Apple reveals 17-inch MacBook Pro battery replacement details
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Jan 14th 2009 7:38PM
posted Jan 14th 2009 7:38PM
Ever since the new 17-inch MacBook Pro was introduced, the million dollar question (make that $179 question) has been: what goes down when the battery fails? Sure, the machine is small -- and the alleged eight hours of charge is nothing to sneeze at -- but is all that worth the hassle of a non-removable battery? When the thing eventually goes kaput (and they always do), those of us in the States can expect to lay out $179 plus tax for a replacement. According to the site, if you drop the machine off at the Apple Store they can turn it around in a day (with appointment). If you mail it in, give it four days or so upon receipt. If you decide to do it yourself? Well, you probably shouldn't. But if you do, make sure you send us pictures.
[Via Boy Genius Report]
[Via Boy Genius Report]
But what if you cant get an appointment for 2 or 3 days as is what usually happens?
It's not like the battery is destroyed and needs to be replaced immediately, just that the total life decreases over time.
That said, a removable battery would add like 0.00001"...
well if you wait until it's totally dead that's on you.
and we're talking about something that, if things go according to claims, won't be an issue for a good 2-3 years. maybe longer
Pffffffft. Windows fanboy.
You'll want a new laptop before the one they give you dies. And by the time your 5 years is up, even 3 if you push it HARD it'll still have the majority of it's charge facility.
The only time you should be using battery is if you're travelling. If you're anywhere stationary, use a damn socket - there's no excuse, especially at home. That will prolong battery life significantly.
Or what if your computer locks up and you need to unplug it and take the battery out to reset it? Cause I've never had to do that with my MBP. :rolleyes:
@josh. sorry but no. keeping a LiIon battery at 100% charge for prolonged periods is the fastest way to kill it. While they don't have the memory issues of older tech such as NiCad they still need to be cycled. And as already stated each cycle decreases its useful capacity by a small percentage..
"Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine"
@erik You'd hold down the power button for 5 seconds for a hard shutdown, just like every other MacBook.
@thethirdmoose. No it's not 0.00001". It's a 40% increase in capacity.
I wonder why a lot of people's reaction to the non-replaceable battery is "they just do it to piss me off"? I mean... Apple wants to make money, not piss people off, right?
Anyway there is a whole long article for those willing and capable of reading, right on Apples 17" MacBook Pro page, where they detail exactly why a replaceable battery takes up lots of space for its casing (which needs to be strong), the casing that protects the rest of the chassis when you remove the battery, the connectors, and other bits and pieces. All that space is now used for _more power cells_ instead. Bad? I think not.
If this works as planned, all computers will have non-replaceable batteries in the future.
I'm not making any judgement saying this is good or bad.. but just to give you an idea of how you can expect 8 hours of battery life
"The wireless productivity test measures battery life by wirelessly browsing various websites and editing text in a word processing document with display brightness set to 50%" - straight from the apple store website.
for me this sounds good because I usually have the brightness turned to the lowest level on my g4 when it's unplugged anyways. and my guess is that the g4 at its brightest level is probably same as the 17" at its lowest level.
I also think they have appropriately priced the replacement battery for 17". Considering the replacement for my ibook g4 cost $139 and I've only had to purchase one so far in the 3-4 years i've had it.
I just wanted to agree with the comment @erik.. All you have to do is hold the power button down. I got so used to it with my windows desktop and xbox 360 that now that my Powerbook G4 is nearing 4 years I am more than prepared to deal with its almost daily lock ups =(
I don't like Apple, but I have to say that I only have a problem this IF there was no good way to manufacture the case to allow end-user replacement. The general concept of internal non-removable battery to maximize the juice and minimize the footprint is something I can live with if justified. However, I suspect that this is not the truth.
It sounds like a pretty unique design. In my mind it will be justified if the extraordinary battery claims they make are substantiated once the device ships.
if sony and htc and palm and.... can make replaceable batteries in super thin devices, you do start wondering why apple cant or wont. yeah, me too.
