Non-removable laptop batteries not for all

Suzanne Choney • E-mail

Apple’s MacBook Air and latest 17-inch MacBook Pro laptop have non-removable batteries. Asus, maker of the popular Eee netbook computers, plans to follow suit with its 1008HA model, due out mid-year in the United States.

Is it the start of a trend? While what Apple does — from its iPod to iPhone —spawns many tech knockoffs, the idea of a manufacturer — and a manufacturer only — being able to replace a notebook battery is one that may be hard for many consumers to accept, especially for a computer like the 17-inch MacBook Pro, which starts at $2,799.

“A non-replaceable battery … adds a sense of limited life to the whole product,” wrote “ChrisC” on a recent discussion board about Asus’ new netbook, an ultraportable laptop.

“I may buy a ‘normal’ laptop and never need to change the battery … but there is a strange sort of comfort in having the option,” he said.

That option is a good one to have when many users already feel they have so little control over the tech in their lives.

Better battery technology
Yet, with better battery technology, replacing a battery may not be necessary. That’s what Apple is counting on with its recently released MacBook Pro, just under an inch thick and weighing 6.6 pounds, extremely light for a laptop with a 17-inch screen.

The computer, unlike its sibling, the three-pound MacBook Air, uses a lithium-polymer battery and power-saving technology that promises up to eight hours on a single charge, Apple says. In contrast, the MacBook Air can get 4.5 hours on a single charge.

The MacBook Pro’s battery can be recharged up to 1,000 times, the company says — about twice the number of times standard lithium ion batteries can be recharged over their lifetimes.

Even so, if the battery does fail — and battery failure does happen — “it means you really can’t carry a second battery, you can’t have that opportunity in terms of some other way to get power to your laptop,” said Stephen Baker, primary hardware analyst for the NPD Group.

With the MacBook Pro, Apple says customers can bring their machines to Apple’s retail stores for same-day battery replacement, or send their laptops to the company and get them back within three to four business days after shipping. If the battery is within its one-year warranty, it’s free; if not, it costs $179 to replace.

“It’s an inconvenience to the consumer, there’s no question about that,” said Baker. “But the tradeoff is the consumer gets something thin and light and really sleek and well-designed. There are other consumers who will say this isn’t a tradeoff I’m willing to make.”

iPhone, iPod batteries non-removable
Apple’s iPhone and iPod also have non-removable batteries, something that’s been controversial with some consumers.

“The iPhone, in particular, is angering some users,” said Isidor Buchmann, founder and CEO of Cadex Electronics, which makes battery analyzers and chargers.

The iPhone’s battery is “barely large enough, even when new, to last through the day when used heavily,” he said. “Apple achieves lower manufacturing costs and more space for the battery by having it non-removable. This is offset by expensive service when a replacement is needed.”

Apple charges $79, plus $6.95 for shipping, for a replacement iPhone battery if it is beyond the one-year warranty.

The “durability” of the MacBook Pro’s new battery remains to be seen, Buchmann said.

Apple did not respond to an inquiry about the MacBook Pro’s battery, but on its Web site, touts its features, including a chip in the battery that “talks” to each of the battery’s cells “to determine their precise condition.”

By taking away the “infrastructure” needed to house a removable battery — including doors and various mechanisms — that leaves room for a larger, non-removable battery, Apple says on its site.

The company has faced lawsuits in the past over the iPhone and iPod’s non-removable batteries. Last fall, a Chicago judge dismissed a suit by an iPhone user, saying that the iPhone’s packaging clearly states the battery may eventually need to be replaced.

In 2005, the company settled class-action suits filed over iPods sold between 2001, when the first version was released, and May 31, 2004. The lawsuits said that Apple claimed the iPod’s battery would last for the lifetime of the device. No such claims are made anymore.

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