Does iFixit tear down anything other than Apple products? And while some geeks might be interested in these teardowns, who repairs their own stuff anymore, especially mice, keyboards and trackpads. I wish iFixit would do away with these stupid and meaningless repairability scores.
So I was just browsing the iFixit site and saw this. It's not an official iFixit tear down but I still found it incredibly informative, useful, and dare I say mind blowing and earth shattering:
You don't have to flip it over you can just lay it on its side. Or if you have a lightening iPhone doc you can place it there. And considering it gets a month on one 2 hour charge it's not like you'll be chairing this thing frequently. Charge it when you go to bed or top it off when you're taking a shower in the morning.
The way most people will use and charge this thing it just doesn't play out in the real world. I'm actually great at charging my devices. Anything less than 50%, makes me nervous. But, I'm considering this mouse for use with my MacBook. The way I see it is I'll pull my laptop out of the bag and the mouse with it. I'm expecting both to work immediately. I don't prepare my workspace, plug everything in and run off to take a piss. Hell, I'm pissed off when I need to reboot my MacBook for some reason or another. I see the new Magic Mouse needing to be spot charged almost every time I need it. I leave my laptop plugged in while using. My phone plugged in my car. My iPad has a 10ft cord in the living room. But my mouse, my mouse is laying dead on its side. What logic is that. Seems like they retrofitted to previous battery compartment and stopped there. Didn't I just read that they worked for hours to get the perfect noise balance from the silicone feet. Yet they couldn't get the charging port on the back, front, or side? Is there any real argument why it couldn't be more accessible? Or am I just too dumb to see the genius in the design?
This reminds me of the Wii remotes, where you had to remove the controller from the silicone sleeve to recharge it. What a PITA. Sooner or later it stopped holding a good charge. Back to AA's for me.
And while some geeks might be interested in these teardowns, who repairs their own stuff anymore, especially mice, keyboards and trackpads. I wish iFixit would do away with these stupid and meaningless repairability scores.
I find their tear-downs extremely informative. Given the price of this peripherals it's also worth knowing that it's very unlikely there will be battery replacements for those of us geeky enough to want to repair a pricey device.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zroger73
That's incorrect. Try telling that to every MacBook, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, and every other Apple and non-Apple device that uses Li-ion batteries.
I have a couple of Li-I devices (BT speaker, Pulse Oxymeter) that specifically state not to use the devices while they charging as this shortens battery life. I've seen no technical documentation to support either contention. But obviously no manufacturer would ever say this with regards to computers, phones, tablets, etc. With all the objects you've named, frequent, almost daily recharging is a given. I think Apple would want to avoid that with MM2 because of the price and outrage caused by a possible 2minute time out. Imagine what would happen if it took three minutes for a day of use, or three hours for a month. The end of humanity as we know it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jameskatt2
So not buying Apple products just because they aren't repairable is being just cheap and shortsighted.
I disagree with that as a blanket statement. Each device will ultimately have to stand on it's own performance regardless of Apple's general reputation. The products are pricey. Apple may not offer a battery replacement service as they do on their more expensive products. Being frugal isn't the same as being cheap, unless you can demonstrate false economy. It's a little early to do that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tommy0guns
I don't care how you slice it, putting the charging port on the bottom is just terrible. You need to flip it over on it's back to charge it. Imagine doing this with the keyboard, where you lay it key-side down for a few hours. That's just odd. If you could plug the mouse directly into a wall outlet, that would justify the design. Otherwise, it literally looks like a "dead mouse" (I'm coining that)
All that is just plain silly, and that's being generous. Why imagine flipping over the keyboard, when it's unnecessary. That these two aren't analogous is obvious. Or should be.They aren't the same thing. Doing that to a mouse for two minutes or two hours might also be- odd to some. Personally, I could get past it. "Just terrible"? That's a ridiculous adjective. Equally ridiculous is saying the MM2 on it's side actually looks like a dead mouse. I've seen dead mice and it's not the same thing.
I honestly don't understand what fires all the outrage for something that has little to no impact on daily use. It's not like you have to walk down the street with your baseball hat on sideways or backwards, or brush your teeth in public. Battery life on the Apple Watch is much better than expected and even haters have stopped complaining about it. So the MM2's battery life could be better than most people expect. That's not as much fun as complaining about something you have no first hand knowledge of.
