Apple’s new MacBook Pro battery replacement details issued
The battery in Apple’s recently revamped 17″ MacBook Pro, incase you somehow missed it, is amazing. With a single charge it can power the monster notebook for approximately eight hours while using the NVIDIA 9400M graphics processor or approximately seven hours while the 9600M GT chip is at work. What’s more, the new powerhouse has a charge cycle life of 1,000 charges which is leaps and bounds beyond the shelf life of a standard laptop battery. While those are some remarkable specs, it doesn’t mean that the new battery is immune to problems of course and Murphy’s Law makes it likely that problems will occur after the one-year battery warranty has expired. It also can’t (shouldn’t) be replaced by end-users so what happens if the pack starts to go after its estimated five-year lifespan and you want to swap it out for a new one – though we can hardly imagine using the same notebook for two years, let alone five. Apple has just put up a support page detailing the process and cost to put your mind at ease as you debate shelling out that $2,800 – $4,000 on a shiny new Pro. In a nutshell, the replacement battery will run you $179, which includes the installation of your new battery and the disposal of your old one. If you can find your way to an Apple Store, the turn around time is just one day. If you choose to mail your baby to Apple you’re looking at three to four days from the date Apple receives it. There, now you can sleep better at night.
[Via MacRumors]
“There, now you can sleep better at night.”
Thank you.
They did it again. Why can’t the battery on something this big be user replaceable?
^You obviously didn’t bother reading.
Quote: “The battery in your MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) is a consumable item, which means it will require replacement at the end of its useful life. A replacement battery can be purchased directly from Apple.”
So .. the choice is yours. Order it and wait for delivery … Or make an appointment at an Apple store and have it replaced the same day.
or they could sell the batterys at an apple sotr and have you be able to replace it yoursef back beat im with peeter on this one you thinks i bad the feds won’t let obamoma us a blackberry while hes a POTUS consider the ramifactaions of apples replament plaocy it would be a security night mare and hell no the same thing is with the majority of coansumers. you can’t trust a comapany lik that theses days. if im gonna buy a lppy im gonna buy it were i can replace the parts myself.
^As soon as you decide to stop being an idiot-in-drag, maybe someone will converse with you.
Funny how your nick is always spelled corrected, yet you’re an embacile otherwise.
How much money do you Geniuses make that allows you to get a new notebook every 2 years or less?
why can’t they pack a battery like that into my 15″ mbp? ha
Man my head hurts everytime I try to read a galvatron comment
This does not help a video pro that is on location and wants to carry several batteries so he can work!
^Make a different choice then. Not rocket-surgery.
Paul, I think they are willing to lose users like us.
I have had my MBP for 3 years and gone through two batteries. So that would be ~$360 on top of the original cost of the computer. The price isn’t a big deal since it is only ~2x the cost of buying a new battery. But the real problem for me is that batteries never fail at a good time.
I am sure they will sell mobile battery solutions that plug into the laptop. But it’s a hell of a lot easier to just pop a new battery in there.
Also, it is going to be absolutely terrifying when one of these batteries fails on your lap. Think of the stored energy…
Seriously, is it really that hard to imagine using a laptop more than 2 years???
I’m on year 6 of my 12″ PowerBook G4. I use it almost daily. It ran things like Photoshop and Final Cut fine back in 2003, it still runs them fine today (imagine that)…
You guys really cant compare what your current MBP is doing. This battery is totally new and revolutionary. So there really is nothing in the market to compare it to. Wait to see how the battery responds after a solid 6 months of use before you start freaking out.
When will these 17″ notebooks be released!?!?!
@ Scott, @Paul, Dude the freggin battery last 8 hour straight without needing charge, Please don’t tell me you Work more than 8 hour straight without even taking a break, it’s also good for 5 years or more than 1000 charging cycles & no charging cycle data from istat are not accurate if your wondering, a charging cycle is a full charge and full discharge or the battery. I myself was thinking of grabbing a New Macbook but am going to hold off until they adopt this new battery
[quote]Seriously, is it really that hard to imagine using a laptop more than 2 years???
I’m on year 6 of my 12″ PowerBook G4. I use it almost daily. It ran things like Photoshop and Final Cut fine back in 2003, it still runs them fine today (imagine that)…[/quote]
absolutely. i’m using a g3 powerbook i got in 2000 every day also –doing web sites for payment. am getting to the point where i’m starting to feel the need for a new one.
i’m reading a book about green marketing (by john grant) at the moment, and am just on the bit talking about how this always got to have the latest and greatest has got to change and stop. i concur with the book not the fast turnaround almost displosable view of stuff supported in this article. the new macbook pro is touted as a green one. this unreplaceable by user battery is anti that, non green imo, as it gives further impetus to the replacement of the whole laptop rather than just the battery when it goes. the rest of the laptop may well be green but the battery aspect is a negative point on that imo.
what i really want to know is how feasible is it to change this battery ourselves — both in terms of getting hold of a replacement battery (cost?) and carrying out the replacement?
@ Peter. Did you watch the 17″ keynote? the reason why the battery lasts as long as they say it does is because they have made room out of battery compartments, casing and designed a different more rectangular-ish battery shape instead of your normal cylindrical battery cells.
@ galvatron, this is my first time posting a comment on BGR and I must say you i have a better chance understanding your comment if i changed it to wingdings.
I’m headed towards my fourth year of using what used to be called just the “macbook” and I still can’t talk myself into trading it in, it works that well.
When you guys are out “in the field” i find it very hard to believe for 8 hours straight you are not near enough an electrical receptacle to charge this beauty. I get the feeling you are just looking for things to find wrong with what might be the nicest computer line ever made. Oh, and: http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/04/hypermac-portable-battery-for-all-macbook-models-get-up-to-32-hours-of-juice/
As far as the recycling aspect and the end user limitations on battery replacements not being green, you are looking at it from the wrong POV. When was the last time you took an exhausted battery out of a laptop and brought it to a specialized recycling plant, and supervised the process to ensure they were doing a complete, and safe process to recycle the battery? Thats exactly what apple is doing, they are taking that burden off of you, the end user, taking it on themselves to make sure the batteries are being actually recycled, not just dumped in a landfill.
Galvatron, I’m interested to see if your comments were intended to mean anything or if your whole shtick is a scheme to sell tylenol.
thinks i bad the feds won’t let obamoma us a blackberry while hes a POTUS consider the ramifactaions of apples replament plaocy it would be a security night mare and hell no the same thing is with the majority of coansumers. you can’t trust a comapany lik that theses days. if im gonna buy a lppy im gonna buy it were i can replace the parts myself.
im with peeter on this one you thinks i bad the feds won’t let obamoma us a blackberry while hes a POTUS consider the ramifactaions of apples replament plaocy it would be a security night mare and hell no the same thing is with the majority of coansumers
Because the batteries for the New Macbooks are non-removable to save space. You can’t take them out or put new ones in. This helps cut the size of the macbook. Apple will install a new battery if yours dies (for 179 dollars).