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Another counterexample to the "Apple make the best hardware" meme that is so often repeated. I find the whole concept of a disposable 1000+ dollar machine with

Another counterexample to the "Apple make the best hardware" meme that is so often repeated. I find the whole concept of a disposable 1000+ dollar machine with a glued-in battery rather abhorrent.

Xylakant 9y ago
The glued-in battery makes fixing it at home harder, but comes with significant weight and space savings. It’s a trade off, like so many things and many people (including me) are willing to accept it. Apple is not the only manufacturer to do this, my Thinkpad has a non-user-serviceable battery as well. It’s not like the battery cannot be replaced, and I’m willing to have my machine serviced at an authorized repair shop when the battery needs changing. In exchange I get a lighter and slimmer laptop that I lug around every day. The cost for a battery change on a MacBook is just slightly higher than the battery for the older models. This may not be a trade off you’re willing to make, but it does not make the machine disposable.
- willtim 9y ago
  My Thinkpad Carbon X1 has a user-replaceable battery and is practically the same weight and size as a MacBook Air. So it is certainly not a compromise I agree with. The "disposable" label was a bit harsh, but there are other compromises in the MacBook Pro, for example the SSD, which is more prone to failure than other components, is soldered on to the logic board.
  - Xylakant 9y ago
    We may have a different notion of "user-replaceable". I'd only consider a battery that can be swapped without opening up the laptop user-replaceable. Soldering the components to the board is the same kind of trade-off: It saves weight, space and increases battery lifetime. You also compare the relatively new X1 with an outdated (though still sold) Macbook that was designed and built at a time when no laptop even got close to the size, weight and battery life of a MacBook Air, especially the 11" version. There were other laptops just as small, but they'd compromise on battery life, others that had the same battery life, but weighted more. Granted, it's certainly an extreme compromise, but I know more than a handful of people that would never trade their 11" Air for anything else. You can, btw., have the SSD changed, it's not soldered to the board for Airs. It's just an uncommon form factor that few vendors sell. See https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/macbook-air-faq/macbook-air-mid-2013-how-to-replace-upgrade-ssd-storage.html https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/macbook-air-f... for example
    - willtim 9y ago
      On the X1 Carbon, you will have to remove some screws, but Lenovo provide a guide to the process: https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/solutions/pd103715 https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/solutions/pd103715 I believe the latest X1 Carbon weighs significantly less than a MacBook Pro.
      - Xylakant 9y ago
        You’d be surprised: 1.39kg for the carbon, 1.37kg for the MacBook (13”) The latest Pro models are comparable to the Airs in weight.
timrichard 9y ago
I don't agree with the "disposable tablet" thing from the article. I'm typing this on a 2012 MacBook Air, which I've been using as a freelance dev as a primary machine on client sites since that year. It's used for full stack development and Docker builds that get deployed to AWS. It hasn't worn out, or become noticeably slower (I remember the days of registry bloat on previous Windows machines). I did get the glued-in battery replaced once during that time, which cost me £100 at a nearby Apple store. I had previously avoided Apple kit for years because of the whole "planned obsolescence, so it's rented not bought" thing, but in hindsight I don't think it was really an issue.

Another counterexample to the "Apple make the best hardware" meme that is so often repeated. I find the whole concept of a disposable 1000+ dollar machine with a glued-in battery rather abhorrent.

Xylakant 9y ago

The glued-in battery makes fixing it at home harder, but comes with significant weight and space savings. It’s a trade off, like so many things and many people (including me) are willing to accept it. Apple is not the only manufacturer to do this, my Thinkpad has a non-user-serviceable battery as well. It’s not like the battery cannot be replaced, and I’m willing to have my machine serviced at an authorized repair shop when the battery needs changing. In exchange I get a lighter and slimmer laptop that I lug around every day. The cost for a battery change on a MacBook is just slightly higher than the battery for the older models. This may not be a trade off you’re willing to make, but it does not make the machine disposable.

willtim 9y ago
My Thinkpad Carbon X1 has a user-replaceable battery and is practically the same weight and size as a MacBook Air. So it is certainly not a compromise I agree with. The "disposable" label was a bit harsh, but there are other compromises in the MacBook Pro, for example the SSD, which is more prone to failure than other components, is soldered on to the logic board.
- Xylakant 9y ago
  We may have a different notion of "user-replaceable". I'd only consider a battery that can be swapped without opening up the laptop user-replaceable. Soldering the components to the board is the same kind of trade-off: It saves weight, space and increases battery lifetime. You also compare the relatively new X1 with an outdated (though still sold) Macbook that was designed and built at a time when no laptop even got close to the size, weight and battery life of a MacBook Air, especially the 11" version. There were other laptops just as small, but they'd compromise on battery life, others that had the same battery life, but weighted more. Granted, it's certainly an extreme compromise, but I know more than a handful of people that would never trade their 11" Air for anything else. You can, btw., have the SSD changed, it's not soldered to the board for Airs. It's just an uncommon form factor that few vendors sell. See https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/macbook-air-faq/macbook-air-mid-2013-how-to-replace-upgrade-ssd-storage.html https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/macbook-air-f... for example
  - willtim 9y ago
    On the X1 Carbon, you will have to remove some screws, but Lenovo provide a guide to the process: https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/solutions/pd103715 https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/solutions/pd103715 I believe the latest X1 Carbon weighs significantly less than a MacBook Pro.
    - Xylakant 9y ago
      You’d be surprised: 1.39kg for the carbon, 1.37kg for the MacBook (13”) The latest Pro models are comparable to the Airs in weight.

timrichard 9y ago

I don't agree with the "disposable tablet" thing from the article. I'm typing this on a 2012 MacBook Air, which I've been using as a freelance dev as a primary machine on client sites since that year. It's used for full stack development and Docker builds that get deployed to AWS. It hasn't worn out, or become noticeably slower (I remember the days of registry bloat on previous Windows machines). I did get the glued-in battery replaced once during that time, which cost me £100 at a nearby Apple store. I had previously avoided Apple kit for years because of the whole "planned obsolescence, so it's rented not bought" thing, but in hindsight I don't think it was really an issue.