Biggest failure ever: Built-in battery on Macbook Air.

>_>>_>
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
FAIL.



- Xidius
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    >_>>_> Posts: 336member
    In other words:



    No multiple battery swapping on long trips, and once that battery goes bye-bye, so does the computer (for 70% of people.)



    - Xidius
  • Reply 2 of 26
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    That's troubling. Expect to see some 3rd party battery attachments that clips into the Magsafe and stays in place somehow. I can totally see that happening.



    I wonder if you open the bottom case up if you can swap out the battery if it goes bad. I'm sure it wond me too difficult.
  • Reply 3 of 26
    benroethigbenroethig Posts: 2,782member
    Is anyone surprised here? Apple in the past has shown that it is willing to sacrifice practical features for those that will turn heads.
  • Reply 4 of 26
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    All this means to me is that AppleCare is an absolute must - but I'd say that goes for all of Apple's portables. Hopefully the battery won't fall down to 40 minutes charge (or less) in 2 years as has been my experience with all of Apple's previous portables... and if it does they fix it under warranty. Regardless we will see companies like Griffin et al. come out with 3rd party battery 'backpacks' for the Air.
  • Reply 5 of 26
    sandausandau Posts: 1,230member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by serrano View Post


    All this means to me is that AppleCare is an absolute must - but I'd say that goes for all of Apple's portables. Hopefully the battery won't fall down to 40 minutes charge (or less) in 2 years as has been my experience with all of Apple's previous portables... and if it does they fix it under warranty. Regardless we will see companies like Griffin et al. come out with 3rd party battery 'backpacks' for the Air.



    that would be silly. if you need a removable battery, this isn't the laptop for you. what's the point of your 'thin' if you slap another inch on it? all you have is a disfigured, feature-poor macbook pro. very silly. (you being someone in general, not specifically you, this isn't a personal attack).
  • Reply 6 of 26
    pbg4 dudepbg4 dude Posts: 1,611member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sandau View Post


    that would be silly. if you need a removable battery, this isn't the laptop for you. what's the point of your 'thin' if you slap another inch on it? all you have is a disfigured, feature-poor macbook pro. very silly. (you being someone in general, not specifically you, this isn't a personal attack).



    So you're saying all other small notebooks have integrated batteries then?



    It isn't like I was going to buy the MBA anyway, but with a laptop battery I can't replace?!? I don't think so.
  • Reply 7 of 26
    sandausandau Posts: 1,230member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PBG4 Dude View Post


    So you're saying all other small notebooks have integrated batteries then?



    It isn't like I was going to buy the MBA anyway, but with a laptop battery I can't replace?!? I don't think so.



    no, i think really what i'm getting at is there is a tradeoff of form and function. it looks better this way, so they ripped out some important things...which is the apple way.



    this thing screams for a dock... but without at minimum an expresscard slot...no dock possible. Not even the iMac dock that was patented.



    it looks good but isn't for the power user. this is for the person who values the 'cool' factor.
  • Reply 8 of 26
    How many people buy a second laptop battery, really?
  • Reply 9 of 26
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sandau View Post


    that would be silly. if you need a removable battery, this isn't the laptop for you. what's the point of your 'thin' if you slap another inch on it? all you have is a disfigured, feature-poor macbook pro. very silly. (you being someone in general, not specifically you, this isn't a personal attack).



    No offense taken.



    The vast majority of the time you'll be using it without a battery backpack - but for those that absolutely need multiple batteries to swap in and out during long sessions in the field - there will be a solution. That's all I was saying.
  • Reply 10 of 26
    idaveidave Posts: 1,283member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FuturePastNow View Post


    How many people buy a second laptop battery, really?



    Not many, but frequently, a laptop battery needs to be replaced after a couple of years.
  • Reply 11 of 26
    pbg4 dudepbg4 dude Posts: 1,611member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FuturePastNow View Post


    How many people buy a second laptop battery, really?



    I think the better question is, how many people need to replace their battery after a couple of years due to heavy battery usage. Right now I can replace my battery for $129 and 20 minutes driving to the Apple store.



    With the MBA, I have to pay to ship my laptop to Apple, and pay for a replacement battery operation (battery plus labor costs) as well as pay for return shipping. So I'm paying for 2 way shipping plus repair labor. Also, it's going to take much longer than the 20 minutes it would take me to drive to an Apple store.
  • Reply 12 of 26
    lorrelorre Posts: 396member
    Apple said battery replacing would be $129 with free placement. So you'd just loose it for a few days.
  • Reply 13 of 26
    reganregan Posts: 474member
    What are you talking about "fail"?



