5 ms·

I wish Apple would do a portable computer without a battery. I work on power 99% of the time, and would love e.g. A portable iMac.

disordinary 10y ago
Isn't that the mac mini?
- dabockster 10y ago
  I think he means one with a screen.
- jacquesc 10y ago
  Apple should actually make a mac mini (again)
  - colejohnson66 10y ago
    You call always get a NUC or whatever they're called and Hackintosh it
  - disordinary 10y ago
    The apple store still has them for sale, they just haven't been upgraded for a couple of years.
- neohaven 10y ago
  No screen on that.
  - disordinary 10y ago
    Yeah I was being somewhat facetious :) In the pro video camera space the mid range cameras and up are modular, so you have an imaging device which is just a cage with a sensor in it to which you attach storage, lenses, monitors, handles, etc. There must be similar things in the pro laptop space, but it would have to be a hackentosh.
themodelplumber 10y ago
Can the new MBPro run off of one of those external USB batteries? I think it uses USB-C for charging, right?
- colejohnson66 10y ago
  Provided you can provide enough wattage, I'm sure you could. A bunch of 18650s hooked up to a USB-C power delivery controller... I bet someone will hack something together.
zumu 10y ago
Seriously. Who are these people that need 10hr battery lives? Biologists working in the field? Frequent business travelers?
- disgruntledphd2 10y ago
  I really like machines with lots of battery life. I do lots of data work/compiling code and if something advertises 10hrs of battery life, this means it will definitely get at least three under heavy workloads, so its something that will work for me. I realise that I'm probably an outlier though.
Dylan16807 10y ago
I'm confused about what you want. What would you change about an iMac to make it 'portable'? It's already easy to carry. Do you want a laptop form factor? In that case what distinguishes it from a macbook with a dead battery?
- nicky0 10y ago
  No battery means more space for other components, and removes the design pressure to optimise for battery life. And no, an iMac is not easy to carry.
  - Dylan16807 10y ago
    > No battery means more space for other components, and removes the design pressure to optimise for battery life. But what would you actually change? I wouldn't want to add any components, and the iMac doesn't seem to have better specs. The weight of the battery could be removed but it's already light enough for that to not matter. > And no, an iMac is not easy to carry. Compared to a laptop of the same screen size, I'd rate an iMac pretty high on carryability. (The sizes sold today are irrelevant to a theoretical 'portable iMac'.)
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
monksy 10y ago
I feel the same way with non-Apple gaming laptops. I have a concern about the laptop being on AC 100% of the time and what it does to the battery.
- unknownsavage 10y ago
  I'm on AC like 90% of the time, and afer a year much to my surprise my laptop battery has hugely degraded performance. I would've thought when you're on AC, the power can completely circumvent the battery and put no wear on it. I remember in the age of replaceable laptop batteries, I could replace the battery while connected to AC (or run without a battery) no problems
  - Gracana 10y ago
    Pretty much everything degrades lithium ion battery performance. Charging, discharging, being fully charged, being too hot, being thought about too much or too little, etc. If it's plugged in, it's probably hot (running in full-power mode) and fully charged... this kills the battery.
  - Scarbutt 10y ago
    If you don't use the battery it will die quicker, you need to move those electrons, try using AC only 40-50% of the time.
  - khedoros1 10y ago
    Batteries have a certain amount of slow discharge, even when they aren't running anything. People like seeing a full battery all the time, but I don't think it's very good for the battery's life to keep it constantly topped off.
- pmontra 10y ago
  My HP ZBook is almost always on battery, since early 2014. Battery life is the same as it was when I bought it, some 3 hours when doing meetings with customers. I didn't buy it for battery life but for ease of upgrading components and 32 GB of RAM.
kartickv 10y ago
Interesting, I wanted my 27-inch iMac to have a builtin battery, so that it doesn't crash when there's a power cut. Even a five-minute runtime is enough, for it to shut down in an orderly manner. I have a UPS, but it would be better if the computer had it inbuilt, like a laptop. That's one of the advantages of a laptop for me. I'd also like an 18- or 19-inch laptop with an Ultra HD screen. Apple could put in the biggest battery they're allowed to (100W in the US, for flights) and let it have whatever battery life it has. I think of it being portable in the sense of moving it to another room in the house, say to watch a movie in my bedroom, or to get work done in my home office, not that I'll take it with me when I go out.
gurkendoktor 10y ago
If you can fit an iMac into your backpack/luggage, you could probably also fit a screen and a Mac mini in there. I've traveled with a similar setup. The Mini has the additional benefit that you can keep it in your hand luggage when flying and governments can't randomly fiddle with hardware in your checked-in luggage. (Look at my shiny tinfoil hat.)

