Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Nightmare of Replacing a Battery on a Mac Laptop

photofocus.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 246 posts

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

#151

Post by rasz_pl »

arprocter wrote: post #131

Replacing an integral part of an expensive computer was expensive? I would hate to be this guy's mechanic

Check light came on so I continued to drive for 3 months while ignoring it and complaining loudly. What do you mean fuel pump is in the fuel tank and it needs to go to the shop? Cant you swap it on a parking lot, like right now?? I have places to be!11. $400? Thats as much as I charge for half an hour of one of my photo shoots, and you are just a dirty wrench monkey! Its not like you repair anything, you said it yourself its just a part exchange.

This is how some apple owners act when they come for "new phone case" with iphone 6 that has been stepped on.

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

#152

Post by adrianmacneil »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #5

> Next toss in the problem that Apple thought I didn’t have AppleCare on the machine. This is Apple’s extended warranty. This was despite me showing a receipt that showed that I bought both at the same time. Turns out that if you don’t by the machine from an Apple Store, you have to actually fill out some online form to register your warranty. If you buy at an Apple store, they automatically attach it. Anywhere else,…

Two paragraphs later:

> The tech said he thought they could get the AppleCare issue worked out.

So his whole rant about AppleCare not being registered was a complete non-issue.

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

#153

Post by bluedino »

Daishiman wrote: post #83
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…

The difference is that the T450s takes literally 5 seconds todo a battery swap and you can keep using the machine during the time. No downtime, no bureaucracy, just go to Amazon and wait 2 days for your battery arrive.

T450S is a totally different machine. Use the X1 for your example.

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

#154

Post by jcadam »

Bud wrote: post #106
Daishiman wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that the T450s takes literally 5 seconds todo a battery swap and you can keep using the machine during the time. No downtime, no bureaucracy, just go to Amazon and wait 2 days for your battery arrive.

Yes, and because of that, the entire design of the case is compromised, it feels like it's flexing all the time in use, it's far less durable, it contains additional cheap plastic mechanical failure points and extra connectors for said easily-replaceable battery, and all this for a part which, in the normal lifetime of most well-built laptops (aka Macs), will never ever need to be replaced.

I refuse to buy a laptop with no user-replaceable battery. I expect to need to replace the tires/brakes on my car, and I expect to replace the battery in my laptop.

If you keep your laptops long enough, you'll eventually have to deal with replacing a battery. My two-year old Dell latitude E6530 is solid (and admittedly heavy), with no noticeable flex. It has an easily replaceable battery as well as user-upgradeable RAM! I'd call it a well-made piece of hardware. I expect to replace the battery in the next year or so (the battery is starting to show its age by now, but at least it still works).

A bit off-topic: My previous laptop, a C2D Macbook Pro (old enough it had a replaceable battery) developed a swollen battery after 2 years. At the 3 year mark I had to open it up and replace a failed case fan (and a hard drive). Also, the optical drive failed within the first year, as did its warranty replacement. I eventually gave up on that (and removed the drive so it would stop churning incessantly) and bought an external USB drive.

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

#155

Post by efaref »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #101
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…

> If you want easily swappable batteries, get a different machine. Apple doesn't make a different machine. Obviously what you mean is to buy from a different vendor, which is what I expect to do when the time comes for a new laptop. But how is it good for Apple that they got my money last time and won't get it next time?

If you try to please everyone, you'll please no-one. Most people, certainly most Apple customers, don't care that the battery is not replaceable. In fact, it works in their favour as they can use the failing battery as justification for getting a shiny new MacBook Pro in a few years' time.

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

#156

Post by catkin »

DavidAdams wrote: post #74
blowski wrote: post #10

Just as a side-note (IANAL), in the EU, retailers can't refuse to fix something just because it's past their warranty period. If you can establish that the product has broke under reasonable use then you can argue that the product wasn't fit for purpose when you bought it, and therefore it is still the retailer's responsibility to repair it, replace it or give you a partial refund. I did this with Apple when my logic…

That would partially explain why an Apple laptop in Europe routinely costs $500+ more than in the US.

Except that they don't. The base 13 inch MBP costs $1299 in the US and £999 in the UK, which converts to $1531.52 at the time I wrote this comment, for a difference of ~$230. The mid-level costs $1499 in the US and £1199 in the UK, which converts to $1838, a difference of $339.

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

#157

Post by MBCook »

mcintyre1994 wrote: post #149
aaronmiler wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this. Open up your battery menu, it will say Chrome is using significant energy. I've never not seen it there

To be fair that's not super useful information - I've never not seen Safari there when it's being used. Definitely agree that Chrome is way worse in practice though.

I'm not saying Safari is 'free', I'm saying that Chrome's battery use is very disproportionately high.

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

#158

Post by oldmanjay »

zzleeper wrote: post #98
tptacek wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speak for yourself. I want a thin laptop that feels almost like a slab of mysteriously lightweight solid aluminum, and Apple is delivering that. It's not like this was a cost-saving measure for them; they're not pulling one over on you. They went nuts trying to make these things solid, lightweight, and skinny, and this was a tradeoff they made --- at significant expense.

It reminds me of printer sales or high-fee consumer credits.. they benefit from consumer myopia about the future. There's even a lot of literature about that: https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/4554333/Laibson_... In this case, I'm guessing many people that are not that well-off still buy macs but don't really realize the future repair costs..

Does it remind you of buying nearly everything? Do you think the average consumer decides to buy a home appliance or a television based on the possibility of providing user service at reduced rates?

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

#159

Post by jpatel3 »

jhrrsn wrote: post #25

Over the course of my professional life with laptops, I've used Apple, Alienware, Dell and Lenovo machines. I can safely say that the three-day turnaround in an actual bricks & mortar store offered by Apple is far and away the best service I've ever received (the worst being a two-week wait that didn't resolve the issue!). Regarding the business-level support, I think it's fair enough for the store to deliver a basel…

I think its very location dependent as well. In some countries you get support quick vs others. I wonder it may be the laws of the country force companies to do that.

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

#160

Post by jpatel3 »

bluedino wrote: post #45
franze wrote: post #17

new (1 month old) macbook retina, 12 inch, el capitan http://replycam.com/i/Pasted_Image_28_10_15_17_10_1BE12B12.p... fully charged battery -> 4h max ... (running mostly chrome and keynote) not really the "all day battery life" they promised ( http://www.apple.com/macbook/design/ )

Chrome has long been known to kill battery life, hence most Mac users sticking with Safari

Agree. I see when details when I click on battery life. Apps using significant energy - Chrome.
Post reply on HN