The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop • Hacker News Board

Re: The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop

#121

Post by EvanAnderson » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 4:48 PM UTC

Daishiman wrote: post #78

sugarcube wrote: post #50

I don't quite understand the rage. Doesn't the service agreement comment on the time it might take? I remember from Dell there were different kinds of packages you could buy. Because I bought some business laptop once, they actually dispatched a technician to my office and fixed the problem on the spot. If you need that kind of service level, you simply have to pay for it.

The rage is that for many lines of work (like mine), 4 days of computer downtime is absolute unacceptable.

The "rage" seems misplaced. The OP didn't think about their needs when buying the machine and didn't purchase the appropriate warranty service package. Having a backup laptop would be another option, too. (I can't imagine the OP doesn't have backup camera bodies, likely at a greater expense than having a good-enough-to-get-by backup laptop.)

Re: The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop

#122

Post by freehunter » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 4:49 PM UTC

tjr wrote: post #60

andrelaszlo wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this a trade-off that most buyers are aware of? I'm not sure it's as simple as "shaving off a couple of millimeters", but if that's the case I know I would personally trade those millimeters for better serviceability, especially the day I realize I need a new battery. I was thinking about switching to a Macbook Pro, but for me this is just another argument to go with something else. Can't deny that the hardware is…

I would personally trade those millimeters for better serviceability Same here. I've been a dedicated Mac user since 2002, and have been contemplating upgrading my 2010 MBP. The decreasing serviceability gives me lengthy pause, though I'm not sure that I would be happier with something else (even if it were more serviceable).

I always had the opinion that I would never buy a computer that wasn't able to be serviced by me and I would build my own desktops and buy Thinkpads. Then I realized that I never did any upgrades anyway, if the battery died, the laptop was usually ready to be replaced. If the CPU or memory needed to be upgraded, usually it was both, and there was probably a new technology (new socket, new type of DDR, etc). And I realized I hated dealing with my desktop, hated troubleshooting and fixing and buying replacement parts and stuffing it all together and scraping my knuckles on the case...

As soon as I realized this, I said "to hell with it" and bought a Macbook. I don't need the downsides to having a serviceable laptop if I never actually perform any service on it.

Re: The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop

#123

Post by JasonSage » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 4:49 PM UTC

somewheres wrote: post #38

ant6n wrote: post #2

On my macbook pro, the battery is a bit worn down and it hard-crashes when the Battery is at around 5%. You'd think that Apple would be able to write an OS that detects this new low for the battery and adjust the meter correctly and hibernate the computer, so you it doesn't cause you to accidentally loose work. But I guess AAPL can't afford those kind of development costs; or maybe improving the pixels on some transi…

I'd rather see a hard crash and know for sure that the battery is too empty to perform work. Stupid battery warning meters are a lie, and a waste of valuable power. If you have enough power to show me that you don't have power, I know your battery meter is full of shit. It means the board can still operate, and is probably performing a small subset of tasks without my awareness, in a low power mode. Maybe the acceler…

> The greatest sin of all, though. The hands-down WORST crime committed, is when the hardware IS PLUGGED INTO A POWER SOURCE, BUT REFUSES TO POWER ON BECAUSE "THE BATTERY NEEDS TO CHARGE FIRST."

I don't know this for sure, but I'm guessing that the device waits until it has enough charge to boot properly. Otherwise, if you disconnect the power source the computer does not have enough power to finish booting and will hard crash somewhere in the boot process. I don't know if it's enough to brick your machine but it's easier to just let the thing charge for a minute before you hit the button.

Re: The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop

#124

Post by freehunter » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 4:50 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #80

andrelaszlo wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this a trade-off that most buyers are aware of? I'm not sure it's as simple as "shaving off a couple of millimeters", but if that's the case I know I would personally trade those millimeters for better serviceability, especially the day I realize I need a new battery. I was thinking about switching to a Macbook Pro, but for me this is just another argument to go with something else. Can't deny that the hardware is…

Apple tends to use the space savings to stuff in class-leading batteries. I have a T450s at work. The stock battery is only 46 watt-hours, versus 75 on the similarly-sized 13" rMBP. The 15" rMBP has a 100 watt-hour battery, which you can get on a T550s only if you buy the extended battery that sticks out half an inch from the bottom.

Hey those extended batteries make great handles.

