- 5 years lifespan
- 1000 cycles
- new innovative technology
Sounds great and impressive, right?
WRONG!!!
Read further into the article...
Apple claims to have developped a "new" battery technology for their notebook. In their promotion video, they say they are li-poly technology, which for start, is not even close to being a new technology. Li-poly has been used in RC models for years and there's nothing "new" in that.
If I understand correctly they did proprietary square size lipo batteries that CANNOT be removed unless you send it to an Apple Service Provider. Yes, a great leap forward... for Apple
Now for Swordmaker to come here and school us on how it is not proprietary and try to convince all Apple does not nor has ever been a company to use proprietary parts.
Here's the ironic statement in fine print on the Apple page:
Apple does not warrant the battery beyond Apples one-year Limited Warranty *** (One year??? One year???? I know that is generally standard, but if they are boasting about a 5 year lifespan, How about putting their money where their mouth is. A 2 1/2 year warranty would have been a little less disingenuous). The battery has a limited number of charge cycles and may (May? There is no question a user will not be able to replace the battery without voiding said warranty) eventually need to be replaced by an Apple Service Provider. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information.
*** Red text is my commentary
Ummm..., don’t forget to ping Swordmaker, as he has the ping list...
Ah, another way of slipping hidden costs in... just like congress.
Thanks to Blue Highway for the post... in spite of his FUD rant.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
>> Li-poly has been used in RC models for years and there’s nothing “new” in that.
I was using li-polymer batteries more than a decade ago in custom instrumentation products we built.
Not to say Apple couldn’t have made significant improvements to the technology. But they would be evolutionary, not revolutionary, improvements.
Remember though — don’t get too hung up on the nitty gritty of the technology, because Macs are all about style and “cool”. (he says, zipping up flameproof suit)
You said — Sounds great and impressive, right?
—
You were talking about the recharge cycles. Well, you may not know this, but it’s dramatically longer. I mean, I’ve seen the other batteries and their recharge cycles. We’re talking about maybe 200 cycles or so, and then they start dropping down fast (in charge).
So, this is quite a bit longer and that’s the nature of technology — always getting better and always improving.
You can’t fault Apple for that. It’s always pushing ahead, and usually far ahead of anyone else.
‘If I understand correctly they did proprietary square size lipo batteries that CANNOT be removed”
And if I did remove it I would not find a replacement on www.rcworld.us!
To be fair, Apple saves weight and space using non-accessible batteries. No access hatch, hinges, screws, and they can use a thin plastic lipo since it won’t ever be handled by clueless users with screwdrivers (a LiPo can be dangerous if mishandled).
Of course they do make much more profit if they require you to send in the whole unit every now and then.
Let me be the first to say that Mac users are hip, trendy, beautiful and far, far more intelligent than the low-browed, mouth breathing, knuckle-dragging Dinosaur PC users.
ORRRRR......
Let me also be the first to say that PC users are the standard PC for grownups, and Mac are nothing but a toy.
Let's see how many other stereotypes we can get out of the way in a hurry.....
Actually, Apple’s pretty good about letting you replace internal components without voiding the warranty. They don’t do the Dell or HP thing and place antitamper stickers over critical screws, etc.
Relax, man. They’re not out to get you.
Yes, Li-poly may not be “new”, but it’s new to this industry. Close enough.
Apple has discovered that most customers will chuck the device (notebook, iPod, whatever) before the battery irrevocably dies. Most of those customers would rather trade away battery replacability for thinner/lighter/longer. Given that we’re talking YEARS to replacement, not days/hours, most people who do get the battery replaced will do so only once or twice, warranting the hassle of in-store servicing. Personally I’ve found that a dying battery is a pretty good sign (to sum up many factors) to just chuck the device.
Be aware too that high-capacity high-tech battery prices tend to be hideous anyway. By the time you truly need to replace the battery, it’s almost cheaper to just buy another better device anyway. My subnotebook’s standard replacement (non-el-cheapo-knockoff) battery runs about $400 - heck, I can get a superior laptop for that price.
Sure it’s proprietary. So? That’s the kind of attention to detail that makes Apple products appeal to me.
Nothing wrong with the warranty. Nobody warranties their notebook’s batteries for more than 1 year. It’s too subject to usage patterns and manufacturing variations. Yes it “may” need to be replaced; the “may” depends on whether the user just chucks the whole thing first.