disordinary 10y ago

Isn't that the mac mini?

dabockster 10y ago
I think he means one with a screen.
jacquesc 10y ago
Apple should actually make a mac mini (again)
- colejohnson66 10y ago
  You call always get a NUC or whatever they're called and Hackintosh it
- disordinary 10y ago
  The apple store still has them for sale, they just haven't been upgraded for a couple of years.
neohaven 10y ago
No screen on that.
- disordinary 10y ago
  Yeah I was being somewhat facetious :) In the pro video camera space the mid range cameras and up are modular, so you have an imaging device which is just a cage with a sensor in it to which you attach storage, lenses, monitors, handles, etc. There must be similar things in the pro laptop space, but it would have to be a hackentosh.

themodelplumber 10y ago

Can the new MBPro run off of one of those external USB batteries? I think it uses USB-C for charging, right?

colejohnson66 10y ago
Provided you can provide enough wattage, I'm sure you could. A bunch of 18650s hooked up to a USB-C power delivery controller... I bet someone will hack something together.

zumu 10y ago

Seriously. Who are these people that need 10hr battery lives? Biologists working in the field? Frequent business travelers?

disgruntledphd2 10y ago
I really like machines with lots of battery life. I do lots of data work/compiling code and if something advertises 10hrs of battery life, this means it will definitely get at least three under heavy workloads, so its something that will work for me. I realise that I'm probably an outlier though.

Dylan16807 10y ago

I'm confused about what you want. What would you change about an iMac to make it 'portable'? It's already easy to carry. Do you want a laptop form factor? In that case what distinguishes it from a macbook with a dead battery?

nicky0 10y ago
No battery means more space for other components, and removes the design pressure to optimise for battery life. And no, an iMac is not easy to carry.
- Dylan16807 10y ago
  > No battery means more space for other components, and removes the design pressure to optimise for battery life. But what would you actually change? I wouldn't want to add any components, and the iMac doesn't seem to have better specs. The weight of the battery could be removed but it's already light enough for that to not matter. > And no, an iMac is not easy to carry. Compared to a laptop of the same screen size, I'd rate an iMac pretty high on carryability. (The sizes sold today are irrelevant to a theoretical 'portable iMac'.)
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]

monksy 10y ago

I feel the same way with non-Apple gaming laptops. I have a concern about the laptop being on AC 100% of the time and what it does to the battery.

unknownsavage 10y ago
I'm on AC like 90% of the time, and afer a year much to my surprise my laptop battery has hugely degraded performance. I would've thought when you're on AC, the power can completely circumvent the battery and put no wear on it. I remember in the age of replaceable laptop batteries, I could replace the battery while connected to AC (or run without a battery) no problems
- Gracana 10y ago
  Pretty much everything degrades lithium ion battery performance. Charging, discharging, being fully charged, being too hot, being thought about too much or too little, etc. If it's plugged in, it's probably hot (running in full-power mode) and fully charged... this kills the battery.
- Scarbutt 10y ago
  If you don't use the battery it will die quicker, you need to move those electrons, try using AC only 40-50% of the time.
- khedoros1 10y ago
  Batteries have a certain amount of slow discharge, even when they aren't running anything. People like seeing a full battery all the time, but I don't think it's very good for the battery's life to keep it constantly topped off.
pmontra 10y ago
My HP ZBook is almost always on battery, since early 2014. Battery life is the same as it was when I bought it, some 3 hours when doing meetings with customers. I didn't buy it for battery life but for ease of upgrading components and 32 GB of RAM.

kartickv 10y ago

Interesting, I wanted my 27-inch iMac to have a builtin battery, so that it doesn't crash when there's a power cut. Even a five-minute runtime is enough, for it to shut down in an orderly manner. I have a UPS, but it would be better if the computer had it inbuilt, like a laptop. That's one of the advantages of a laptop for me. I'd also like an 18- or 19-inch laptop with an Ultra HD screen. Apple could put in the biggest battery they're allowed to (100W in the US, for flights) and let it have whatever battery life it has. I think of it being portable in the sense of moving it to another room in the house, say to watch a movie in my bedroom, or to get work done in my home office, not that I'll take it with me when I go out.

gurkendoktor 10y ago

If you can fit an iMac into your backpack/luggage, you could probably also fit a screen and a Mac mini in there. I've traveled with a similar setup. The Mini has the additional benefit that you can keep it in your hand luggage when flying and governments can't randomly fiddle with hardware in your checked-in luggage. (Look at my shiny tinfoil hat.)