Imagine buying a car with the battery welded inside the frame all but preventing the owner and many independent repairs shops from replacing it without damaging the vehicle. The manufacturer expects and hopes that when the battery goes dead in a few years, you'll just buy a new car.
I'm quick to defend Apple products, I drink their "Kool-Aid", and I suppose I could be considered a "fanboy" (or "fanman"). However, I'm not feeling this "sealed for life" technology. I have a problem when a $2,300 iMac is held together with double-sided tape.
A car costs at least $15000. Most iOS devices < $1000. These accessories are < $200.
seems like
1) a month battery life is pretty poor. should be able to do better than that...AA batteries can.
2) lightning connector on the bottom???? total fail. so un-apple like.
1. My current Magic Mouse eats batteries. Considering the mouse is always by your Mac and near a cable, it's not an issue.
Does iFixit tear down anything other than Apple products?
Of course.
And while some geeks might be interested in these teardowns, who repairs their own stuff anymore
I do. I even have one of their toolkits.
especially mice, keyboards and trackpad
I've also cleaned and adjusted trackpads and keyboards in Macs, which required a teardown to get inside the keys and under the trackpad.
I wish iFixit would do away with these stupid and meaningless repairability scores.
They aren't meaningless to those that are doing repairs; but I can see why you'd think that if you A) don't do any repairs yourself, and think they only teardown Apple products which never have a great repairability score.
You need to remember that when iFixit started their business model of giving away step-by-step teardown of electronics with the hopes you'll buy their tools or replacement components, that Apple's HW wasn't as unrepairable as it is today. But this isn't an Apple thing as all CE was much easier to repair when they started.
Imagine buying a car with the battery welded inside the frame all but preventing the owner and many independent repairs shops from replacing it without damaging the vehicle.
Have you seen the batteries in a Tesla, Prius, BMW i3? The owner should not be getting anywhere near those batteries.
The manufacturer expects and hopes that when the battery goes dead in a few years, you'll just buy a new car.
This is the same battery tech in other Apple products. So we're talking 1000 charges… but let's say this is only a measly 300 charges like in their laptop from 2007. If you get 1 month out of each between charges that's 300 months before it's at 80% of its original capacity. That means after 25 years you'll now have to charge it every 3.5 weeks instead of once a month. Is that really something to complain about? I'd much rather have my keyboard and trackpad stay usable when charging instead of having to play "musical batteries" by swapping out batteries from the screwed in silo after finding a quarter in which to use as a screwdriver. This is long overdue.
Thanks for that. Really shocked that they didn't bring the new butterfly mechanism accross to the keyboard. I was going to buy one, for that reason but will wait another year until they do. Anybody know why they didn't? I was expecting it to be phased in accross all products requiring a keyboard.
At first I thought the charge port location on the mouse was really stupid, but after thinking about it, is it really that big of an issue? Just charge it when you're not using it, say, at night while you're sleeping for example? If you're using your mouse for more than 24 hours a day, that's amazing. Otherwise, there's always some time to charge it. Yes it's kind of dumb, yes it's not perfect, but, that's the way it is and what we have to deal with. Plus, if it wasn't on the bottom, how would Apple sell it's most likely soon to be released Magic Dock Charger? Port placement can easily open up a new revenue stream elsewhere and these guys are the best at finding them.
Apple products are generally the most popular products both in volume sold and general consumer interest. So without a doubt iFixit will tear every single one of them down.
That being said, of course they tear down other products. Check out their website, there are tons of product tear downs other than Apples. I can completely understand why a website like Apple Insider would choose not to report on the iFixit tear down of a Sony camera, Samsung phone, Google On Hub or Chromecast.
I agree it is unlikely for the average person to repair their mouses, keyboards, and trackpads. But regardless if you ever attempt a repair, its fun to see what is inside.
Their repairablility scores often seems to me to be less about actually repairing a device (which relatively few people do), and more of a commentary on the wasteful and disposable nature of society these days.
I understand if you are not interested in a website like iFixit, but a lot of people are. Regardless if they have ever repaired a thing. <span style="line-height:1.4em;"> </span>
Sorry I have a hard time believing Apple products are the most popular in terms of people who like to tinker or where repairability and/or upgradability are very important. IFixit does this for one reason. Apple = page views and even more page views/attention when the headline can be [insert Apple product name here] is difficult to repair says iFixit.
