the technology be better, more refined and less costly or are they buying a sh*tload of batteries now expecting to need them in 5 years?
 
starflyer said:
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Don't complain. If this is not for you, then don't buy it. I am curious about the RAM being user replacable.
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This comment makes no sense. If you don't like the 17" MacBook Pro and you need one, Apple has eliminated any options you may have. This is annoying to people who use their batteries a lot and/or upgrade a lot, and need/want to use a Mac.
 
Flash Forward 2 years and people will be complaining about the downtime returning their laptops as much as Xbox 360's.

Service people will be thrilled. Users should be worried that this will be the new standard.
 
I doubt that a battery would last an entire 5 years. I just bought a new battery about 6 months ago and I am already over 100 on my cycle count. My last battery lasted about a year before it started having major problems.

$179 is not worth it for me. I had to pay more than $100 for my current battery from Apple and I think thats not worth it. The next battery I will buy will be from a website that I can get a good deal on.

The thing about the new built in battery is I bet it will be extremely hard to replace yourself. Apple is charging more for it because they think that people wont want to spend the time taking apart their computer and it will not want to violate the warranty. They will probably end up making a lot of money off this after customers start to come back after a year in a half or two years (not 5 years, that just a big lie). I bet most people will not be happy with this built in battery in the long run.

The 17-in MBP might be for me in the future, but I would expect a better deal on the battery replacement. But, I love the idea that the new built-in battery saves computer space and lasts for 8 hours. Also, I would never pay $5000 if I wanted to upgrade the memory and get a high-capacity SSD. Thats another thing, the memory. The new 17-in doesn't look like it is easy to replace the RAM either.
 
I think this will make some rather odd situations. Say the battery goes bad, or has issues. Before you could just buy another battery, or have one sent to you.

Now you have to ship the entire computer to Apple for XX days to replace the battery which could be a major inconvenience.
 
I am fairly certain you will be able to access the hard drive, memory, and even the battery by taking the bottom of the machine off.

I'm also fairly certain that by the time the batteries need replacement, companies like ifixit and fastmac will be selling replacement batteries for the 17" Macbook Pro, which you can install yourself, just as they do now for the Macbook Air.

Really people, relax. The components are user replaceable; you just have to remove screws to do it. It's a bit of a pain, but not that horrible a tradeoff for the increased battery life.

Here's the Air battery: http://www.ifixit.com/MacBook-Parts/MacBook-Air-Battery/IF188-004
 
Apple are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

They increase battery life (to 1000 cycles) and the charge the battery can hold (to 8 hours) and people complain it isn't removable. If they didn't increase these by keeping a removable battery people would complain about that as well. It just isn't possible to keep everybody happy all the time.

You might question the 8 hour / 1000 cycles and say they're not achievable in the real world, but Apple would of measured these the same as they have with other batteries. So whilst you might not get the 8 hours quoted you will get twice the life of a battery they quote at 4 hours. The same with the cycles, 1000 vs 300 - you'll be getting at least 3 times the number.

Whilst I'd never buy a 17" MacBook Pro, I reckon they've done a good job with the battery and should be getting compliments rather than complaints.
 
kornyboy said:
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The titanium powerbook allowed access to the RAM through unlocking and lifting the keyboard up. Maybe they will bring this back. I would really hate to find out that you have to remove 25 scews to get to upgrade the RAM.
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Highly unlikely....since the aluminium between the keys is part of the unibody
 
scottlinux said:
I think this will make some rather odd situations. Say the battery goes bad, or has issues. Before you could just buy another battery, or have one sent to you.

Now you have to ship the entire computer to Apple for XX days to replace the battery which could be a major inconvenience.
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Its completly unacceptable ... doing it on the MBA was one thing, and the #1 reason I will _never_ own one.

Apple batteries don't last very long, the battery I am on lasted for like 7 months and its at ~38% capacity after like 148 battery load cycles. So, if I was a sucker who bought a new 17" MBP I would be without a laptop for a week while Apple tools around with replacing the battery.

Come on, this has to be an early april fools joke ..
 
Be nice if the 15 inch Unibody MBP could handle 8GB RAM. 15 & 17 are both "Pro" so why limit the RAM?
 
babyj said:
Apple are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

They increase battery life (to 1000 cycles) and the charge the battery can hold (to 8 hours) and people complain it isn't removable. If they didn't increase these by keeping a removable battery people would complain about that as well. It just isn't possible to keep everybody happy all the time.

You might question the 8 hour / 1000 cycles and say they're not achievable in the real world, but Apple would of measured these the same as they have with other batteries. So whilst you might not get the 8 hours quoted you will get twice the life of a battery they quote at 8 hours. The same with the cycles, 1000 vs 300 - you'll be getting at least 3 times the number.

Whilst I'd never buy a 17" MacBook Pro, I reckon they've done a good job with the battery and should be getting compliments rather than complaints.
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Care to explain how they can claim 5 hours on a 15" Macbook pro ? I have *NEVER* gotten over 3 hours on it. This is my 4th MBP since they were released. I did manage to get 3.5 hours on my 17" MBP, when they claim something like 6 hours.
 
kubes said:
If it works the same way as the 15", as someone said a few posts up, you have to take the bottom off. Well there are 10 screws right there just for the cover - I wonder how much more you have to go through to get to the RAM...the $1200 Apple RAM upgrade just isn't enticing enough for me ;)
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Just so you all know, that is about fair market value for 8GB of DDR3. If you go to Crucial.com and look it up an 8 GB kit (2x4GB sodimm) costs $1179.99. While usually manufacturers rape you on memory upgrades this one time it doesn't.

Of course, I should edit this and mention I'm sure that price will drop shortly, but Apple's upgrade price will probably remain the same ;)
 
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