The 15" MBP has a user replaceable battery and it is just as thin so obviously you missed the point.
If they'd been in the market for a thin and light laptop first and foremost, they wouldn't have gotten a 17 inch Macbook pro. I really doubt that people would have minded it being a tad thicker with a battery that just comes out.
I would. The only reason I brought my Mac (yeah the 17") the first time is because it is 1" thick while all the other are around 1.5". Back then, I like Windows more than anything (linux, osx included).
This is no good. Imagine loosing a day (or 4 days) worth of work because your battery died. I rather plug my laptop and keep working and have battery exchange. Better yet, have a spare and send off dead battery. And this is after the battery fiasco they had just last year!
Too bad Apple user have no other choice of laptop.
Show of hands: Who of the above posters actually owns two batteries? I am guessing, nobody.
I have two batteries and I never use them both. It's more of a hassle to keep them both charged than it is to carry a power adapter and plug in whenever I can. With an 8 hour battery I can skip the power adapter, and charge upon returning home. That's a huge difference right there.
The new battery in these things doesn't deteriorate like the one in the current MacBook Pro, another huge plus. The battery was made to be not replaceable so, in turn, we get 40% more battery life.
That leaves as the only difference the speed with which you can replace your battery in case it has died prematurely, e.g. under warranty. I don't know but the 40% higher capacity still trumps that easily.
It's the same thing as with the iPhone. The non-replaceable battery is a huge problem in lots of people's minds who don't actually have one. It's a complete non-issue for all real world actual iPhone users. I am the only person I know who ever even bought a replacement battery for my Nokia.
The reality is that its not that much money for someone who uses the computer every day for work and if I had to replace the thing every 2 or 3 years and drop a couple hundred buck so be it. it will more then pay for itself.
@nikster
I have to 2 batteries for my 4 year old tablet PC. One started loosing charge, so I got another one. I use the old for backup. And my GF's laptop which she never take outside the house is plugged only...without a battery.
I wish Steve Jobs was the guy in the pic. :(
GET OVER IT
Apple fanboys can expect to lay out $179 + tax for a Steve Jobs replacement.
who cares my god.
It's one guy that is sick and leaving a company. It will still be the same with or without him.
my guess is that he really does not do anything other than be the icon of the business.
@adam:
Riiight... thats why Apple completely tanked after he left the first time and recovered when he took over again. I'm sure it had absolutely nothing to do with him. Really.
@adam wait until u see the apple stock price tomorrow. Apprently apple investors think Steve jobs is someone.
The price isn't too bad, consider how expensive laptop batteries are, but the obvious problem here is the turn-around time for those of us that don't live near any apple store or a dealer. If I needed a battery fix, I'd rather open it up and do it myself.
The battery in my mom's Dell laptop costs $149 and it only lasted 1.5 years... and it only lasted for a few hours even when new.
179 is high - most batteries are between 80 - 130. You also have the option of buying OEM. The notion of having to schedule an appointment to replace my battery is absurd. On top of that you can be sure that apple "claims" 8 hours of battery life but the reality will vary significantly.
@Logan,
To be honest, $179 is not that bad for that high a capacity battery. Like you said batteries are usually $80-$130, but these are batteries that provide a few hours at a time for only a year or two. This is a battery that provides 8 hours of battery life (on a 17" computer, mind you) for supposedly up to five years.
As for quoted battery life, Apple's quotes have been pretty honest for the aluminum MacBooks. I personally get up to and over 5 or 6 hours under homework usage and light web browsing. At worst, I've gotten about 3 hours with high screen brightness and lots of flash or movies in iTunes. In fact, I restored my entire iTunes library at full brightness and played some flash games trying to calibrate the battery when I first got it, and managed about 3 hours and 15 minutes. I would expect the 17" MBP to follow suit and get around 7 or 8 hours of battery life under normal office work or web browsing.
