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How is the battery life on your 2016 MBP? Like I said in one of my other posts, my 2019's battery is already slowly degrading. I'm at ~300 charge cycles after ~

How is the battery life on your 2016 MBP? Like I said in one of my other posts, my 2019's battery is already slowly degrading. I'm at ~300 charge cycles after ~2 years of moderate usage. Apple says the battery is "consumed" after 1000 cycles[1], so it seems my battery is already 30% consumed, which doesn't make me very hopeful for the longevity of this device. I wish it was easier to find actual data on battery life of 2016+ MBP models. Googling for "how long does MacBook Pro battery last" yields mostly useless results. There's a macOS app called "Coconut Battery" that tracks battery health over time, with an optional reporting feature that uploads the data to a server for comparison purposes.[2] Unfortunately the online viewer only allows you to view data by each individual model. It might be more helpful to aggregate the data from all 2016+ models, since the battery is the same, afaik. The online viewer also doesn't show how many reports the averages are based on. I wonder if it would be possible to scrape their data, to produce an evidence-based answer to the question "how long will my MacBook probably last?", rather than relying mostly on anecdotal evidence from Mac users. Anyway, I think the idea that a $1300-$6500+ laptop ships with a glued-in, non-replaceable component that Apple themselves admits is "consumable" is just absurd, regardless of how long it may last. [1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201585 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201585 [2] https://www.coconut-flavour.com/ccbonline https://www.coconut-flavour.com/ccbonline

Grustaf 5y ago
The battery life was never stellar, compared to previous and of course current Airs, but my daughter can use it a full school day without plugging in. >Anyway, I think the idea that a $1300-$6500+ laptop ships with a glued-in, non-replaceable component that Apple themselves admits is "consumable" is just absurd, regardless of how long it may last. This is where my view differs, since I can just hand it in for replacement, I don't have any issues with that. To me it doesn't matter at all if I can do it myself or not. Well except if you have to leave it at the Apple store for several days, then that's very inconvenient. In general I just see it as a practical and financial question, and since I use my laptop 10 hours a day, and earn a very good salary from it, 200 dollars more or less every three years is really insignificant.
eric-hu 5y ago
The battery is replaceable on MacBooks. It may not be easy, but Apple offers a replacement service on all their laptops https://www.apple.com/batteries/service-and-recycling/ https://www.apple.com/batteries/service-and-recycling/ > Apple offers a battery replacement service for all MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro notebooks with built-in batteries. I believe you probably mean “user replaceable” in your comments above. I do see the value in that for myself, which is why I still have my 2012 MacBook Pro. Nevertheless, I continue to my iPhone 6s after 3 battery replacements (I paid Apple for two and one was covered by them due to a recall). I point this out because I think your criticism of Apple designing disposable hardware is less true of them than their competitors, at least in my experience. My Apple laptop and phone are the first Apple ones I’ve bought, and have outlasted my PC laptops and Androids by at least 2x. If you want to make a criticism about Apple designing hardware that’s costly to repair, that’s something I could agree with.
- Grustaf 5y ago
  Exactly. If you pay more to buy an Apple product you probably won't mind paying more to change the battery. The high price is not an issue for professionals, but it does mean people are _more_ likely to repair them, not less.
- NotPractical 5y ago
  The batteries on 2016+ MacBook Pro are not Apple-replaceable, either. They replace the entire top case because they can't replace just the battery.[1] (If anyone has any source for the contrary, please provide it.) Assuming it's not user-replaceable nor Apple-replaceable, can we agree that it cannot be called a "replaceable" battery? Yes, technically it may be possible, but if even the company who made it thinks it's too difficult, it's not very useful or accurate to call it "replaceable". To be honest, I disagree that it should be called "replaceable" even if only the company who made it can replace it. It's a linguistic debate at this point. By the way, the 2018+ MacBook Air does have a replaceable battery, in that Apple can replace it, so by extension, users can too (if they can track down a replacement).[2] Apple must adopt the adhesive pull tab approach on the MacBook Pro. The glued-in battery is completely unacceptable. > I think your criticism of Apple designing disposable hardware is less true of them than their competitors, at least in my experience. Keep in mind that, as the most profitable tech company in the world, Apple deserves to be held to a very high standard. Time and time again other companies follow their lead. Also keep in mind that Apple uses this profit to actively lobby against right to repair, making things worse for everyone in the long run. Though laptops mostly don't care about repairability and any repairability they have is usually an accident, I don't think most other laptops on the market are quite as egregiously anti-repair as the MacBook Pro. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28637849 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28637849 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28639234 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28639234

Grustaf 5y ago

The battery life was never stellar, compared to previous and of course current Airs, but my daughter can use it a full school day without plugging in. >Anyway, I think the idea that a $1300-$6500+ laptop ships with a glued-in, non-replaceable component that Apple themselves admits is "consumable" is just absurd, regardless of how long it may last. This is where my view differs, since I can just hand it in for replacement, I don't have any issues with that. To me it doesn't matter at all if I can do it myself or not. Well except if you have to leave it at the Apple store for several days, then that's very inconvenient. In general I just see it as a practical and financial question, and since I use my laptop 10 hours a day, and earn a very good salary from it, 200 dollars more or less every three years is really insignificant.

eric-hu 5y ago

The battery is replaceable on MacBooks. It may not be easy, but Apple offers a replacement service on all their laptops https://www.apple.com/batteries/service-and-recycling/ https://www.apple.com/batteries/service-and-recycling/ > Apple offers a battery replacement service for all MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro notebooks with built-in batteries. I believe you probably mean “user replaceable” in your comments above. I do see the value in that for myself, which is why I still have my 2012 MacBook Pro. Nevertheless, I continue to my iPhone 6s after 3 battery replacements (I paid Apple for two and one was covered by them due to a recall). I point this out because I think your criticism of Apple designing disposable hardware is less true of them than their competitors, at least in my experience. My Apple laptop and phone are the first Apple ones I’ve bought, and have outlasted my PC laptops and Androids by at least 2x. If you want to make a criticism about Apple designing hardware that’s costly to repair, that’s something I could agree with.

Grustaf 5y ago
Exactly. If you pay more to buy an Apple product you probably won't mind paying more to change the battery. The high price is not an issue for professionals, but it does mean people are _more_ likely to repair them, not less.
NotPractical 5y ago
The batteries on 2016+ MacBook Pro are not Apple-replaceable, either. They replace the entire top case because they can't replace just the battery.[1] (If anyone has any source for the contrary, please provide it.) Assuming it's not user-replaceable nor Apple-replaceable, can we agree that it cannot be called a "replaceable" battery? Yes, technically it may be possible, but if even the company who made it thinks it's too difficult, it's not very useful or accurate to call it "replaceable". To be honest, I disagree that it should be called "replaceable" even if only the company who made it can replace it. It's a linguistic debate at this point. By the way, the 2018+ MacBook Air does have a replaceable battery, in that Apple can replace it, so by extension, users can too (if they can track down a replacement).[2] Apple must adopt the adhesive pull tab approach on the MacBook Pro. The glued-in battery is completely unacceptable. > I think your criticism of Apple designing disposable hardware is less true of them than their competitors, at least in my experience. Keep in mind that, as the most profitable tech company in the world, Apple deserves to be held to a very high standard. Time and time again other companies follow their lead. Also keep in mind that Apple uses this profit to actively lobby against right to repair, making things worse for everyone in the long run. Though laptops mostly don't care about repairability and any repairability they have is usually an accident, I don't think most other laptops on the market are quite as egregiously anti-repair as the MacBook Pro. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28637849 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28637849 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28639234 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28639234