Apple gives a new meaning to solid state.

In article , J. Clarke
wrote:

Looks like Apple actually hired a metallurgist. I remember the first
magnesium-famed laptop I ever saw. It was in a CompUSA and was in
several pieces after somebody dropped it and the cast magnesium did what
cast magnesium does.

apple never made a magnesium laptop.

there are also plenty of broken pcs in stores like compusa as well as
other products. computers in stores are subject to a lot more abuse
than computers at home or work.

plastic breaks too.

In article , Alfred
Molon wrote:

OTOH it could all backfire on Apple - it is _very_ easy to install OS X
in a wide number of non-Apple laptops and desktops.

For sure I wouldn't buy a notebook computer in which the battery is glued to
the machine and where you can't upgrade the RAM or the HDD. So, yes, Apple
are shooting themselves into the foot.

then you won't be buying a microsoft surface pro either.

and just how often do you replace memory, hard drive or a battery
anyway?

most people use their computer, not take it apart.

As to switching to OS X, I fail to see the benefit. It's just another windows
based OS like Win 7 or 8.

then you've obviously never used it.

In article , Sandman
wrote:

OTOH it could all backfire on Apple - it is _very_ easy to install OS X
in a wide number of non-Apple laptops and desktops.

For sure I wouldn't buy a notebook computer in which the battery is glued to
the machine and where you can't upgrade the RAM or the HDD. So, yes, Apple
are shooting themselves into the foot.

They would, if you were their only customer

It's just a matter of stats. It's not just that "most" of their customer
don't tinker with or plan to upgrade internall. It's that the vast vast
vast majority of them don't.

exactly.

a few people complain. most do not.

surprising as it may seem, some people actually *use* the computer
rather than take it apart every day.

If they can save weight and expenses by cutting out an incredibly small
group of people's "joy of tinkering", they're going to do it.

yep.

they don't target the tinkerer market. it's a niche market anyway, and
not a profitable one either.

Computers are in the midst of a huge paradigm shift, started by the iPad.
computers and computer OS's won't look and work the same five years from
now.

true.

Cars is a good analogy, really, because car manufacturers are working in
the same way - saving money and cutting out the buyers ability to tinker.
That business is changeing a lot slower, however. But soon the world will
drive Tesla's, where you can't open anything up and change anything. You
can charge it and drive it. You can't tinker with the engine, you can't
change the batteries. Nothing.

some gas powered vehicles put the battery in the wheel well, making
changing the battery a rather involved process.

Plus - most of the few "protestors" will end up buying a Mac in the end
anyway, being a bit bitter about it but realizing that they don't buy a
computer soley to tinker with it, and that it's just a bonus if they can.

and then they realize that it's a non-issue.

or they buy another product and see it has the same design, such as the
surface pro.

it's not just apple.

As to switching to OS X, I fail to see the benefit. It's just another
windows
based OS like Win 7 or 8.

Much like a Bugatti Veyron is another "steering wheel-based car" like Ford
Focus and VW Beetle.

something like that.

In article 2013102613450272377-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

Well the Apple store "Genius" guys have the proprietary 'iCrowbar',
'iHammer', 'iChisel' to use for the removal of new Macbook batteries,
HDDs, & SSDs. The replacement items are fixed back in place with
'iEpoxy'. No big deal.

and while you wait. they do the same thing for iphones and ipads. not a
big deal at all.

In article 2013102613381046043-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

As to switching to OS X, I fail to see the benefit. It's just another
windows
based OS like Win 7 or 8.

Windows based???
Where did you come up with that?

he means a windowing system, not microsoft windows.

they're only casually similar. it's like lumping all cameras together,
ignoring that a pro dslr is very different than a compact p&s camera
which is different than a cellphone camera. they all take photos, but
that's about where it ends.

OSX is what Linux would like to be when it grows up.

os x is well beyond what linux could even dream of.

linux would be happy if it could be what os x was 15 years ago, when it
was openstep.