Usually around 100 dollars for something you can replace by your self in 5 seconds.
I though they were going to charge $300+ for replacement, it really isn't that extreme for Apple or for an 8 hour battery, I dislike that you'd have to drop by an apple store OR MAIL IN YOUR MACBOOK PRO, though that service is much quicker then if you actually had a defect in your macbook.
Its been at least four years with my HP and the replacement battery is still $149 for an offbrand. $189 for an HP brand and its the most popular model out there.
Who the hell has a $80 to $100 laptop battery?!
And is that laptop's specifications on par or even worth a crap?
I like the last line of the post.
Apple hates you. Get over it.
$179 for a battery and you can't swap it at your leisure? Amazing what technology has given us in the 21st century.
it's even worse on some cars. I heard that Mercedes charges over $1000 for some of their gas tanks, and voids your warranty if you try to change it at home!
There is absolutely no rule anywhere that says that tech has to be built a certain way. Tons of devices out there have non-replacable batteries and we don't gripe too much. Ever replace the batteries on a $129 electric shaver? And they're not even usually lithium, and some won't operate on AC at all so you have to buy a new device without it. That Apple can put a "store replacable" unit in place that gets roughly 3x the capacity per charge, for roughly 3x the length in years, of its typical competition (Dell? Acer? Alienware? Sony?) is in fact very impressive. That they buck convention by doing it, well, that's just Apple.
Expect this change to propagate down the line, as did aluminum and glass, transition to USB and DVI, use of SCSI, use of SATA, use of flash, etc. I suspect that in a few years more companies will realize that the gains in amp hours and weight/volume more than justify telling users not to buy an accessory battery more often than they buy a device.
Personally, I have NEVER purchased an extra laptop battery, in a decade, though I replaced half a dozen Dells under warranty, and Apple volunteered to replace one for me that I didn't even realize was going bad. My last Macbook battery had 95% life left at 500 cycles.
you have no idea what you are talking about. like any other job they are trained, and I know that Apple do have a reputation for very good training. So, stop whinging and go and find yourself a job =]
is $179 that unreasonable for an 8 hour laptop battery?
Why does Apple insist on charging things at super premium prices, but make it completely inaccessible for the purchaser? I am not a Windows fanboy, nor an Apple fanboy. I Would like to switch to Apple, but it's little things like this that make me pause and wonder.
But the other Macbooks have removable batteries priced in line with other companies ($130ish) that offer half the battery life.
To me this suggests that Apple didn't just make the battery non-removable to piss you off, but there was a legit design reason.
I'd agree with you if all Macbooks had non-removable batteries that got 3 hours and cost $400.
You're paying a minimum of $2800 for the damn thing. This is a prosumer laptop. A laptop for somebody who likely won't keep it for more than 5 years anyways.
Because that's business. Apple is in a unique position to do things like this. If you want their product, you'll deal with it. If you can't deal with it, you'll switch to something else...that's how the cookie crumbles.
I could somewhat understand if this were some internal part like ram or cpu change - but to make it so buyers can't swap their own batteries? Highway robbery.
I don't see why any competent computer knowledgeable person couldn't replace it on their own...
Sure, as long as the warranty is expired. But what about other people? My mom can replace the battery in her laptop, and I had trouble walking her through the use of webmail the other day.
One of the things I love about my PowerBook (Pismo) is its two hot swappable battery bays. 16 hours of run time!
Plus there is the option of bringing extra batteries, especially since they're hot swappable. I can't imagine havng to send the whole computer in just to swap out a battery. Seems as daft as requiring Apple to change out fonts.
