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Apple has already explained this: removing moving parts has allowed them to reduce a lot the space needed for the battery. Machining their hardware from a solid

Apple has already explained this: removing moving parts has allowed them to reduce a lot the space needed for the battery. Machining their hardware from a solid block of aluminium makes it also a lot sturdier. Here is a video featuring Jony Ive about the unibody design: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJx6cF-H__I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJx6cF-H__I Specific explanation regarding the unremovable battery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD6sh9purb0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD6sh9purb0 Original page about the unibody design: https://web.archive.org/web/20100414070055/http://www.apple.com/macbook/design.html https://web.archive.org/web/20100414070055/http://www.apple....

rndn 12y ago
This article from 2012 sheds some light on the issues/tradeoffs related to glued batteries: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/07/recyclers-disagree-on-impact-of-glued-in-retina-macbook-pro-batteries/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/07/recyclers-disagree-on-i...
- ghshephard 12y ago
  Thanks - I recall reading that originally when it came out (though I seem to recall one of the Apple recyclers getting in trouble for complaining about Apple's glued-in system - not in this article though.) You'd wonder if it's really that difficult to add a strap, instead of glue to secure a battery.
ghshephard 12y ago
Thanks - I watched the videos - it's more about the Unibody Aluminum design. I'm wondering why the memory and flash components are no longer modular, and if that's going to be the trend for everyone.
- Artemis2 12y ago
  The reason is the same: space. Not having standard physical interfaces to plug hardware in represents a huge gain in space. For instance, if the MacBook had a standard SSD, it would need the following: - A SATA controller chipset on the motherboard - The physical connector on the motherboard - The physical connector on the SSD - A SSD controller designed for SATA - Maybe even a plastic enclosure on some laptops Instead, Apple can use a lower-level interface, embed the flash controller and directly put the NAND cells on the motherboard. That's two chips.

rndn 12y ago

This article from 2012 sheds some light on the issues/tradeoffs related to glued batteries: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/07/recyclers-disagree-on-impact-of-glued-in-retina-macbook-pro-batteries/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/07/recyclers-disagree-on-i...

ghshephard 12y ago
Thanks - I recall reading that originally when it came out (though I seem to recall one of the Apple recyclers getting in trouble for complaining about Apple's glued-in system - not in this article though.) You'd wonder if it's really that difficult to add a strap, instead of glue to secure a battery.

ghshephard 12y ago

Thanks - I watched the videos - it's more about the Unibody Aluminum design. I'm wondering why the memory and flash components are no longer modular, and if that's going to be the trend for everyone.

Artemis2 12y ago
The reason is the same: space. Not having standard physical interfaces to plug hardware in represents a huge gain in space. For instance, if the MacBook had a standard SSD, it would need the following: - A SATA controller chipset on the motherboard - The physical connector on the motherboard - The physical connector on the SSD - A SSD controller designed for SATA - Maybe even a plastic enclosure on some laptops Instead, Apple can use a lower-level interface, embed the flash controller and directly put the NAND cells on the motherboard. That's two chips.