I was going to upgrade soon until Apple decided to force me to an internal battery & glossy screen.
Say what you may but I'm not going to pay extra to upgrade to business class when I travel just to have a/c power for my mbp, pay extra to have a freaking internal battery replaced, be forced to live even a few days without my notebook while it's being serviced or deal with the worse idea in the history of apple ever, the Glossy Screen..!!! Apple sure has forgotten who got them here & if their next release doesn't address these issues I'm going "hackintosh", & so are a lot of other long time apple users I know.!! We have waited forever for apple to listen to its users & release a netbook & mid-size tower, but instead they shove these supposed hardware upgrades down our throat. No wonder more & more people are looking for alternative hardware on which to run OS-X.
Did you even read this thread before posting this? It's been explained that the supposed drawbacks of the internal battery do not exist. You can replace the battery yourself and there are external battery packs available if you need more than the seven hours you'll get with the internal battery.
On the glossy screen front, I agree with you that it's annoying there is no matte option below the 17". I've used the non-glossy 17" and it's awesome.
Let me know which PC you're planning on getting. I'm genuinely interested.
I bought an EOL unibody 15" MBP less than a month ago. So far, I have not needed the battery sucking, discreet graphics card while on battery, nor have I run out of battery power during normal use. After reading this thread, I have decided that an external battery makes a lot more sense than an extra internal battery. I have never bought an extra internal battery for any of my previous notebooks, and will not be starting now. Funny thing is when I chose this laptop over the newer ones, I considered the replaceable battery a benefit. Now that I look at it with fresh eyes, It seems more of a liability. Old paradigms die hard.
I have one of the new 17" Unibody MacBook Pros. it's a great computer. The LED screen is an awesome display. The internal battery provides truly amazing battery life.
My previous computer was the last generation MacBook Pro 17" with a removable battery. I did purchase an extra battery.
My old computer weighed in at 6.6 pounds and the extra battery added another 1.3 pounds. Together they weighed almost 8 pounds.
The new unibody model just received has an non-removable battery that lasts about twice as long as my old computer and weighs 5.5 pounds total.
Please tell me how I'd be better off lugging around that extra weight (and the extra battery cost $129 at the Apple Store) to get the same amount of total run time?
Not to mention the fact that the new model cost considerably less to purchase especially when you add the cost of that extra battery. It also has a faster processor (2.8GHz v 2.5GHz), faster graphics, and a bigger disk (500GB vs 320GB). I love the quality of the unibody aluminum construction. Overall this is a very nice upgrade.
Europe is an 8 hour flight for me. With time out for eating, takeoffs, and landings I might have 6 hours maximum available for using a computer. If I was flying to someplace like Indonesia I'd need to make some time for sleeping. This computer and battery are going to cover most long flight situations. If you are that rare bird who makes even longer flights you can get an external battery pack or a power adapter for use on most long haul aircraft.
Seriously, the only disadvantage with an external battery pack compared to an additional one of the replaceable kind is that you have to work with an external box connected to your laptop..
Maybe someone should make a flat "tray" like battery that goes under the MacBook it is connected to.
You'll always get the whiny-Mcwhinies though. Apple probably can't wait to get rid of them.
if you had 2 batteries that lasted 3-4 hours each and now you have an enclosed one that lasts 7 hours, then you have the same net effect without the extra expense, so whats the problem.
someone explain to me why 2 removable ones are better than one non-removable when you can get the same life-span???? please.
to me, it means that apple have saved people carrying around the extra weight of a second battery.
it's becoming quite clear that the haters are, once again, wrong. As was posted already, several major tech sites, in addition to the Wall Street Journal, conclude that Apple's built-in batteries are overall superior, and that the vast majority of people will be perfectly satisfied.
Those who complain about the battery (and plenty of other Apple decisions) are most likely those who are LEAST affected by it. As the posts here show, most professionals involved in "field work" know better than to rely exclusively on their batteries. Yet those who complain consistently cite this market as getting "spat on" by Apple. Those who make the most noise about this are most often not true "pro" users, and in all liklihood they are probably Windows users anyway, so how a built-in battery on a Mac affects them is beyond me.
