No User Replaceable Battery for MacBook Air

[Jimmy 2004]

There's been a barrage of Apple stories today, but here's one that people won't be quite so pleased to hear: the battery in Apple's new MacBook Air will not be user replaceable, much like the iPod and iPhone. Apple has clarified the issue, saying that the price of a replacement will be $129, just like the MacBook Pro battery, and installation will be free. This shouldn't be too much of a problem for most users given that the battery will probably be fairly durable and the notebook does boast five hours of battery life, but would cause a slight inconvenience of having to send the machine off to Apple if it does need replacing, and would prevent people from using a backup battery.

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[PVTCaboose1337]

That sounds pretty bad...

 

[Ravenas]

It's not "user" replaceable, meaning you can't do it because they won't sell you the battery. They will put it in for the price of the battery with no charge for installation.

How does this sound bad?

 

[AphexDreamer]

Well to me it sounds like they want to make the customer completly dependent on them.

 

[WhiteLotus]

how do you know that the will ONLY replace the battery and take a gander at your personals

 

[Kreij]

This is such a poor decision on Apple's part.
So if I want to use my lappy for over 5 hours, I can't just stop slap in a new battery and continue, I have to stop and recharge the thing (if I am somewhere that I can).

For this reason alone I would not buy one of these.

 

[newtekie1]

Is it going to be like the iPod and iPhone too where when you send it off you have to back everything up because Apple also take the liberty of erasing everything on the device too?

 

[jurrasstoil]

err... seriously... whatever?!

A Battery for my Acer Laptop costs ~139€ (180$) and I have to install it myself. 129$ for replacing the battery is not that much.

But still: Having a choice would be nice...

 

[Ravenas]

Bleh, get used to it, so many companies do this sort of thing (kinda like Sony with their PSP batteries). We as consumers get sucked into companies more and more.

 

[Dangle]

They will put it in for the price of the battery with no charge for installation.

How does this sound bad?

They will put it in for the price of the battery with no charge for installation.

It's basic economics and marketing: If they tell you you're getting something for free, the original item's price is inflated.

 

[ShinyG]

I'm not surprised! The battery replacement program might be cheap but besides having to rely only on Apple for a new battery, the replacement could take up to a week and I bet that you have to pay for the mail. I don't even want to mention the fact that you won't have your laptop for one week and that Apple will probably happily rent you one for a price...

I think that if given the opportunity, Apple could turn into a more monopolistic company that even Microsoft is...
Wait a minute... They are... At least in the mp3 market!

 

[russianboy]

Nah, too many problems can arise from this.

I have an Mp3 player that has a shitty battery, and my warranty ran out so I can't replace it/RMA.

So I learned it the hard way. Therefore solely for this reason I will not even consider purchasing such a device.

 

[PaulieG]

Nothing like having to bend over and take it from these companies. Can you say "rape"? No user replaceable battery is crap.

 

[Xaser04]

It's not "user" replaceable, meaning you can't do it because they won't sell you the battery. They will put it in for the price of the battery with no charge for installation.

How does this sound bad?

Because you can't replace the battery yourself maybe?!

Instead of simply ordering the battery and inserting it yourself (ie my samsung laptop you just unclick the battery and slot another one in the back) you have to send the entire laptop off to apple for them to do it for you.

How does this sound good?!

Bleh, get used to it, so many companies do this sort of thing (kinda like Sony with their PSP batteries). We as consumers get sucked into companies more and more.

As far as I was aware you can replace the battery in the PSP yourself (well I can in my slim n lite), do you mean the PS3 controller perhaps?

 

[Jimmy 2004]

Bleh, get used to it, so many companies do this sort of thing (kinda like Sony with their PSP batteries). We as consumers get sucked into companies more and more.

But you can replace the PSP's batteries

 

[newtekie1]

It's not "user" replaceable, meaning you can't do it because they won't sell you the battery. They will put it in for the price of the battery with no charge for installation.

How does this sound bad?

Several reasons:

1.) You have to go without a laptop while you send it into Apple.
2.) You have to pay $129 to get it replaced, along with shipping, while replacement batteries would most likely cost half that price. I have never paid more than $80 for any laptop battery brand new.
3.) You are basically giving all your personal information storred on the laptop to Appple to look through. So even if they don't format the machine when you send it in, you probably should beforehand anyway.
4.) You can't have and use an extra battery. Yes, the run time is 5 hours, but what if I am on a 10 hour flight? And we all know no one is every going to see 5 hours of use from the battery, laptop manufactures always over inflate the battery run time. Each of my laptops has 2 batteries, so if one runs out I just pop in the other.