Look, I think there is a valid concern for those who like to have a spare battery for when they're on the move and have few readily available power sources. But I'm not really too sure why pundits are balking at the $179 price point. First of all, as per the Apple store, it costs $129 for both the Macbook and Macbook Pro removable batteries. If Apple's claims are accurate, their new battery lasts 3 times longer than previous laptop batterys. So firstly, you're a lot less likely to need to replace the battery over the MBP17" 's lifetime, or rather it will last 3 times longer. And secondly, it's only a 38% premium on the removable battery (which has a 1/3 of the lifespan) - $179 vs. $129. Therefore it's a non-issue for me.
You could say and/or acknowledge that time is money. I don't want to waste time at the Apple store doing something that I should be allowed to do on my own. $179 is the base fee, before factoring in time, tax, transportation, so on and so forth.
@required:
Well if that's an issue for you, then the new 17" isn't for you. But I've had an original Macbook for about 2.5years (which I've used heavily everyday), and I still get a couple of hours out of the battery. I expect to have it for at least another year or two without replacing the battery. Basically one of the points I was making was that with the extended lifespan, you're not likely to have to make that trip to the Apple store for a bloody long time, so its a non-issue for me.
I can only speak for myself, but I'm balking at the $179 plus tax because the true cost is $179 plus tax plus my current rate multiplied by the time it takes to drop the machine off, for them to replace the battery, and the time it takes for me to pick the machine up. Let's assume a 24 hours period plus a modest hour on each side for a total of 26 hours. Suffice it to say that we're talking about significantly more than $179 plus tax. :(
On the other hand, if I could order up a replacement and have it shipped to me I would only be out $179 plus tax plus shipping plus my current rate multiplied by the time it takes to place the order, receive the shipment, and install the battery. Still more than $179 plus tax but not prohibitively so.
Remember, you're a fool if you believe anything Apple says. At least, that's what Apple said. o.0
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/12/apple-says-cust.html
And the other thing is, if it last 8 hours vs 5 hours on the regular macbook, you are automatically caring a 0.6 extra batteries. I think Apple just realized that, even the batteries is replaceable, very little percentage of people actually carry extra batteries, if you don't believe it, cast a vote here.
I'm not 100% sure this is even worth the extra battery time... that might be a trick. At MacWorld I unplugged one of the FULLY charged 17" notebooks and the time it calculated was 3hrs 55minutes.. I dimmed the screen way down and it went to 4hrs 30min... the apple standy guy said these weren't the final models with the improved battery... phhhht! Orrrr its a trick!
You only get the upside of their estimated run time the first time it is look at it, once it has been looked at the run time will become much shorter. Sounds like the system you were trying out had been looked at by someone before you.
No one year warrenty? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
The battery in the regular MacBook Pro and the MacBook is $129. So since the new battery is more expensive it would cost a little more.
"Battery" by Apple - a revolutionary new device for powering computers.
Training? to do what? Unscrew 4 screw and drop in a new battery?
I highly doubt they will be soldering anything...
I can put together a PC blind folded just for the fun of it, and you have to train people to use a screw driver and teach them that there is a polarity? even thought the battery connector can only go in one way...
Shite, no wonder why there are full service gas stations... retarded population cannot even put air in a tire...
$179 instore is a rip, I bet they pay the talented skilled builders in china $1 to put an iPhone together, but the retard in store get $100 training on how to use a phillips head...
You are stupid, or a troll, or probably both.
I've had nothing but excellent and professional service from Apple the 3 times I needed it. $179 for a 6 hour (let's be realistic here, people do use their optical drives and increase the brightness on their screens) is not a bad price, and based on my understanding of Lithium Polymer battery I buy the removable wasted space argument made by apple. When I get a new laptop (Dell, Mac, IBM, whatever) I always budget for a new battery in 2 years, assuming I don't replace it (the computer) by then...
Training? to do what? Unscrew 4 screw and drop in a new battery?
I highly doubt they will be soldering anything...
I can put together a PC blind folded just for the fun of it, and you have to train people to use a screw driver and teach them that there is a polarity? even thought the battery connector can only go in one way...
