Actually, looking through the entire teardown, I think the battery being glued in is worse than anything as levering it out is likely to cause the Li-Ion cells to blow up.
Also consider how hard it is recycling that machine!
Their summary:
1. Proprietary pentalobe screws prevent you from gaining access to anything inside.
2. As in the MacBook Air, the RAM is soldered to the logic board. Max out at 16GB now, or forever hold your peace—you can't upgrade.
3. The proprietary SSD isn't upgradeable either (yet), as it is similar but not identical to the one in the Air. It is a separate daughtercard, and we’re hopeful we can offer an upgrade in the near future.
4. The lithium-polymer battery is glued rather than screwed into the case, which increases the chances that it'll break during disassembly. The battery also covers the trackpad cable, which tremendously increases the chance that the user will shear the cable in the battery removal process.
5. The display assembly is completely fused, and there’s no glass protecting it. If anything ever fails inside the display, you will need to replace the entire extremely expensive assembly.
The whole machine is a joke. PLEASE DON'T BUY ONE!
> 1. Proprietary pentalobe screws prevent you from gaining access to anything inside.
Well, there's not much inside for a normal user to replace any more.
> 2. As in the MacBook Air, the RAM is soldered to the logic board. Max out at 16GB now, or forever hold your peace—you can't upgrade.
Just like CPUs and graphics cards have been for years.
> 3. The proprietary SSD isn't upgradeable either (yet), as it is similar but not identical to the one in the Air. It is a separate daughtercard, and we’re hopeful we can offer an upgrade in the near future.
External drive, bro. It's an effing superportable laptop. Do you really need your entire 200GB porn collection available to you at all times?
> 4. The lithium-polymer battery is glued rather than screwed into the case, which increases the chances that it'll break during disassembly. The battery also covers the trackpad cable, which tremendously increases the chance that the user will shear the cable in the battery removal process.
There is no battery removal process. And you know what? That's okay! I'm over 2 years in on my 2010 MacBook Pro, and checking the battery right now I see its designed capacity was 6,000mAh while its current, fully-charged capacity is… 5,786mAh. The sky has steadfastly refused to fall, and the four horsemen have failed to ravage the countryside.
> 5. The display assembly is completely fused, and there’s no glass protecting it. If anything ever fails inside the display, you will need to replace the entire extremely expensive assembly.
Wow! If an expensive thing fails expensively, it's expensive! Please tell me how this situation is any different than for dozens of other devices you currently possess, including your HDTV display and the engine in your car.
> The whole machine is a joke. PLEASE DON'T BUY ONE!
Your whole post is a joke. If the machine doesn't meet your own personal criteria, that's awesome. But you appear to be taking it personally if other people have a different metric of value. Chill out, for fuck's sake.
> I'm over 2 years in on my 2010 MacBook Pro, and checking the battery right now I see its designed capacity was 6,000mAh while its current, fully-charged capacity is… 5,786mAh.
I don't know what the capacity is on mine, but I used to get about 5 hours on battery, now I'm lucky to get 2.5 hours. Mine is same model, 18 months old.
In case you're curious (I am!), iStat Menus can show you the breakdown with its battery monitor module.
Keep in mind that the reduction in battery life might also just be that you have more intensive apps running, more things happening in the background, brighter monitor, etc. I also feel intuitively like the battery life in my MBP has dropped, but seeing the numbers, I'm pretty convinced it's a change in my usage more than the inherent battery life.
One thing I don't understand: Apple offers battery replacements for more or less reasonable prices, right? How in hell are they going to replace this battery? Do they have some special fluid that can quickly dissolve that glue?
Then why complain? Apple makes a machine that you think is hard to recycle (and some of the things you think are hard include a special screw--I bet that isn't very hard for Apple) and at the same time covers the full cost of recycling it. Who cares if they have to spend another 10 minutes, it's their problem.
It's also included in the cost of the machine. One of the reasons to buy a Mac (or some other pre-assembled computer) is that the price includes services like assembly, testing, and customer support.
I don't. I do know what is involved though. You dig a big hole and put them in it. Then over 25 years or so the lithium seeps out into the water table...
Usually from what I understand in Europe at least, they pack them, mail them to an EU border country such as Turkey to comply with EU regs and certification and they're shipped on to the far east by the lowest bidder. They then appear in land fills and are picked apart by children for the copper...
If by "recycle" you will accept the alternative "reuse", I know many people who reuse batteries. I've done it once, when a hardware failure caused my laptop to become a doorstop. The battery was put into an RC project I was working on and the rest of the laptop was sent to true recyclers.
I'd take the iFixit recommendation with a sack of salt. Their business model relies on being able to sell components and tools that can open up laptops. With the new Retina MBP, they can not do much, hence they are bound to rate it lower.
Apple's task is to create a laptop with the features they think users will like, and not have to worry about the support for third party component vendors. If you think iFixit is your source for recommendation, don't buy the MBP. :)
Is this rant all just some cognitive dissonance because you can't afford one? You're not thinking this through, the machine may not make sense for you because it sounds like you enjoy tinkering with the innards of a laptop, but you cannot speak for others, or try to evangelize your opinion and persuade other not to buy one. It just makes you look bitter about something. Please try to be accept that this machine is not something you need. Your attitude towards Mac owners is very clear by your offensive language, which negates any actual points that you might have.
I am sure apple has thought of how to recycle these machines because they take that stuff seriously. They don't expect you to recycle it, technology is complex stuff and the whole life cycle needs people with expert knowledge and that includes the reuse and recycling stage.
Now I need to get back to my Starbucks latte and wave things around..l lighten up... Life's too short to take on a cause like this.
Let me approach your points in a more concise and slightly less troll-like manor:
I can afford one but I choose not to spend the money on it simply because the value proposition is pure insanity.
I am not bitter at all. I find that the rapid decline into consumerism that Apple promotes is disturbing, especially when they are trend-setters. I need to stand up for what is right now so in 5 years time, all vendors aren't producing such hardware.
Apple don't think about how to recycle these machines at all - they don't care at all and never will do unless it's good marketing (which is is since Greenpeace kicked off at them that is). They send you a label to stick to it - that is all. That will send it to a 3rd party who have paid Apple a lot of money to be the "preferred recycler".
Life's never too short to promote an opinion. After all that's all we are.