Dell kinda got this right, they sell auxiliary "wedges" that add 4-6 cells under the entire bottom surface of the laptop that just clips on and makes the laptop go for like 4 more hours. Really elegant. It makes the computer a fraciton of an inch thicker, but it is swappable without shutting down like the main battery...so double win
You can get up to 12-cell "wedges" for most - if not all - business class HPs, easily reaching 12+ hours of casual work. And some of those HPs are really affordable to start with.
Additionaly, some Lenovos' will let you remove optical drive and plug secondary battery instead. With a bit of planning, chance of needing optical during the flight is slim, and you get extra juice without making your notebook bulkier (if a bit heavier). Of course one can carry precious optical drive in a bag, just in case.
Also, with a range of external pack sizes, I don't see how this is any less "portable" than carrying around a replacement internal battery, had the internal battery been in a traditional easily-accessible compartment. Yes, there's the cable connection, but that's hardly going to weigh anyone down. The external battery has the added benefit that you don't have to shut down the computer to replace the battery - you just plug in and keep on working.
I've seen that before.
Personally, I'd prefer having 2nd battery fixed to notebook than one cable connected - much easier to move notebook around, specially while waiting in the airports between connecting flights - but still, it is good to have that option.
Don't know about Dell, but some HP and Lenovo models have an option for 2nd battery that is fixed to the notebook body, so it is not replacement for primary battery, and you should be able to plug/unplug 2nd battery without turning off your notebook. Lenovo battery goes into multi tray used for optical drive (so it is hot-swappable with optical drive) while on HP 2nd battery is plugged (and fixed) underneath notebook following notebook's contour, so it adds to bulk and weight but is still very manageable.
Personally, I'd prefer having 2nd battery fixed to notebook than one cable connected - much easier to move notebook around, specially while waiting in the airports between connecting flights - but still, it is good to have that option.
The beauty of the setup is that it charges the internal battery rapidly while you are using it. Like water pressure going from a high pressure area lower pressure area, the external battery has a high voltage so the internal battery gets juiced up, so you don?t need to keep it on the whole time. The other benefit is that you can charge both at the same time, without playing ?musical battery bays?.
The beauty of the setup is that it charges the internal battery rapidly while you are using it. Like water pressure going from a high pressure area lower pressure area, the external battery has a high voltage so the internal battery gets juiced up, so you don?t need to keep it on the whole time. The other benefit is that you can charge both at the same time, without playing ?musical battery bays?.
Don't know about Lenovo, but pretty sure HP will discharge secondary battery before the primary one, which means you can unplug it and keep working with primary only after secondary is discharged.
Not sure what you mean by charging both together without playing ?musical battery bays?. When you plug HP to AC adapter, it will charge both batteries together (presuming both are plugged). You are not swapping batteries, they are both fixed to notebook together. And you don't have to juggle with 2 boxes connected with cable when moving around, say between uni lectures, airport waiting rooms and restaurants...
Not sure what you mean by charging both together without playing ?musical battery bays?. When you plug HP to AC adapter, it will charge both batteries together (presuming both are plugged). You are not swapping batteries, they are both fixed to notebook together. And you don't have to juggle with 2 boxes connected with cable when moving around, say between uni lectures, airport waiting rooms and restaurants...
Since the external has it?s one plug you can charge your notebook and any external batteries at the same time. People with extra internal batteries have to wait until one battery has charged, remove it, put in the next battery and then charge it. If you have 3 total batteries, like I used to have, it?s quite annoying, especially if you are having to wake up in the middle of the night to complete the charging before a trip the next day. It?s far from ideal. There is one Mac battery charging bay on the market but it?s very expensive and quite large as it?s made for sitting in one place, not for travel.
The dual internal battery setup is not something that will catch on and is far from typical. You utilize your watt hour capacity better with a larger, single battery, but most importantly, most people simply don?t need to have the extra longevity at the expense of a heavy, more expensive machine. Granted, most notebooks, IMO, have batteries that don?t last long enough for the average user, but that is typical cost cutting measure.
Apple was able to increase the battery size while keeping the weight and size the same. That is the type of out-of-box engineering decisions that make me prefer Apple products.
I was going to upgrade soon until Apple decided to force me to an internal battery & glossy screen.