Shite, no wonder why there are full service gas stations... retarded population cannot even put air in a tire...
$179 instore is a rip, I bet they pay the talented skilled builders in china $1 to put an iPhone together, but the retard in store get $100 training on how to use a phillips head...
Do you honestly think that this a Genius Bar job?
They are trained (mainly in software), but they're trained mainly to diagnose faults - not to fix them. Apple Stores likely have in-house technicians for this sort of thing. The frontend staff are just there to provide basic user support, a sort of extended FAQ if you will - they are there to say "ah yes, you need a new battery" or "yep, a reinstall of OS X will sort that". They then will refer the product for whatever course of action is necessary - i.e. sent to a technician for a hardware fix.
From a quick bit of research, they are trained to fix faults (my bad) - but it's still likely to be done by people with proper training. A battery install is hardly the same as switching a logic board.
I don't understand, why replaceable battery is such a big deal? In the five laptops I have owned since 2002, I never had the need to replace the battery, most of the time i sell the laptop before the battery is even near dead. I don't think anyone will use same laptop for five years. the other reason was to use two batteries when you are on the go, because most laptops will last for just 2 to 3 hours, but if a laptop with 17-inch screen can last 8 hours it isn't a problem anymore.
If having a non-removable 95WHr battery replaced in-store is a ripoff, then I suppose $165 + tax and shipping for Dell to ship you a 95WHr battery is what? A bargain? $179 for a battery of this type, installed is a very competitive price.
at least try a little harder to make an valid argument.
My Latitude battery is still coughing along after like 5 years (no fanboism, just case in point), so I hope this can do at least that much, since any older, I'd just get a new computer, broken or not. And overall, as a machine, that 17 incher is damn sweet.
issue:if you have private info(porn or other crap) stored on your computer its at the mercy of the tech replacing the battery!
Fail!
I'm surprised nobody else mentioned the privacy aspects of returning a computer (or an iPhone or iPod for that matter) for battery replacement, something which has been a common-sense part of portable consumer electronics for decades (and adequately handled by Joe User, god bless him).
Having to return a device people store their lives on, to essentially strangers...for what used to be the easiest task handled by grandma - without unnecessary time-waste and expense - is basically wholesale nonsense that I will never take part in or endorse.
I would never buy a camcorder or phone or still camera or portable audio without removable batteries, and that's no different with laptops.
Great way for Apple to profit and limit competition with third-party battery vendors; Joe User knows he has to send it to someone to be surgically replaced and that someone would more often than not be Apple, rather than the unknown or smaller third-party businesses.
http://shop.ebay.com/items/__macbook-pro-battery_W0QQLHQ5fSiteWideConditionZNew13180QQ_flnZ1QQ_ssovZ1QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em282
The policy of non-removal batteries in Apple products is the policy that stopped my consumption of the Apple Kool Aid.
What's worse is others (particularly in non-phone portable audio) seem to think it's a great idea. Not just Apple.
I'd like to see Sony (PSP notwithstanding), Microsoft, Creative, Sandisk, Cowon, iRiver, etc offer removables in allll their audio products. It should be a basic necessity if any of these companies believe in longevity, convenience (swapping out for long trips and/or unexepected low battery times) and are 'green' as half of them claim to be. Fixed storage, too. How needlessly limiting when the user can decide what they can pay and how much, regarding storage, or to simply swap in some new content or blank. Or to replace bad flash memory.
Until sanity prevails it's disposable 'buy-another' territory when the battery and/or flash memory dies, which I find objectionable.
I want to keep great devices running as long as possible, probably contrary to most opinions here, and it has little to do with cost and more to do with needless waste and unnecessary toxic disposal and the fact that great devices are made every year which are never fully replicated or fully improved upon, and it's highly preferable for me to keep these devices running as long as possible.