At first I thought the charge port location on the mouse was really stupid, but after thinking about it, is it really that big of an issue? Just charge it when you're not using it, say, at night while you're sleeping for example? If you're using your mouse for more than 24 hours a day, that's amazing. Otherwise, there's always some time to charge it. Yes it's kind of dumb, yes it's not perfect, but, that's the way it is and what we have to deal with. Plus, if it wasn't on the bottom, how would Apple sell it's most likely soon to be released Magic Dock Charger? Port placement can easily open up a new revenue stream elsewhere and these guys are the best at finding them.
So what wouldn't be dumb? A visible port sticking out of the front or back of the mouse that's hardly ever used? Or worse a port with a cover that could easily break off and get lost? The point Apple is making with this mouse is 1) you don't have to charge it that often and 2) we don't want you using it while it's charging. It's a wireless mouse, after all. If someone is that fearful they're going to run out of juice just buy a wired mouse then.
No, I agree. At first I thought it was a bit silly, but after some thought I don't think that at all. Like you said, it's wireless and doesn't need to be used when charging. 2 minutes of charge = 9 hours or 2 hours for a month's worth. It's all good with me
And while some geeks might be interested in these teardowns, who repairs their own stuff anymore, especially mice, keyboards and trackpads.
Aahh... the old days of removing the mouse ball and cleaning rollers with alcohol and q-tips... Or not. I remember going from desk to desk checking other people's mice out because I was feed up with cleaning my own damn mouse that only worked in one direction . The worst was the Apple Mighty Mouse. It was great while it worked but then... what a pain.
Have you seen the batteries in a Tesla, Prius, BMW i3? The owner should not be getting anywhere near those batteries.
This is the same battery tech in other Apple products. So we're talking 1000 charges… but let's say this is only a measly 300 charges like in their laptop from 2007. If you get 1 month out of each between charges that's 300 months before it's at 80% of its original capacity. That means after 25 years you'll now have to charge it every 3.5 weeks instead of once a month. Is that really something to complain about? I'd much rather have my keyboard and trackpad stay usable when charging instead of having to play "musical batteries" by swapping out batteries from the screwed in silo after finding a quarter in which to use as a screwdriver. This is long overdue.
All the whiners are coming out in this thread. They're probably just concerned about having to place their interactive porn movies on pause for 2 minutes. Heaven forbid they need their mouse to save the world during the two minutes it's charging.
I mean really. It's quite sad reading the complaints. These folks fall into the same group that complained about the removal of floppy drives, CD drives, and legacy ports.
I'm actually quite happy I can finally rid myself of using batteries and the hassles of charging them. This is an elegant solution. I remember a paper not too long ago about Apple looking into wireless charging for mouse and keyboards. That would be the ideal setup, albeit not in the very near future for sure.
That's incorrect. Try telling that to every MacBook, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, and every other Apple and non-Apple device that uses Li-ion batteries.
You need to learn more about Lithium Ion batteries. They don't like to be constantly used or stored at near 100% charge levels, or stored at very low charge levels. The former causes internal leakage current and gas generation, and the latter irreversible chemical degradation. A sufficiently intelligent charging circuit can help protect against the charge/overcharge issue by cycling the charge level between ~80% and 100% rather than holding it near maximum.
A mouse that needs charging only once a month or so is a pretty near ideal case for this type of battery, since unnecessary charge cycles will naturally be minimized.
That is great (I think...lol). Anyone considering these new devices...I have them and would recommend all of them. The track pad is insane. The mouse is better but not much different from the first other than rechargeable and has not compartment on the bottom. I have not used the keyboard much yet but feels really nice and the form factor is crazy.
Apple products are generally the most popular products both in volume sold and general consumer interest. So without a doubt iFixit will tear every single one of them down. <-----which leads to PAGE VIEWS.
Sorry I have a hard time believing Apple products are the most popular in terms of people who like to tinker or where repairability and/or upgradability are very important. IFixit does this for one reason. Apple = page views and even more page views/attention when the headline can be [insert Apple product name here] is difficult to repair says iFixit.
