New MacBook Pro to feature removable battery and hard drive, according to latest leaked shots
It took a little while to come back around to them specifically, but if these pictures are any indication, Apple Insider's MacBook leak way back in July had a pretty good grasp on things to come -- even if it was frustratingly premature. New shots depicting the bottom of the new purported 15-inch MacBook Pro have surfaced on Chinese forum MacHome. The source confirms both a removable battery and a swappable hard drive for the upcoming laptop, with the whole bottom rear of the device lifting off to remove the goodies in store. Not not like this little tidbit is changing any opinions on the laptops due to be announced by Steve in a couple of hours, but hopefully it can serve as a filling, not fattening, snack to get you through to the keynote.
[Thanks, Chris]



[Thanks, Chris]





















Looks good
Looks like a Macbook Pro that has a detachable screen that converts the keyboard into a wireless one. It even has a small part to put the screen straight on top of a surface!
Looks to me like the larger of the two base pieces is at the back, and the smaller removable part is at the front of the case. The larger piece has the cutout for the screen hinge.
Not too sure what the piece in the last picture might be for. Could this cover be under the small removable section, covering the hard drive?
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is more than just good, it is just revolutionary...wow a laptop that you can remove the battery and the haddrive. Steve is just brilliant.
That's a lot of connections to potentially break.
Why would you put your email on something this public??... bots love that shit
All these leaks are just spoiling the surprise of the event...
"We've invented removable batteries... *crowd cheers*"
Then you come back to Engadget 20 minutes later and see all the comments claiming every other laptop manufacturer copied Apple.
Amen Matt... amen. I don't want to hear anything else!
the pros have had removable batteries since they were first introduced.
the removable harddrive, however, is new, and definitely welcome.
not sure about you guys, but my HP laptop has got removable DVD, removable HDD, removable KB, removable touchpad and removable batteries. note that i can remove them without a screw driver. HP business class laptops have been like that for the past few years.
as for single press sheet metal. HP has done that with blackbird. so nothing new here.
what would be interesting is if Mac uses the metal case as some form of heat sink. HP has only gone as far as using the metal sheet at the bottom of the keyboard as a secondary heatsink.
But hey, they might have a touchpad that you can use as a button!
You know, sort of like Synaptic have had for years.
Really, doesn't one of the alienware laptops have one?
"Increased Storage Options With Smart Bay
When additional hard drive space is crucial, a 500GB swappable Smart Bay drive brings the system’s total capacity to 1.5TB. Use multiple Smart Bay drives to assign dedicated drives for movies, photos, music or anything else you choose. Smart Bay’s hot-swappable design makes switching drives a snap and, unlike external hard drives, Smart Bay doesn't monopolize a USB port or require an outside power source."
What did mac invent (in these last years)? Spaces? Time Machine? Come on, all these things already existed! I prefer Macs to Windows, but please, don't exagerate
Why yes, it's sure to be as exciting as the 'Let's Rock' event.
Which was like watching paint dry.
Looks pretty cool. It's about time Apple got on board with the removable battery and hard drive. I replaced my MacBook Pro hard drive myself, and it was not a pretty picture...
"It's about time Apple got on board with the removable battery"
That's laughable. I don't know about you, but my four year old Powerbook has a removable battery. Oh and the Powerbook 100, which came out in 91 or so had removable batteries. Technically.
http://www.academ.com/info/macintosh/pbook.shtml
I think Jon was referring to an easier to replace battery, because the OEMs for MacBook Pros are really pricey. Also, I agree with him completely about the whole hard drive thing. You have to take apart the computer to replace it.
Can't wait for the keynote....these leaks are getting better and better.
Now they can continue to sell in EU Countries :-)
haha yes
I guess applechina took these, though I can't be certain.
You may be right. If I squint really hard, I can sort of make out the words "applechina," like they put some kind of clue in there for us to find. Slick!
must... email... applechina88@hotmail.com...
I think Mr. AppleChina was born in 1988 too.
I wonder how many e-mails these guys are getting?
Guess it's too late for a COD email from appleinc78@mac.com :-)
Finally...
It's about time the Pro machines caught up with the consumer models, on this front.
Then where were the consumer models in the first place?
The MacBook Pro has always had a removeable battery...
... and memory, i upgrade my mbp up to 4gb.
Yeah, the new law states that all electronics should have removable batteries and they also help in Re-cycling.... Apple says, need a battery-replacement? Upgrade your device!!
Maybe, Apple is learning now... The new iPhone CDMA will have removable batteries too!!
iPhone CDMA? Dream on ... who in the world uses Qualcomm's format, apart from a couple of US MNOs?
CDMA iPhone?
Why go backward?
LTE is next.
'bout god damned time
This means easy repairs, yes? I'd be nice to just get sent a working harddrive/battery under warranty if one or both breaks.
So what happens if you email applechina88@hotmail.com?