I don't suffer from 'upgrade-itis' at all. In fact, I like old friends that have been through hell with me and are still ticking. Newer isn't always better, and then there's the waste and cost aspect of it all (manufacture, dispose, buy shiny new device not half as good as the last in certain areas, dispose of it too, etc).
Non-removable rant over, though likely to resurface in more feedback responses :p
maybe im a loser ,or i dont get it. i had a sony vaio 14' laptop purchased in 2002. i never removed battery once, until in 2006 battery died n had to buy new sony battery for $160..,first of all i would never spend $3000 for 1 laptop, i dont see dropping 2 weeks salary on 1 laptop. i just dont do that. it reminds me of when iphone was first announced with no removable battery or sd card slot.,everyone started freaking out as if was the end of the world. n here we are 17 million iphones sold n 17 months later. we all adjusted.,so stop whining .dee dee deee!!!!!!!!!!!
Sales mean good? Sales means can't be improved? Sales means better than something else for someone's needs?
By this logic, I should start taking up smoking and eating Big Macs.
The main reason I buy a 2nd battery for all of my laptops is so I can get more runtime away from AC power. Like when flying. I can guarantee that that 8 hour spec isn't for real-world use; good luck getting more than 4 watching DVDs, playing games, or editing videos/photos. Ain't gonna happen. Four hours isn't enough to fly across the country, especially with a layover. Until someone develops a battery that gives real world 12+ hours of life, the need for a removable battery will be there.
Apple seems to be ignoring the fact that SOME people actually do something with their computers besides browsing the web and reading email.
If you are talking about flight time, I really doubt you would buy the 17" to use on a plane (coach) unless you are paying for business class or first class which of course, would provides the AC outlet.
@tin
Yes, I can testify to that. I have a 17" MBP and its size does make it a bit impractical for use on airplanes and the like. I was going to get a 15" next time but the new screen and battery in the 17" has given me pause for thought.
I wish apple offer 2 options for the 15", removable (current offer), and a embeded one like the 17", I will definitely go for the embeded.
This could not be more ridiculous. Even with a non-traditional removable battery, why not have a battery like a cordless phone? Put the pack behind a metal plate with a screw and change it out with a little plastic connector.
@ Josh
The Genius Bar do deal with hardware as well. Yes most problems they encounter are software (OS X related) but part of the job description is you need to be familiar with the hardware for hardware related issues.
Those "technicians" you speak of, they're Geniuses too.
lost of post but only 1 highly ranked? no life here..
I rather trade my "removable battery" for 8 hrs of life. Lets face it, how many of you have more than one batteries, and if you do, how many times do u bring it.
The reality is that I saw way too much people stuck with their 15 minutes "changeable" batteries and never replace them.
I have three including a double capacity battery... nice for car trips and long flights.
Tin said:
"The reality is that I saw way too much people stuck with their 15 minutes "changeable" batteries and never replace them."
---------
Undoubtedly that's true. But these people will always user their laptops close to a power point and happily do that, usually due to the poor battery life you get to start with. They pay for the simple convenience of a portable computer, not so much 'portable and using batteries frequently'. This situation isn't helped when they realise a new (original) one costs a lot and they are unaware of cheaper alternatives.
For someone that is out and about and/or uses it for work, the situation is different. A spare can be truly indispensable. That's without going into what you have to do to get a replacement on embedded devices.
It seems short-sighted to me to limit flexibility to those that need it simply because most users don't buy a spare (it's not like the average removable batteries cost more to manufacture than embedded ones).
If the phone market worked based on what most people don't buy, we'd have embedded, non-removable batteries in all phones simply because most don't buy a spare. Most video cameras, too. Most still cameras.
This can be extended to embedded storage too, with no option for removable memory cards simply because 'most don't buy a spare SD card' or whatever.
I have no doubt Apple's choices are business decisions (let us do the surgery and buy our battery rather than another's) rather than technical ones (claims of strength of unit, size of unit, which are both laughable to me), and they are getting away with it so far, thanks to our disposable society and the average person thinking nothing of it and the average person using mains power on what usually are batteries that run down too quickly on laptops, especially compared with other portable electronics. As a result, many are unaware of rechargeable batteries even having a finite life.