Please read again what I said and my little edit for clarity, I can see where I was not clear enough and you could misunderstand what I said. I did not say Apple products are the most popular in terms of people who like to tinker, etc.
I agree that quite the opposite is true. In general, people who like to dive in and tinker and replace things like batteries, memory, hard drives, CPU's, GPU's, etc. do not buy fully-sealed Apple products where things are non-replaceable or soldered on.
And why is it so wrong for iFixit to try and get page views? They are website after all. Most websites try to get page views, including this one and many more like it. These websites are mainly successful due to the fact that Apple themselves are successful. I would imagine that sites that make their living reporting on Apple are more popular than they have ever been. I don't see why iFixit should be singled out here. It's not like they save all of the low repairability scores for Apple only. Lots and lots of products get low repairability scores.
Does iFixit take apart every single mouse and keyboard? Of course not, nobody cares about every single mouse and keyboard. Do they take apart Apple mouses and keyboards? Of course they do. Apple is the most popular consumer electronics company on the planet and that means page views.
I don't have a problem with it. It feels like you are holding iFixit to a double standard here and the reparability scores are a real sticking point for you. Just ignore them if they bother you.
Heaven forbid they need their mouse to save the world during the two minutes it's charging.
And how long does it take to grab a quarter for the screw (I personally don't carry change with me), remove the old batteries, find the new batteries on the charger or in the packaging (depending if they are disposable or reusable), and then place them back in, secure the screw, (put rechargeable batteries back on the charger), and turn on the peripheral so it can then link via BT so you can start working again? I'd say that's probably getting up there to two minutes
Additionally, since 2 of the 3 devices will allow you to keep working whilst plugged in and since Mac OS X is very good about letting you know the battery state of your BT-connected peripherals the only real time you'll have to waste with the mouse is putting the Lightning cable in during a break or night which takes just a couple seconds and won't affect your working state at all, whereas "musical batteries" does require the same effort and downtime... every time.
That's incorrect. Try telling that to every MacBook, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, and every other Apple and non-Apple device that uses Li-ion batteries.
You need to learn more about Lithium Ion batteries. They don't like to be constantly used or stored at near 100% charge levels, or stored at very low charge levels. The former causes internal leakage current and gas generation, and the latter irreversible chemical degradation. A sufficiently intelligent charging circuit can help protect against the charge/overcharge issue by cycling the charge level between ~80% and 100% rather than holding it near maximum.
A mouse that needs charging only once a month or so is a pretty near ideal case for this type of battery, since unnecessary charge cycles will naturally be minimized.
^^^This.
If I may add, that is why most products that ship with a lithium battery inside generally have somewhere around a 50% charge give or take. It's the least damaging on the battery for long term storage where the product may sit in a warehouse or on a shelf at a store for a few months before reaching the hands of the consumer.
And how long does it take to grab a quarter for the screw (I personally don't carry change with me), remove the old batteries, find the new batteries on the charger or in the packaging (depending if they are disposable or reusable), and then place them back in, secure the screw, (put rechargeable batteries back on the charger), and turn on the peripheral so it can then link via BT so you can start working again? I'd say that's probably getting up there to two minutes
OK you just came up with a fantastic marketing idea.
Perhaps call it the "battery swap challenge".
"Joe here let his old and tired mouse run out of batteries. Poor Joe, what a complete loser he is. Let's see how long it takes him to find new batteries, replace them and get back to work."
"Lisa here has the new Magic Mouse that gets 9 hours of charge in just 2 short minutes. Lets see how long it takes her to plug it in and then get back to work."
Smash-cut to Joe filmed in black and white, tearing his office apart looking for batteries. And then walking a 1/4 mile in the rain getting soaked by every passing car, to get new batteries at the corner store. THERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY!
In case you don't get my humor or think that is funny, I completely agree with you.
Comments
Does iFixit tear down anything other than Apple products? And while some geeks might be interested in these teardowns, who repairs their own stuff anymore, especially mice, keyboards and trackpads. I wish iFixit would do away with these stupid and meaningless repairability scores.
So I was just browsing the iFixit site and saw this. It's not an official iFixit tear down but I still found it incredibly informative, useful, and dare I say mind blowing and earth shattering:
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Banana+Teardown/811
I would have given it a repairablility score of 0 out of 10.