And did previous mac notebooks really not have removable batteries and swappable hard drives? How quaint.
Pretty sad that removable batteries and hard drives count as a feature. Thats been standard on most laptops for years
If this is the $800 version, then I might finally consider buying a Mac for my next laptop. I am very interested in a touch screen for a touch pad.
Dream on pal!!!
That looks like the 15 inch. Expect to pay $2000 or more.
I think this is a fake because of the applechina email address =)
Is this right? I mean if you look at the pic, it appears that the big panel will be screwed down, and just the little panel (the top one) will be removable. The latch is on the big panel, so kinda confusing.
Also, I don't think apple would make the hard drive readily accessible just like the battery.
That's how I see it - the small portion at the front of the MBP will be the part that comes off. Not to mention that the battery is perfectly sized to fit in such a compartment along with a 2.5" HDD...
Nobody noticed these edges look more tapered than before, almost Air-like?
Yeah, edges are a little more tapered, but not as much as the Air. Finally the plastic grey bordering is gone from the pro case :) and the ugly latch, and the ugly screws, and thank god the anti-slip pads are black and not grey (which end up going green).
Hopefully they release an external blu-ray drive and have an option for a macbook pro without a drive but with a toaster instead. or a paper shredder.
the glass trackpad is clearly going to be 'matte' and not shiny like the iphone.. (so yay! no fingerprints). its so that there is no bald spot and so that when clicked, its firm enough for the whole pad to sink slightly. Daring Fireball says it works so much better than it sounds. There will be no screen under it.
I like it.
unless I'm mistaken, the Macbook air was the 1st to NOT have a removable Battery??
I would have blanked out all the email addresses before posting.
Also, one has to wonder whether (assuming these leaks a accurate) if Apple will have the cheek to market a removable battery and upgradable hard drive as a selling point.
so is the HDTV rumor dead by now?
I'm guessing it's a slow day for news today so Engadget are just making stuff up.... Most Apple laptops, within the last 10 years, have had removable batteries. (The only exception that I can think of is the MBA)
The removable hard drive is a welcome addition.
Apple's laptops have had removable batteries for years... but the hard-drives weren't 'user upgradeable' on the MacBook Pro, but were on the MacBook
How is it that these people keep managing to walk of with large pieces and parts of a laptop and not the entire finished unit? I have the case and a battery, I'm halfway to a complete unit!
applechina88@hotmail.com
LOL
neat. I like how it looks. My iPod touch has low battery ver. 2.1
So we're supposed to give Apple a parade for doing what most other laptop manufacturers have managed for years?
Is that email address somehow suppose to verify that these shots are in fact real?
Looks good though. I really hope Stevie J makes my jaw drop today.
I don't understand the infatuation with removable batteries. In my entire laptop-owning lifetime (from the Apple DUO -- remember that? -- to eMate to iBooks to MacBooks to my eee (oh, there was a Compaq in there for awhile but I'm trying to forget those years), I never removed/swapped the battery. That's what external chargers are for. Especially when the chargers are as sleek as those put out by Apple (and Asus, for that matter -- my phone charger and eee power adaptor are the same size).
I imagine those of you declaiming against Apple for the non-removable batt (excepting only those seriously concerned about recycle-ability) are the same who exclaimed in horror, "no floppy drive??"
Groweth Upeth.
That's because you've never used your laptop for business I take it?
You have obviously not held on to these laptops very long, or bought them second, and experienced your battery life going down the drain after a few years of recharging.
UPDATE: The UK apple store's pages are now showing the 'we'll be back soon. we are busy updating the store for you and will be back soon' pages! Are we going to see these up for sale sooner than expected?
well guess what. I have already put my 15" macbook pro on craigslist and have decided to build my own semi-pro mac pro using EFI-X. Apple has profited way too much from my expensive purchases through out the pass 6 years.
More power to self help and less to corporate monoply.
That'll bring them to their knees...
I'm not really interested in the macs. I'm more interested with people interest on computer (mac) parts. With such interests, we can have a whole tech sites just on parts from one dissected mac with people commenting on every pieces. That would be weird!
Apple Store Down !!!!
Oh, guess what.. Apple store is down ;)
Looks ok to me...
who gives a shit? I can remove the battery and harddrive from my current MBPro. All they did was change the way those two are removed. *finger twirl on one hand with a middle finger on the other up at Steve Jobs face*
Chinese use Mac?
What? No engrish jokes yet?
as of 11 am EST, store.apple.com says "We are busy updating the store for you and we will be back shortly."
hmmmm, should we be waiting for something to go on sale in a few hours, or is this just for hype?
Nah, they have to be able to take pre-orders, remember? ;)
SPAMMMMM YOUUU APPLE CHINA
dam you apple!!
I, applechina88@hotmail.com, feel the urge to sign up for a buncha pr0n sites. I, applechina88@hotmail.com, hope I don't live to regret signing up for some of these hard c0re fetish sites.