Bleh, get used to it, so many companies do this sort of thing (kinda like Sony with their PSP batteries). We as consumers get sucked into companies more and more.

PSP batteries? Those are user replaceable. If you are talking about the PS3 wireless controllers, then that is a different story. It is pretty easy to have a spare $25 controller laying around to use in case the battery dies in the first one, not so much with a $1800 laptop. Most people have 2 controllers anyway so they can play multiplayer games, and even if you don't, it isn't hard to run out to Best Buy or Circuit City and buy one if your controller does die. And even if the battery does start to fail, and the charge starts to drop from the ~5 hours they get when they are new to say ~2 hours, who is sitting and playing their PS3 for 2 hours? The battery failure will be much less noticeable on a PS3 controller than on a laptop. Besides, you can always play with the controller plugged in, it isn't like you won't be around power to plug the controller in, if the PS3 has power, the controller has power.

 

[Rob!]

You can probably just take it to an Apple store and have them do it while you wait. Apple Stores can do simple installations like that without need to ship it out.

 

[newtekie1]

You can probably just take it to an Apple store and have them do it while you wait. Apple Stores can do simple installations like that without need to ship it out.

The closest Apple store to me is a 2 hour drive both ways into Indy, not exactly convienient either(not to mention the price of the gas to drive there and back). Not everyone has an Apple store close to them, in fact most people don't have an Apple sore anywhere near them.

 

[Ravenas]

The closest Apple store to me is a 2 hour drive both ways into Indy, not exactly convienient either(not to mention the price of the gas to drive there and back). Not everyone has an Apple store close to them, in fact most people don't have an Apple sore anywhere near them.

I have to disagree, the Apple stores are mainly located in bigger cities, where the biggest populations are.

 

[newtekie1]

I have to disagree, the Apple stores are mainly located in bigger cities, where the biggest populations are.

The majority of the population do not live in big cities. Trust me, the majority of the population of Indiana does not live in Indianapolis. The overwhelming majority of people do not live anywhere near an Apple store.

 

[Ravenas]

For Apple's market, most of their retail (store) sales come from cities like New York, NY. The city of New York is about half the total population of that state alone.Large percentages of the population live in big cities, maybe not the majority. For a company the size of Apple, and the products they make, they are reaching out to the big cities with the largest portion of "Urban Trendsetters" and "Upscale Suburbia Types". Also, large percentages of population live in the surrounding cities of bigger cities (it's just plan logic). Also, from east to west in TN there are 3 official apple stores and there are also countless more universities that are offical Apple retailers. Personally, I can goto a Apple store at anytime without it turning into a hassel.

At least Apple isn't as bad as Dell. How far are you from the Dell store? You arn't even close to one, because there arn't any. Sure they have small outfits in malls and in Wal-Mart, but no offical stores.

*rant*People always talk about how Apple is so trendy and they only go after a select market, and how there software sucks blah blah blah. It's funny because people on this forum are just as trendy, I would say at least 3/4 of the people on this forum dog Apple every chance they get and then it's like a band wagon effect. Talk about irony. */rant* Flame me if you feel the need, but it's true!

 

[DaMulta]

There is also no DVD drive in the thing. Which blows my mind.

 

[newtekie1]

Ravenas, I have to disagree, still. The majority of Apple customers are usually buying their products off the internet, even if there was an Apple store close to me I would still buy their products online. Especially considering it is often cheaper to buy their products online. Amazon usually always has the laptops with $100 rebates.

There are customers that are by an Apple store, and they are a lot of them. However, the fact still remains that the majority of Apple's customers live no where near an Apple store, or have probably never set foot inside one. So saying it is ok to have a bettery that the user can't replace because they can just walk into an Apple store an have them replace it is completely wrong and ignorant.

 

[Ravenas]

Ravenas, I have to disagree, still. The majority of Apple customers are usually buying their products off the internet, even if there was an Apple store close to me I would still buy their products online. Especially considering it is often cheaper to buy their products online. Amazon usually always has the laptops with $100 rebates.

There are customers that are by an Apple store, and they are a lot of them. However, the fact still remains that the majority of Apple's customers live no where near an Apple store, or have probably never set foot inside one. So saying it is ok to have a bettery that the user can't replace because they can just walk into an Apple store an have them replace it is completely wrong and ignorant.

No, you misunderstood me, I clearly said most of their retail (store) sales. I excluded the internet from the discussion.

EDIT: Furthermore, as of right now, Apple is opening stores at a rate of about 26-30 per year. Give it time, and they will become more easily accessable to the non-(large)city portions of the population.

 

[Ravenas]

There is also no DVD drive in the thing. Which blows my mind.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817387028