Say what you may but I'm not going to pay extra to upgrade to business class when I travel just to have a/c power for my mbp, pay extra to have a freaking internal battery replaced, be forced to live even a few days without my notebook while it's being serviced or deal with the worse idea in the history of apple ever, the Glossy Screen..!!! Apple sure has forgotten who got them here & if their next release doesn't address these issues I'm going "hackintosh", & so are a lot of other long time apple users I know.!! We have waited forever for apple to listen to its users & release a netbook & mid-size tower, but instead they shove these supposed hardware upgrades down our throat. No wonder more & more people are looking for alternative hardware on which to run OS-X.
You are overstating the problems. If you are not a real business traveler, then you won't go business class. If you are, then you will.
So buy an external battery pack. They don't cost that much more than another replaceable internal battery, but can give as much as twice the run time, and there's no fumbling around with covers and removing and installing batteries.
We'll see just how long these batteries in the new machines last, but there's no reason to disbelieve that they will last for twice the recharges that typical batteries do. That plus the much longer use time, means it will be less often that they are run down, and so will be recharged less.
That will give them a much better usable lifetime.
Since the external has it?s one plug you can charge your notebook and any external batteries at the same time. People with extra internal batteries have to wait until one battery has charged, remove it, put in the next battery and then charge it. If you have 3 total batteries, like I used to have, it?s quite annoying, especially if you are having to wake up in the middle of the night to complete the charging before a trip the next day. It?s far from ideal. There is one Mac battery charging bay on the market but it?s very expensive and quite large as it?s made for sitting in one place, not for travel.
The dual internal battery setup is not something that will catch on and is far from typical. You utilize your watt hour capacity better with a larger, single battery, but most importantly, most people simply don?t need to have the extra longevity at the expense of a heavy, more expensive machine. Granted, most notebooks, IMO, have batteries that don?t last long enough for the average user, but that is typical cost cutting measure.
Apple was able to increase the battery size while keeping the weight and size the same. That is the type of out-of-box engineering decisions that make me prefer Apple products.
People with more than 1 internal battery are silly, IMHO... as everyone buying without thinking.
Big number of notebooks from HP and Lenovo - don't know about others - do have separate plug and fixing points for secondary, external battery (for HP) or multibay battery (Lenovo). If one needs more than 2 batteries, one can get additional external/secondary batteries that can be easily hot-swapped.
Of course, many folks will grab cheapest notebook without such feature... but option is there, and is common enough to be easily found - if one, as I said, do a bit of research before purchasing, and is willing to add a few $ more to the price of entry level notebooks.
can u run the new MBPs on AC power with the battery out? you know, for times when you're at home and don't want to keep charging/decharging
Yes. Like I said, the user can take the battery out easily. You need a screwdriver, but it's doable. That being said, doing as you're suggesting really isn't necessary.
Comments
I was going to upgrade soon until Apple decided to force me to an internal battery & glossy screen.
Say what you may but I'm not going to pay extra to upgrade to business class when I travel just to have a/c power for my mbp, pay extra to have a freaking internal battery replaced, be forced to live even a few days without my notebook while it's being serviced or deal with the worse idea in the history of apple ever, the Glossy Screen..!!! Apple sure has forgotten who got them here & if their next release doesn't address these issues I'm going "hackintosh", & so are a lot of other long time apple users I know.!! We have waited forever for apple to listen to its users & release a netbook & mid-size tower, but instead they shove these supposed hardware upgrades down our throat. No wonder more & more people are looking for alternative hardware on which to run OS-X.
On the glossy screen front, I agree with you that it's annoying there is no matte option below the 17". I've used the non-glossy 17" and it's awesome.
Let me know which PC you're planning on getting. I'm genuinely interested.
My previous computer was the last generation MacBook Pro 17" with a removable battery. I did purchase an extra battery.
My old computer weighed in at 6.6 pounds and the extra battery added another 1.3 pounds. Together they weighed almost 8 pounds.
The new unibody model just received has an non-removable battery that lasts about twice as long as my old computer and weighs 5.5 pounds total.
Please tell me how I'd be better off lugging around that extra weight (and the extra battery cost $129 at the Apple Store) to get the same amount of total run time?
Not to mention the fact that the new model cost considerably less to purchase especially when you add the cost of that extra battery. It also has a faster processor (2.8GHz v 2.5GHz), faster graphics, and a bigger disk (500GB vs 320GB). I love the quality of the unibody aluminum construction. Overall this is a very nice upgrade.