Re: The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop

#125

Post by rasz_pl » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 4:50 PM UTC

consto wrote: post #104

dchuk wrote: post #4

Isn't this sort of a cake-and-eat-it-too situation? If you want a slim, lightweight laptop that still performs at a high level, you can't expect the old pop out batteries with the little switch we grew up with on laptops. While $400 is expensive to replace a battery, it's obviously not as simple as just popping a new one in, which is the compromise one has to make if they want a Macbook Pro. If you want easily swappa…

I don't expect to be able to pop a switch, but there is a difference between integrating the battery with the chassis and gluing the battery, keyboard and logic board together in a way that makes the laptop extremely difficult to service. From what I can tell, to replace the battery on my year old lenovo ultrabook, you need to remove 16 easily accessible cross screws and disconnect a single ribbon cable. That shouldn…

It is not difficult to service .. by a service person. It is simply not user serviceable.

Re: The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop

#126

Post by mbrock » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 4:51 PM UTC

glogla wrote: post #114

mbrock wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got tired of it and looked up the best Linux laptop available, which seemed to be the Dell XPS 13 developer edition, with a handful of contenders. The trackpad is laughably horrible. I wonder if anyone at Dell ever tried using it. Or maybe my fingers are weird or whatever, but I just cannot for the life of me make the goddamn cursor go where I want. I feel like I'm arthritic. And I haven't managed to get suspend to…

Which edition of XPS 13 was that? The silver one or the thin bezel one? I was told that the new one is pretty good, but it doesn't sound like that. That's sad, because if Apple replaces rMBP with some new MacBook-like nonsense, there won't be any reasonable laptop at all.

It's black and the bezel is maybe 0.8cm or something... retina display (which had its own problems, but with some DPI configuration works well, especially after a recent Chromium update).

For full disclosure I'm not using the stock Ubuntu -- which I as a Linux nerd found to be really pumped full of bullshit that I don't want ever.

It's possible that their special distro has magic patches that they haven't managed to get into the mainline Linux kernel, but that doesn't impress me much since they advertise it as a "Linux developer machine," not as a "Dell Custom Ubuntu machine."

It also requires a proprietary WiFi driver, although I'm told some configurations have an Intel chip that works out of the box with Linux.

I strongly believe that a developer machine advertised to work with Linux should not require any proprietary extensions. Probably Dell doesn't care about this very much though.

But they should, since I'm now tarnishing the reputation of their flagship dev product in a forum full of semi-influential hackers...

That all said, I use the thing everyday and, whatever, I'm used to stuff being broken, and I can get used to most things. That trackpad though... so infuriating. On the plus side I'm using more keyboard navigation than ever. (And noticing how terribly the web works if your mouse sucks.)

Re: The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop

#127

Post by rhblake » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 4:51 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #11

Out of warranty battery service on a Mac ranges from $130-200: https://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=servicefaq&geo=Unite... . I think that's a reasonable price considering Lenovo charges $140 for a 75-watt hour 68+ battery for the T450s: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/itemdetails/0C52862/460/D91DC49... . And for $130-200, they will replace your top-case (including keyboard and touchpad). I have had it done more than…

That battery is $75 on Newegg and Amazon.

Re: The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop

#128

Post by rasz_pl » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 4:51 PM UTC

redidas wrote: post #32

dchuk wrote: post #4

Isn't this sort of a cake-and-eat-it-too situation? If you want a slim, lightweight laptop that still performs at a high level, you can't expect the old pop out batteries with the little switch we grew up with on laptops. While $400 is expensive to replace a battery, it's obviously not as simple as just popping a new one in, which is the compromise one has to make if they want a Macbook Pro. If you want easily swappa…

Personally, I'd rather have a few extra mm of thickness and batteries that are not glued to a keyboard. Efforts could be made to keep this tech more repairable.

good for you, HP and DELL are ready to take orders.

Re: The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop

#129

Post by megawar » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 4:52 PM UTC

thearn4 wrote: post #3

I'm curious what other people's perspectives are on the (what appears to me anyway) dominance of Macbooks among developers these days. Is it the convenience of a Unix-y machine with decent drivers, or something else?

The hardware/software is generally more unified than a traditional laptop with Linux on it, and, it is somewhat in in vogue to own one.

Re: The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop

#130

Post by toyg » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 4:52 PM UTC

Apple moved the MacBookPro line to this hardware design in July 2012 -- I know because it was the first MBP I've ever bought. It was well-publicized at the time that things like battery and memory had become basically unserviceable. There were teardowns all over the internet less than a week from unveiling.

This guy comes up almost two years later (the post is from May 2014) and starts ranting...? It's like buying a huge SUV then rant that you cannot find on-street parking spaces in central Paris. Honestly, the only thing this post reveals is how clueless some "experts" are about the expensive tools they buy.