In article , PeterN
wrote:

My point is that from a
purely functional standpoint, an old e-machine would do what a lot of
user want to do. If they wnat a new machine just to play, fine. They
should have the option.

everyone has options.

Not to replace the battery. The lack of options will certainly be
factored into my purchase decision.

nonsense. of course there are options.

if easily replaceable batteries is important, then buy a product that
offers that feature.

the real question is why this is so important? how often do you replace
a battery? how long do you keep the computer? the battery is rated 5
years.

you'll probably get a new laptop before the battery needs replacing. if
you keep the laptop longer, you *might* need to replace the battery
*once* in its lifetime, maybe.

with macbooks getting as much as 15+ hours run time, even a battery
that has degraded to half its original capacity is still very usable.

A few years ago I went to a Honda dealer, who may have been related to
you. He told me the car he had for me had all the extras I needed.
Needless to say he did not make the sale.

what does that have to do with anything. nobody said macbooks have all
the features someone needs.

if it meets your needs, buy it. if not, buy something else.

That is my real option. If enough people feel asI do, Apple will change
their policies. If not, I will get what I want from a competitor, or
make an informed purchase.

and since apple's sales are outpacing the market, not enough people
think the way you do. in fact, very few do.

and it won't be long until the rest of the industry does the same
thing. many have already done so.

you keep ignoring that other companies do exactly the same thing, and
nobody criticizes them, including when they glue batteries.

where's the outcry on the surface pro? nobody cares because it's not
fashionable to bash microsoft. only apple. why is that?

In article , Tony Cooper
wrote:

The author will be branded an "Apple basher" by nospam.

try to keep up. i already pointed out that the article was nothing more
than a bash article.

they lied about a couple of things and neglected to mention that pc
makers do exactly the same thing.

when microsoft uses a glued in battery, nobody says a thing. when dell
uses an internal battery, nobody says a thing. when android phones use
internal batteries, nobody says a thing. when many other products use
internal batteries, nobody says a thing.

only when apple does it, is it bad. that's bashing.

In article , Eric Stevens
wrote:

For some strange reason, I like the option, to be able to replace. I
don't like having replacement forced on me.

nothing is forced on anyone.

What are my options when the battery goes?
must I get a new machine, or can the battery be easily replaced?

it's very easily replaced. take it to an apple store and it's replaced
while you wait. not a big deal, especially since it only needs to be
done once every 5 years or so.

How do you reconcile that claim with the following quote from the
article which started this thread?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10...013_teardowns/

"Most vexing thing about the new MacBook Pros is that Cupertino has
once again chosen to fix the battery in place using not screws but
glue, a practice that began with the MacBook Air and now seems de
rigueur for all of Apple's laptops. This time around, iFixit's
repair gurus spent half an hour trying to pry the 15-inch MacBook
Pro's battery away from the case and weren't pleased with the
results. Complicating the process was the fact that the battery now
covers the trackpad cable, meaning not only is the trackpad
difficult to replace, but any attempt to remove the battery is
likely to shear the cable in half."

what's to reconcile?

if you need the battery replaced, you take it to an apple store or
another repair shop and they swap it for you or do it yourself with a
heatgun.

the battery is rated to last longer than the useful life of the laptop
so it's a non-issue.

how do you reconcile that it's the same thing if you buy a microsoft
surface pro, which also uses glue and which they conveniently forgot to
mention? how do you reconcile that the article only criticizes apple
when other companies do exactly the same thing?

they also neglected to mention that a battery swap is something that
only needs to be done once in 5 years, if you even keep the laptop that
long, which most people will not.

if someone does want a new battery for a 5 year old laptop, they would
be expecting to keep it for a couple more years at least (otherwise why
spend the money for a new battery), which means that they'd eventually
be using a 7-8 year old computer. that's ancient for computers. it
won't run modern software.

people replace their computers far more frequently than that, but for
the few that want to keep it 7+ years, they only need to spend an hour
at a store getting the battery swapped, *once* in 5 years. not a big
deal. in fact, it falls into the who cares category.