My iPod Touch has a non-user-replaceable battery. I like it that way, given the tradeoffs. The device is thinner/lighter for it, and I’ll replace the device before the battery croaks. The thought of the Air featuring the same thin/light benefit, boosted by Li-poly, makes me smile; that a battery swap may mean going to a local mall once or twice doesn’t bother me.
anyone with helicopter RC experience will tell you some great stories about those batteries and what happens when they crack
have your fire insurance up to date
My professional recommendation to you would be to NOT buy an Apple MacBook Pro or MacBook.
My consulting fee is $600. Please remit to . . . .
The Li-Poly batteries that have been used in RC models are not the same. They are basic batteries. You charge them with a dumb charger, you discharge them in use. The ones that Apple DID develop are smart batteries with controlling circuitry to manage their condition and charging.
"The battery in the new MacBook Pro notebooks is made to be smart. Its built with a chip that talks to each of its cells to determine their precise condition. The chip shares this information with the computer. And the computer uses an advanced algorithm to make delicate adjustments to the charging current, varying it to suit the changing conditions inside the cells. This Adaptive Charging reduces the wear and tear on the battery and gives it a much longer lifespan than ever before up to five years.Apple
That is a new technology and patented by Apple. If this is not new technology in notebook computers, where are the other notebooks using similar technology?
If I understand correctly they did proprietary square size lipo batteries that CANNOT be removed unless you send it to an Apple Service Provider. Yes, a great leap forward... for Apple
They designed batteries that fit in the multiple unused spaces inside the smaller, thinner cases of the Apple notebook line. This approach allows 40% more battery inside the computer case compared to those designs using a unitary, removable battery.
". . . removable batteries require a lot of space for connectors, latches and support. Lose the support bits - build a bigger battery."ZDNet review of Apple's batteriesNow for Swordmaker to come here and school us on how it is not proprietary and try to convince all Apple does not nor has ever been a company to use proprietary parts.
Gee, where are the non-proprietary batteries for all those Dell, HP, and Lenovo notebooks when they first come out. What notebook manufacturer buys their notebook batteries from off the shelf offerings? Aren't they all essentially custom designed for each notebook case? After market batteries will most likely be available for Apple's MacBooks, just as third parties came out with replaceable batteries for the iPod's supposedly non-replaceable batteries, I think third parties will do the same for the Apple notebook's batteries... if they do not last the five years Apple is claiming.
Does that meet your expectations?
From what I heard it boils down to two things:
1. Square batteries so there isn’t any wasted space as is normal when they chain a bunch of cylindrical batteries together to make the larger battery.
2. Intelligent power management and recharge software. A major factor in battery life is how it’s used and how it’s recharged.
And it is removable. Doing so violates the warranty, but then Apple will be replacing the battery for free if your laptop is still under warranty. Thus you’re not violating a warranty if you need to replace it yourself.
“it can be recharged up to 1000 times nearly three times the lifespan of typical notebook batteries”
Wrong. I have never seen a notebook battery last only a year. I have a notebook battery going on 5 years. The one I am using to type this is 3 years.
Seems the lifetime of the battery is on a par with that of the hard disk, which on many laptops is not officially a user-serviceable part. (And which, ahem, is typically warranted for a year at most.) But plenty of users replace their non-user-serviceable hard disks when they eventually fail, so I expect many Apple laptop users will do the same with their battery.
The thing is: we’ve had two trusty Powerbooks overhauled completely by Apple recently for a flat fee of $318 each. That included batteries, hard disks, and in the case of one unit, a display, among other things, and the units were returned fully refreshed, down to new little rubber feet on the bottom. $318 to make a five-year-old product like-new is far from unreasonable. So, even though many folks will replace their non-user-replaceable batteries themselves, the alternative that has you so worked up is far from the end of the world.
Your Chris Matthew’s impersonation is unbecoming of you. The spittle on your screen can be cleaned up with gasoline on a steel wool Pad
My netbook battery runs 7 hours and should it need replaced I can buy a new one for 50 bucks and snap it on.
Oh it's also half the size of a Macbook (like, really, the size of a book that you'd carry around) and it'll run BSD with or without OS-X wrapped around it.
I'm a PC and I'm 51 years old.