"hot-swapping" the battery isn't the only reason to replace a battery.
Rechargeable batteries have a limited useable lifespan, and degrade over time (less available energy per recharge) such that that macbooks 7 hour battery life will slowly decline to 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 , 0. Eventually, especially with the heavy use expected of these devices, the batteries will no longer hold ANY charge. Due to slight manufacturing differences, some batteries will experience end of life MUCH earlier than others.
Granted, for some users the usable lifespan may exceed the life of the device, users subjecting the battery to a heavy charge/drain cycle will find their batteries useless relatively quickly. The non-removable battery is built-in obsolescense.
Apple got the ire of its users when it released the original iPhone with a fixed, non-removable battery. The mainstream media and blogosphere (myself included) barbecued Apple for the omission as everything from flat out stupid to a fatal blow to the success of the device. We see how far that went. Here we are two years later and the angry furor has died down to a dull murmur.
Apple followed by releasing the MacBook Air with a fixed battery and a near-riot ensued, but that too eventually calmed.
Then it shipped the unibody MacBook Pro 17-inch sans removable-battery and people went ballistic yet again. This time Apple spun it as a feature (not a bug!) — the MBP17 battery holds 40 percent more energy as a result of the removal of “unnecessary” latches and doors.
Then Apple hit me where it hurts, releasing the “Mid 2009″ 15-inch MacBook Pro — the workhorse of the lineup — with a fixed battery. “I won’t buy one. No way” I told myself. I simply need the ability to swap in an extra battery when needed, like on a long flight or while camping.
Well yes and no.
There’s no denying the convenience of a removable battery, what’s the actual use case for needing one when the new MBP15 is capable of “7 hours of wireless productivity,” with eight hours possible? You’re flying from New York to Tokyo and need to use your MBP the entire time? Please…
If you’re Warren Buffet, or some other over-achiever you probably can afford/justify a seat in business or first class where the in-seat power outlets live. If you can’t afford the upgrade you’re working far too hard on your MacBook Pro for not enough money. (Hey, wait a minute!)
I’m definitely coming around on fixed batteries, but a case can still be made for removable cells…
Some users tax their MacBook CPU, GPU, disk, RAM, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios and like to keep the screen brightness on full blast and never sleep the display or disk. Gamers and pixel pushers are the biggest offenders, but do they really need to use their notebooks with such reckless abandon while away from power?
Really?
I stumbled across an interesting justification for fixed batteries in a WSJ article about the new Apple notebooks: “NPD estimates that fewer than 5% of consumers buy a spare.” While I fall squarely into that five percent, always buying a spare battery, I travel a lot less than I used to. And, truth to be told, I’m rarely away from power for more than eight hours save a couple of camping excursions each summer.
Other vendors are jumping on the sealed battery bandwagon too, witness the Flip line of video cameras and even the Dell Adamo notebook. Curiously most (all?) netbooks have removable batteries, are they the next to convert?
If you are a sick over-achiever and need to render Final Cut Pro effects on your notebook while hiking across the pacific northwest: a) I have a psychiatrist recommendation for you, and b) there’s entire ecosystem of external batteries out there. The iPhone singlehandedly created the segment and a cottage industry of external batteries with MagSafe connectors (like HyperMac) is starting to emerge.
I couldn’t be happier with the battery life in my new MacBook Pro 15-inch and haven’t missed the removable battery - yet. We’ll see how it fares at Camping 2.0 at the end of the month.
Hit up the WSJ article on the topic. It’s a good read.
What’s your take on fixed batteries in your gear? Is it the hot new trend in electronics or the death knell for manufacturers?
I'm talking about having a car and a tent.