In article 2013102609360949715-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom,
Savageduck wrote:

Apple has been notorious for overpricing RAM, and has been sticking it
to the non-geek buying a larger RAM configuration on custom builds.

they used to do that. that hasn't been true for years.

their memory prices are competitive with other computer makers, and as
has been pointed out, *cheaper* than some, such as lenovo.

where's the criticism of lenovo overpricing for memory, who charges
more than apple does??

buying memory from the computer manufacturer is always going to be more
than if you do it yourself, but with that, you get a full warranty and
no finger pointing and no hassles if something goes wrong.

They also made things awkward for the geek. On the iMac I am currently
using, a 3.6 GHz i5 delivered with 8GB of 1333MHz DDR3 it has each of
the 4 slots populated with 4 x 2GB cards. That fills all 4 slots, when
they could have just as easily used 2 x 4GB cards making a user upgrade
easier with just a purchase of another 2 x 4GB to fill the empty slots.

it's more expensive to use the higher capacity cards and most people
don't upgrade their own memory so this isn't an issue.

it's also what other companies do.

Only OWC takes used RAM in trade, Apple doesn't & Crucial doesn't.

you don't get a whole lot in trade. it's often not worth the hassle.

i think they offered me something like $10 for the memory in my old
powerbook. not even worth the bother.

Folks like you, Alan, & me have no problem making these changes, but
the average buyer is being exploited by Apple, and I have been an Apple
user and supporter of all things Apple since 1983 starting with my
Apple][e, and that is my observation.

they're not being exploited any more than from any other company. in
fact, it's less than some.

why focus on apple? every other computer maker chargers higher prices
than third party memory vendors. memory prices are volatile and they
don't want to deal with fluctuations.

if you say apple is exploiting users, then lenovo exploits them even
*more* than apple. peter said lenovo wanted $240 for 16 gig while apple
charges $200 for the same amount. 20% higher!!

why isn't this a lenovo bashing thread?

Apple has been making the options for user servicing for stuff such as
RAM upgrades(replacing bad RAM), replacing/upgrading optical drives,
HDD/SSD tougher with each new model. the new MacBooks are just the next
step in the progression.

most people don't self-service, so user replaceable parts is a feature
that would go unused.

apple has made some easily repairable products. one model of the
macbook had the hard drive in the battery bay, making it trivial to
swap. turns out nobody really cared one way or the other.

meanwhile, people do enjoy thin, lightweight laptops with very long
runtime, and the only way to do that is pack the parts inside, often
without screws.

cars do the same thing. old cars were easy to pop the hood and fix.
today's cars, no way.

some cars even have the battery in the wheel well so if you want to
change the battery (which *does* happen in the lifetime of a vehicle),
you have to remove a wheel. where's the bitching about that?

some other cars require a lot of disassembly to get to the spark plugs,
another maintenance item. with a traverse mounted engine, getting at
one side of plugs can sometimes be a *bitch*.

meanwhile, very few people do their own car repairs, so this is never
an issue that comes up. they take it to the shop for the 30k tuneup or
whatever and pick it up when it's done.

It seems that with this trend of moving to a disposable laptop, Apple
should consider extending their standard warranty, but I suspect this
will be a major selling point for AppleCare which will repair a failing
new generation MacBook by replacing it.

they will normally fix what you bring in, however, they have been known
to replace it with something newer after multiple repairs for the same
issue.

In article , Alan Browne
wrote:

MS PC's have the advantage of a wider selection of software available,
much more in terms of games, cheaper commodity hardware and so on.

other way around.

macs have the advantage of a much wider selection of software since
they can run all mac, windows and unix software natively, all at the
same time, and easily moving data between them.

windows computers can't do that.

in other words, no matter what the app is, a mac can run it.