The way most people will use and charge this thing it just doesn't play out in the real world. I'm actually great at charging my devices. Anything less than 50%, makes me nervous. But, I'm considering this mouse for use with my MacBook. The way I see it is I'll pull my laptop out of the bag and the mouse with it. I'm expecting both to work immediately. I don't prepare my workspace, plug everything in and run off to take a piss. Hell, I'm pissed off when I need to reboot my MacBook for some reason or another. I see the new Magic Mouse needing to be spot charged almost every time I need it. I leave my laptop plugged in while using. My phone plugged in my car. My iPad has a 10ft cord in the living room. But my mouse, my mouse is laying dead on its side. What logic is that. Seems like they retrofitted to previous battery compartment and stopped there. Didn't I just read that they worked for hours to get the perfect noise balance from the silicone feet. Yet they couldn't get the charging port on the back, front, or side? Is there any real argument why it couldn't be more accessible? Or am I just too dumb to see the genius in the design?
This reminds me of the Wii remotes, where you had to remove the controller from the silicone sleeve to recharge it. What a PITA. Sooner or later it stopped holding a good charge. Back to AA's for me.
Poor little guy
And while some geeks might be interested in these teardowns, who repairs their own stuff anymore, especially mice, keyboards and trackpads. I wish iFixit would do away with these stupid and meaningless repairability scores.
I find their tear-downs extremely informative. Given the price of this peripherals it's also worth knowing that it's very unlikely there will be battery replacements for those of us geeky enough to want to repair a pricey device.
Quote:
That's incorrect. Try telling that to every MacBook, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, and every other Apple and non-Apple device that uses Li-ion batteries.
I have a couple of Li-I devices (BT speaker, Pulse Oxymeter) that specifically state not to use the devices while they charging as this shortens battery life. I've seen no technical documentation to support either contention. But obviously no manufacturer would ever say this with regards to computers, phones, tablets, etc. With all the objects you've named, frequent, almost daily recharging is a given. I think Apple would want to avoid that with MM2 because of the price and outrage caused by a possible 2minute time out. Imagine what would happen if it took three minutes for a day of use, or three hours for a month. The end of humanity as we know it.
So not buying Apple products just because they aren't repairable is being just cheap and shortsighted.
I disagree with that as a blanket statement. Each device will ultimately have to stand on it's own performance regardless of Apple's general reputation. The products are pricey. Apple may not offer a battery replacement service as they do on their more expensive products. Being frugal isn't the same as being cheap, unless you can demonstrate false economy. It's a little early to do that.
I don't care how you slice it, putting the charging port on the bottom is just terrible. You need to flip it over on it's back to charge it. Imagine doing this with the keyboard, where you lay it key-side down for a few hours. That's just odd. If you could plug the mouse directly into a wall outlet, that would justify the design. Otherwise, it literally looks like a "dead mouse" (I'm coining that)
All that is just plain silly, and that's being generous. Why imagine flipping over the keyboard, when it's unnecessary. That these two aren't analogous is obvious. Or should be.They aren't the same thing. Doing that to a mouse for two minutes or two hours might also be- odd to some. Personally, I could get past it. "Just terrible"? That's a ridiculous adjective. Equally ridiculous is saying the MM2 on it's side actually looks like a dead mouse. I've seen dead mice and it's not the same thing.
I honestly don't understand what fires all the outrage for something that has little to no impact on daily use. It's not like you have to walk down the street with your baseball hat on sideways or backwards, or brush your teeth in public. Battery life on the Apple Watch is much better than expected and even haters have stopped complaining about it. So the MM2's battery life could be better than most people expect. That's not as much fun as complaining about something you have no first hand knowledge of.
A car costs at least $15000. Most iOS devices < $1000. These accessories are < $200.
1. My current Magic Mouse eats batteries. Considering the mouse is always by your Mac and near a cable, it's not an issue.
2. Charge at night. Solved.
Of course.
I do. I even have one of their toolkits.
I've also cleaned and adjusted trackpads and keyboards in Macs, which required a teardown to get inside the keys and under the trackpad.
