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Sealed-Battery Macs Earn High Marks

Batteries can't be replaced, but few do so anyway

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 25, 2009 10:44 AM CDT

(Newser) – Removable notebook batteries are convenient in theory, but hardly anyone actually replaces them. Apple and other firms are responding with sealed-in batteries, which, Apple says, can be bigger and thus last longer. Walter Mossberg ran his “own harsh battery test” on the new MacBook Pros and found their sealed-in powerhouses  “excellent,” he writes for the Wall Street Journal.

The 13-inch notebook’s battery lasted nearly 5 hours; the 15-inch model’s lasted 5 hours and 21 minutes—and that’s with WiFi on, music pumping, and screen bright. “I estimate that, in a more normal usage scenario, both machines would come close to Apple’s claim of around 7 hours between charges—essentially a full workday of unplugged use,” Mossberg wries.

Several customers use the new MacBook Pro laptops at an Apple store in Palo Alto, Calif., Thursday, June 11, 2009.
Several customers use the new MacBook Pro laptops at an Apple store in Palo Alto, Calif., Thursday, June 11, 2009.   (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
A customer uses a new MacBook Pro 13 with several of the ports shown at an Apple store in Palo Alto, Calif., Thursday, June 11, 2009.
A customer uses a new MacBook Pro 13" with several of the ports shown at an Apple store in Palo Alto, Calif., Thursday, June 11, 2009.   (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
Philip Schiller, Apple Senior Vice President for Worldwide Product Marketing, stands under a picture of the 13-inch MacBook Pro at an Apple Worldwide Developers Conference June 8, 2009.
Philip Schiller, Apple Senior Vice President for Worldwide Product Marketing, stands under a picture of the 13-inch MacBook Pro at an Apple Worldwide Developers Conference June 8, 2009.   (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
Chudluv
Jun 25, 2009 7:20 AM CDT
I wait for the time that the first story comes out about how the battery started to smoke...O what a beautiful day that will be. Sarcasm off---
hungrydave
Jun 25, 2009 6:22 AM CDT
Just get a calculator!
AClotfelter
Jun 25, 2009 4:58 AM CDT
That would be cool, but unfortunately you would have to be outside for the light to be intense enough to even think about that working well.

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