Europe is an 8 hour flight for me. With time out for eating, takeoffs, and landings I might have 6 hours maximum available for using a computer. If I was flying to someplace like Indonesia I'd need to make some time for sleeping. This computer and battery are going to cover most long flight situations. If you are that rare bird who makes even longer flights you can get an external battery pack or a power adapter for use on most long haul aircraft.
Seriously, the only disadvantage with an external battery pack compared to an additional one of the replaceable kind is that you have to work with an external box connected to your laptop..
Maybe someone should make a flat "tray" like battery that goes under the MacBook it is connected to.
You'll always get the whiny-Mcwhinies though. Apple probably can't wait to get rid of them.
someone explain to me why 2 removable ones are better than one non-removable when you can get the same life-span???? please.
to me, it means that apple have saved people carrying around the extra weight of a second battery.
How many users carry 3 batteries??????
Those who complain about the battery (and plenty of other Apple decisions) are most likely those who are LEAST affected by it. As the posts here show, most professionals involved in "field work" know better than to rely exclusively on their batteries. Yet those who complain consistently cite this market as getting "spat on" by Apple. Those who make the most noise about this are most often not true "pro" users, and in all liklihood they are probably Windows users anyway, so how a built-in battery on a Mac affects them is beyond me.
Dell kinda got this right, they sell auxiliary "wedges" that add 4-6 cells under the entire bottom surface of the laptop that just clips on and makes the laptop go for like 4 more hours. Really elegant. It makes the computer a fraciton of an inch thicker, but it is swappable without shutting down like the main battery...so double win
You can get up to 12-cell "wedges" for most - if not all - business class HPs, easily reaching 12+ hours of casual work. And some of those HPs are really affordable to start with.
Additionaly, some Lenovos' will let you remove optical drive and plug secondary battery instead. With a bit of planning, chance of needing optical during the flight is slim, and you get extra juice without making your notebook bulkier (if a bit heavier). Of course one can carry precious optical drive in a bag, just in case.
'Tis already done! See my earlier post.
Also, with a range of external pack sizes, I don't see how this is any less "portable" than carrying around a replacement internal battery, had the internal battery been in a traditional easily-accessible compartment. Yes, there's the cable connection, but that's hardly going to weigh anyone down. The external battery has the added benefit that you don't have to shut down the computer to replace the battery - you just plug in and keep on working.
I've seen that before.
Personally, I'd prefer having 2nd battery fixed to notebook than one cable connected - much easier to move notebook around, specially while waiting in the airports between connecting flights - but still, it is good to have that option.
Don't know about Dell, but some HP and Lenovo models have an option for 2nd battery that is fixed to the notebook body, so it is not replacement for primary battery, and you should be able to plug/unplug 2nd battery without turning off your notebook. Lenovo battery goes into multi tray used for optical drive (so it is hot-swappable with optical drive) while on HP 2nd battery is plugged (and fixed) underneath notebook following notebook's contour, so it adds to bulk and weight but is still very manageable.
Personally, I'd prefer having 2nd battery fixed to notebook than one cable connected - much easier to move notebook around, specially while waiting in the airports between connecting flights - but still, it is good to have that option.
The beauty of the setup is that it charges the internal battery rapidly while you are using it. Like water pressure going from a high pressure area lower pressure area, the external battery has a high voltage so the internal battery gets juiced up, so you don?t need to keep it on the whole time. The other benefit is that you can charge both at the same time, without playing ?musical battery bays?.
The beauty of the setup is that it charges the internal battery rapidly while you are using it. Like water pressure going from a high pressure area lower pressure area, the external battery has a high voltage so the internal battery gets juiced up, so you don?t need to keep it on the whole time. The other benefit is that you can charge both at the same time, without playing ?musical battery bays?.
Don't know about Lenovo, but pretty sure HP will discharge secondary battery before the primary one, which means you can unplug it and keep working with primary only after secondary is discharged.
Not sure what you mean by charging both together without playing ?musical battery bays?. When you plug HP to AC adapter, it will charge both batteries together (presuming both are plugged). You are not swapping batteries, they are both fixed to notebook together. And you don't have to juggle with 2 boxes connected with cable when moving around, say between uni lectures, airport waiting rooms and restaurants...