    Thats what everyone said about the ipod too.



    The integrated battery on the air doesn't bother me at all. The only reason I'm not getting one at this time is that the SSD flash drive technology is still too expensive with not enough HD size for my needs.



    Otherwise, its a winner in my book. With my old ibook which had even less battery life than the airbooks 5 hours, I NEVER carried an extra battery around with me....just my adapter. So I don't know what all the hullabaloo is concerning the integrated battery. Its what makes Apple able to make it so thin.
  • Reply 14 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by regan View Post


    What are you talking about "fail"?



    Thats what everyone said about the ipod too.



    The integrated battery on the air doesn't bother me at all. The only reason I'm not getting one at this time is that the SSD flash drive technology is still too expensive with not enough HD size for my needs.



    Otherwise, its a winner in my book. With my old ibook which had even less battery life than the airbooks 5 hours, I NEVER carried an extra battery around with me....just my adapter. So I don't know what all the hullabaloo is concerning the integrated battery. Its what makes Apple able to make it so thin.



    I can be without my ipod for a week or whatever it would take to replace the battery. But not my laptop that I live with and travel with daily/weekly. To not be able to purchase a 2nd battery (I am one of *those* that does ), or to be able to just buy a replacement when your current one is exhibiting problems, or JUST TO BE ABLE TO PULL IT WHEN YOU ARE HAVING COMPUTER PROBLEMS to repower the machine - downright weird. and unnecessary. Same goes for HDD options. Why they didnt at least offer larger HDD's as options is beyond me.
  • Reply 15 of 26
    reganregan Posts: 474member
    I travel alot too. And I never carried an extra battery with me. I always knew when my battery was running low, and always managed to find a starbucks or place where I could duck into and plug in.



    If Apple had made a removable battery, they'd have had too create space for a housing for the battery and that would have made it thicker and ruined what they were going for.



    Anyway...this is par for the course with any Apple release. People always have something to say.



    Heck...I'm in the market for a new laptop, and although I think the airbook is sweeeeet....the macbook suits my needs better right now....so I'll get that. I'm not pissed at Apple for the airbook not being right for me(i need bigger HD). I think its cool what they've done, and will revisit the airbook in a couple of years when flash drives are bigger and cheaper.



    Until then, a brand new black macbook is gonna be fine. :-)
  • Reply 16 of 26
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Hyperbole much?

    Well i guess the "news" is all hyperbole now anyway so why not join the party?



    Here's how I figure it...



    The people who buy this laptop are willing to pay a huge amount of money to not be troubled by carry something larger and heavier. If they were to carry around extra batteries, why not just carry around a bigger computer? (which has a replaceable battery)



    Granted, there will be subset of this niche market that wants extra batteries. Unfortunately for them, the product wasn't designed for them.



    Everyone has one pet specification that they wished was better. Some people are denouncing the lack of usb ports. Others are bemoaning the lack of ethernet. And then there is the lack of optical drive and the undersized hard drive. Each of these things could be "fixed" with only a slightly larger form factor. But at that point, it'd be just like the products they already have.
  • Reply 17 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by >_> View Post


    In other words:



    No multiple battery swapping on long trips, and once that battery goes bye-bye, so does the computer (for 70% of people.)



    - Xidius



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Outsider View Post


    That's troubling. Expect to see some 3rd party battery attachments that clips into the Magsafe and stays in place somehow. I can totally see that happening.



    I wonder if you open the bottom case up if you can swap out the battery if it goes bad. I'm sure it wond me too difficult.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FuturePastNow View Post


    How many people buy a second laptop battery, really?



    Exactly not many! And 5hrs bat life that plenty time for people to find a power socket. Lets see there are sockets in airplanes, trains, cafes, restaurants lets just say you wont find it hard to charge up!



    Plus without the removable battery apple can make the laptop thinner.



    AND what would be the point of people carrying the thinnest laptop in the world then carrying a multitude of batteries to weigh them down.
  • Reply 18 of 26
    And yes thats a personal attack!





    That's actually 3 personal attacks. And that's not permitted here. -JL
  • Reply 19 of 26
    I'd rather have my battery replaced by an official apple authorized provider than risk buying an immitation battery and installing it myself, it can be very hard to tell the difference, plus for the average price of a battery they install it for free.
  • Reply 20 of 26
    Of the 7 Apple laptops I've owned, I've never owned a second battery. The only reason I've removed batteries has been to install additional ram.



    People are blowing this internal battery issue way out of proportion.
Sign In or Register to comment.