They aren't meaningless to those that are doing repairs; but I can see why you'd think that if you A) don't do any repairs yourself, and
You need to remember that when iFixit started their business model of giving away step-by-step teardown of electronics with the hopes you'll buy their tools or replacement components, that Apple's HW wasn't as unrepairable as it is today. But this isn't an Apple thing as all CE was much easier to repair when they started.
Have you seen the batteries in a Tesla, Prius, BMW i3? The owner should not be getting anywhere near those batteries.
This is the same battery tech in other Apple products. So we're talking 1000 charges… but let's say this is only a measly 300 charges like in their laptop from 2007. If you get 1 month out of each between charges that's 300 months before it's at 80% of its original capacity. That means after 25 years you'll now have to charge it every 3.5 weeks instead of once a month. Is that really something to complain about? I'd much rather have my keyboard and trackpad stay usable when charging instead of having to play "musical batteries" by swapping out batteries from the screwed in silo after finding a quarter in which to use as a screwdriver. This is long overdue.
At first I thought the charge port location on the mouse was really stupid, but after thinking about it, is it really that big of an issue? Just charge it when you're not using it, say, at night while you're sleeping for example? If you're using your mouse for more than 24 hours a day, that's amazing. Otherwise, there's always some time to charge it. Yes it's kind of dumb, yes it's not perfect, but, that's the way it is and what we have to deal with. Plus, if it wasn't on the bottom, how would Apple sell it's most likely soon to be released Magic Dock Charger? Port placement can easily open up a new revenue stream elsewhere and these guys are the best at finding them.
Sorry I have a hard time believing Apple products are the most popular in terms of people who like to tinker or where repairability and/or upgradability are very important. IFixit does this for one reason. Apple = page views and even more page views/attention when the headline can be [insert Apple product name here] is difficult to repair says iFixit.
So what wouldn't be dumb? A visible port sticking out of the front or back of the mouse that's hardly ever used? Or worse a port with a cover that could easily break off and get lost? The point Apple is making with this mouse is 1) you don't have to charge it that often and 2) we don't want you using it while it's charging. It's a wireless mouse, after all. If someone is that fearful they're going to run out of juice just buy a wired mouse then.
No, I agree. At first I thought it was a bit silly, but after some thought I don't think that at all. Like you said, it's wireless and doesn't need to be used when charging. 2 minutes of charge = 9 hours or 2 hours for a month's worth. It's all good with me
Aahh... the old days of removing the mouse ball and cleaning rollers with alcohol and q-tips... Or not. I remember going from desk to desk checking other people's mice out because I was feed up with cleaning my own damn mouse that only worked in one direction
Have you seen the batteries in a Tesla, Prius, BMW i3? The owner should not be getting anywhere near those batteries.
This is the same battery tech in other Apple products. So we're talking 1000 charges… but let's say this is only a measly 300 charges like in their laptop from 2007. If you get 1 month out of each between charges that's 300 months before it's at 80% of its original capacity. That means after 25 years you'll now have to charge it every 3.5 weeks instead of once a month. Is that really something to complain about? I'd much rather have my keyboard and trackpad stay usable when charging instead of having to play "musical batteries" by swapping out batteries from the screwed in silo after finding a quarter in which to use as a screwdriver. This is long overdue.
All the whiners are coming out in this thread. They're probably just concerned about having to place their interactive porn movies on pause for 2 minutes. Heaven forbid they need their mouse to save the world during the two minutes it's charging.
I mean really. It's quite sad reading the complaints. These folks fall into the same group that complained about the removal of floppy drives, CD drives, and legacy ports.
I'm actually quite happy I can finally rid myself of using batteries and the hassles of charging them. This is an elegant solution. I remember a paper not too long ago about Apple looking into wireless charging for mouse and keyboards. That would be the ideal setup, albeit not in the very near future for sure.
That's incorrect. Try telling that to every MacBook, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, and every other Apple and non-Apple device that uses Li-ion batteries.
You need to learn more about Lithium Ion batteries. They don't like to be constantly used or stored at near 100% charge levels, or stored at very low charge levels. The former causes internal leakage current and gas generation, and the latter irreversible chemical degradation. A sufficiently intelligent charging circuit can help protect against the charge/overcharge issue by cycling the charge level between ~80% and 100% rather than holding it near maximum.