Not sure what you mean by charging both together without playing ?musical battery bays?. When you plug HP to AC adapter, it will charge both batteries together (presuming both are plugged). You are not swapping batteries, they are both fixed to notebook together. And you don't have to juggle with 2 boxes connected with cable when moving around, say between uni lectures, airport waiting rooms and restaurants...
Since the external has it?s one plug you can charge your notebook and any external batteries at the same time. People with extra internal batteries have to wait until one battery has charged, remove it, put in the next battery and then charge it. If you have 3 total batteries, like I used to have, it?s quite annoying, especially if you are having to wake up in the middle of the night to complete the charging before a trip the next day. It?s far from ideal. There is one Mac battery charging bay on the market but it?s very expensive and quite large as it?s made for sitting in one place, not for travel.
The dual internal battery setup is not something that will catch on and is far from typical. You utilize your watt hour capacity better with a larger, single battery, but most importantly, most people simply don?t need to have the extra longevity at the expense of a heavy, more expensive machine. Granted, most notebooks, IMO, have batteries that don?t last long enough for the average user, but that is typical cost cutting measure.
Apple was able to increase the battery size while keeping the weight and size the same. That is the type of out-of-box engineering decisions that make me prefer Apple products.
What point was that?
Most reviews are boring. We don't watch or read them for the excitement, but for the information being given.
Emm... ehh...
I was going to upgrade soon until Apple decided to force me to an internal battery & glossy screen.
Say what you may but I'm not going to pay extra to upgrade to business class when I travel just to have a/c power for my mbp, pay extra to have a freaking internal battery replaced, be forced to live even a few days without my notebook while it's being serviced or deal with the worse idea in the history of apple ever, the Glossy Screen..!!! Apple sure has forgotten who got them here & if their next release doesn't address these issues I'm going "hackintosh", & so are a lot of other long time apple users I know.!! We have waited forever for apple to listen to its users & release a netbook & mid-size tower, but instead they shove these supposed hardware upgrades down our throat. No wonder more & more people are looking for alternative hardware on which to run OS-X.
You are overstating the problems. If you are not a real business traveler, then you won't go business class. If you are, then you will.
So buy an external battery pack. They don't cost that much more than another replaceable internal battery, but can give as much as twice the run time, and there's no fumbling around with covers and removing and installing batteries.
We'll see just how long these batteries in the new machines last, but there's no reason to disbelieve that they will last for twice the recharges that typical batteries do. That plus the much longer use time, means it will be less often that they are run down, and so will be recharged less.
That will give them a much better usable lifetime.
This has nothing to do with a mid tower.
Since the external has it?s one plug you can charge your notebook and any external batteries at the same time. People with extra internal batteries have to wait until one battery has charged, remove it, put in the next battery and then charge it. If you have 3 total batteries, like I used to have, it?s quite annoying, especially if you are having to wake up in the middle of the night to complete the charging before a trip the next day. It?s far from ideal. There is one Mac battery charging bay on the market but it?s very expensive and quite large as it?s made for sitting in one place, not for travel.
The dual internal battery setup is not something that will catch on and is far from typical. You utilize your watt hour capacity better with a larger, single battery, but most importantly, most people simply don?t need to have the extra longevity at the expense of a heavy, more expensive machine. Granted, most notebooks, IMO, have batteries that don?t last long enough for the average user, but that is typical cost cutting measure.
Apple was able to increase the battery size while keeping the weight and size the same. That is the type of out-of-box engineering decisions that make me prefer Apple products.
People with more than 1 internal battery are silly, IMHO... as everyone buying without thinking.
Big number of notebooks from HP and Lenovo - don't know about others - do have separate plug and fixing points for secondary, external battery (for HP) or multibay battery (Lenovo). If one needs more than 2 batteries, one can get additional external/secondary batteries that can be easily hot-swapped.
Of course, many folks will grab cheapest notebook without such feature... but option is there, and is common enough to be easily found - if one, as I said, do a bit of research before purchasing, and is willing to add a few $ more to the price of entry level notebooks.
can u run the new MBPs on AC power with the battery out? you know, for times when you're at home and don't want to keep charging/decharging
Yes. Like I said, the user can take the battery out easily. You need a screwdriver, but it's doable. That being said, doing as you're suggesting really isn't necessary.