I have heard several times from people that have replaced their devices when their (embedded) batteries no longer lasted long (they often think it's worthless at this point and usually never even suspect the battery being the 'fault'). Other times it's when the embedded flash memory goes loopy. Needless new device. Check!
Compare to what? They are pretty knowledgeable in my opinions because one thing, they at least understand my questions. Try to talk to any other tech support (such as Bestbuy, Circuitcity's service desk).
die steve! die! if you organ fails ...send your body to me i'll replace it in around 2 weeks...promise
the real question is, should I take the plunge and buy this monster? battery is the only thing making me second guess the decision but I feel that I'll get over it pretty quick. But then again, I don't like the idea of leaving my property with apple just to change a battery, who knows how they will treat or tamper with it while in their possession... or maybe they will secretly steal all the stuff from my hard drive or something? it's that kind of stuff I don't want to worry about.
If data security is an issue for you then you can either store the data in an encrypted disk image (or even encrypt the whole drive), or remove the hard drive before you hand the computer over. Put another way, treat this as any other computer repair job.
Problem is what if there's a battery recall? With removable batteries, it's as easy as sending a box with the new battery, and customers sending back the box with the old battery. This non-removable battery stuff won't be good for both Apple (lines in Apple stores, disgruntled customers) and customers.
Privacy is also an issue.
what if it's an emergency? like "i have a presentation in a hour.. battery died"???
Plug it in.
"Sure, the machine is small -- and the alleged eight hours of charge is nothing to sneeze at -- but is all that worth the hassle of a non-removable battery?"
Yes. I've never needed to replace a battery in my laptops over the past 6-years so a battery that has a longer lifespan and will deliver 8-hours of normal computing is definitely worth it.
Your own mileage may vary...
assuming you have had any single device there for 6 years and it's been used regularly on the battery (even semi-regularly) and you have no extremely short runtime issues with the battery, I'd say that's a pretty miraculous run you have going there.
What if a day without my workstation costs actually much more than the computer itself?
Oh, wait... I don't own this metal, nice looking, piece of crap... I'm safe.
I've said it before elsewhere, why does something that costs $179 have to cost that 1-2-3-4-5 years down the road?
That is, unless they have a 400 hour battery for $179 in 2014!
(fast-forward to 2014, "No, I'm sorry sir, $179 gets you the 2009 version of the battery.)
Ummm... no. DON'T try to talk to tech support, anywhere, if you value your sanity. Apple's may or may not be better, as I've never had an Apple anything. But if you have no experience with the rest of them, keep it that way.
Interesting. With every business process, there will be failures, diasters and losses. No process, no matter how carefully designed, monitored and backed-up, will ever be 100% successful, not even for Apple. So, assuming a wildly-optimistic 99.99% success-rate in gathering machines, replacing batteries and getting the machines back to their owners, and sales of (say) 10 million units, we're looking at around 1000 owners who don;t get their machine back, or get it back without the original data on it. Now, I don't know about you, but the setup and data on my machine are worth many times the cost of the hardware. Even though it's all backed up, it would take me a significant amount of time and hassle to restore onto a new machine. So if I were one of the 1000 (and remember these are people who can justify spending £2000+on a laptop, so we're not talking nobodies here), I would be both very angry and very very loud in my complaints about the company I held responsible (and don't forget people have a tendency to blame the principal even if the subcontractor is actually at fault). I would make it my business to make sure they reached the widest audience. I would want the (perceived) perpetrator to suffer a significant loss of market share.
So if you were Apple, would you have taken that calculated risk? I wonder what the T&Cs for the replacement-service contract look like? I bet they include "we accept no liability for anything at all" (translated into legalese) in pretty much every paragraph...