A mouse that needs charging only once a month or so is a pretty near ideal case for this type of battery, since unnecessary charge cycles will naturally be minimized.
Apple products are generally the most popular products both in volume sold and general consumer interest. So without a doubt iFixit will tear every single one of them down. <-----which leads to PAGE VIEWS.
Sorry I have a hard time believing Apple products are the most popular in terms of people who like to tinker or where repairability and/or upgradability are very important. IFixit does this for one reason. Apple = page views and even more page views/attention when the headline can be [insert Apple product name here] is difficult to repair says iFixit.
Please read again what I said and my little edit for clarity, I can see where I was not clear enough and you could misunderstand what I said. I did not say Apple products are the most popular in terms of people who like to tinker, etc.
I agree that quite the opposite is true. In general, people who like to dive in and tinker and replace things like batteries, memory, hard drives, CPU's, GPU's, etc. do not buy fully-sealed Apple products where things are non-replaceable or soldered on.
And why is it so wrong for iFixit to try and get page views? They are website after all. Most websites try to get page views, including this one and many more like it. These websites are mainly successful due to the fact that Apple themselves are successful. I would imagine that sites that make their living reporting on Apple are more popular than they have ever been. I don't see why iFixit should be singled out here. It's not like they save all of the low repairability scores for Apple only. Lots and lots of products get low repairability scores.
Does iFixit take apart every single mouse and keyboard? Of course not, nobody cares about every single mouse and keyboard. Do they take apart Apple mouses and keyboards? Of course they do. Apple is the most popular consumer electronics company on the planet and that means page views.
I don't have a problem with it. It feels like you are holding iFixit to a double standard here and the reparability scores are a real sticking point for you. Just ignore them if they bother you.
And how long does it take to grab a quarter for the screw (I personally don't carry change with me), remove the old batteries, find the new batteries on the charger or in the packaging (depending if they are disposable or reusable), and then place them back in, secure the screw, (put rechargeable batteries back on the charger), and turn on the peripheral so it can then link via BT so you can start working again? I'd say that's probably getting up there to two minutes
Additionally, since 2 of the 3 devices will allow you to keep working whilst plugged in and since Mac OS X is very good about letting you know the battery state of your BT-connected peripherals the only real time you'll have to waste with the mouse is putting the Lightning cable in during a break or night which takes just a couple seconds and won't affect your working state at all, whereas "musical batteries" does require the same effort and downtime... every time.
That's incorrect. Try telling that to every MacBook, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, and every other Apple and non-Apple device that uses Li-ion batteries.
You need to learn more about Lithium Ion batteries. They don't like to be constantly used or stored at near 100% charge levels, or stored at very low charge levels. The former causes internal leakage current and gas generation, and the latter irreversible chemical degradation. A sufficiently intelligent charging circuit can help protect against the charge/overcharge issue by cycling the charge level between ~80% and 100% rather than holding it near maximum.
A mouse that needs charging only once a month or so is a pretty near ideal case for this type of battery, since unnecessary charge cycles will naturally be minimized.
^^^This.
If I may add, that is why most products that ship with a lithium battery inside generally have somewhere around a 50% charge give or take. It's the least damaging on the battery for long term storage where the product may sit in a warehouse or on a shelf at a store for a few months before reaching the hands of the consumer.
And how long does it take to grab a quarter for the screw (I personally don't carry change with me), remove the old batteries, find the new batteries on the charger or in the packaging (depending if they are disposable or reusable), and then place them back in, secure the screw, (put rechargeable batteries back on the charger), and turn on the peripheral so it can then link via BT so you can start working again? I'd say that's probably getting up there to two minutes
OK you just came up with a fantastic marketing idea.
Perhaps call it the "battery swap challenge".
"Joe here let his old and tired mouse run out of batteries. Poor Joe, what a complete loser he is. Let's see how long it takes him to find new batteries, replace them and get back to work."
"Lisa here has the new Magic Mouse that gets 9 hours of charge in just 2 short minutes. Lets see how long it takes her to plug it in and then get back to work."
Smash-cut to Joe filmed in black and white, tearing his office apart looking for batteries. And then walking a 1/4 mile in the rain getting soaked by every passing car, to get new batteries at the corner store. THERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY!
In case you don't get my humor or think that is funny, I completely agree with you.