MacBook 13″ Teardown Reveals Battery Is User Upgradeable, And It’s Dead Easy

Leander Kahney ()

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The “sealed” battery in Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro is easily replaced with standard screwdrivers, a teardown by iFixit shows.

The MacBook battery is not supposed to be changed by the user. Sealed inside the case, Apple encourages customers to pay Apple $130 to change the battery and dispose of the old one.

However, the battery is easily accessed with a standard Phillips screwdriver, and the battery removed with a tri-wing screwdriver, iFixit found when dissassmbling the device on Tuesday.

In addition, iFixit notes that the single audio jack (see post below) is innapropriate for a “Pro” machine. The jack supports analog and digital audio-out, and analog audio-in, but not digital audio-in.

“If you need digital audio-in, this is not the machine for you.” said iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens in an email.

Wiens also said the MBP’s new SD card slot is “rather unimaginative.”

“Half the card hangs outside the computer,” said Wiens. “Apparently, Apple couldn’t free up enough space for a slot that would make the card completely captive.”

Wiens notes the battery is beefier (360 grams, about 60 grams heavier than the old one), but is rated 60 Watt-hours, compared to the older battery’s 45 W-h. Apple claims the battery will last for 7 hours. The previous MacBook’s battery was rated 5 hours (yeah, right!)

More details and pictures from iFixit after the jump.

* The new battery is not interchangeable at all with the older MacBook Unibody. The connectors, size, and shape are different, preventing easy DIY battery rigging.

* The mid wall dividing the MacBook Pro is now attached to the top case. In the previous model, it was held in by four Phillips screws — just goes to show that Apple is trying to help out its DIY customers.

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* Aside from a couple of visual cues found outside, a casual user would not be able to discern if this was a MacBook Unibody or MacBook Pro.

* Most screw layouts and brackets are identical to the old MacBook Unibody.

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12 comments »

About the author

Leander Kahney

is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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Posted in Apple, Hardware, Hardware Hacks, Macintosh, News, Top stories |

  • Dan

    I have a 13inch unibody and I have certainly gotten 5 hours or close to it on multiple occasions.

  • jim

    How much better is the display in the new 13″ MBP?

  • Matt

    As a student (looking to take advantage of that lovely UK higher education discount) and a total mac newbie, can anyone give me some advice as to the relative pros and cons of the basic white macbook vs this new 13″ macbook pro?

    Much appreciated

  • HandyMac

    Tri-Wing Screwdriver:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-wing_screwdriver

    iFixIt will probably have them for sale soon. At the moment, removing the battery voids the warranty, but in about a year I’d expect to see third-party replacement batteries for these new models.

  • nothingfuture

    Enough about the lack of “pro” audio from this laptop. I don’t know a single pro musician that uses the built in audio for anything more than casual listening. This is what they make external audio interface systems for.

    The machine’s hot. Enough said.

    nf.

  • http://jmsarduino.blogspot.com salsaman

    Sets of “security” bits can be had for cheap:
    http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91310

    A must for warranty-voiding electronics tinkerers!

  • Gazoobee

    I like the SD card hanging out. How else can you grab it?

    Also, why stick some goofy spring mechanism in there that’s just going to break and require the use of the nearest set of long fingernails to get it to spring out again.

  • Marko

    I’m with Gazoobee and nothingfuture:

    I couldn’t care less that the SD card hangs out and I use a USB Snowball mic. These are non issues. I’d rather focus on things that matter, like a user replaceable battery.

  • http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MBPRO_13inch_Mid2009_Hard_Drive_DIY.pdf Michael

    Here is the official Apple Hard Drive Replacement Manual: http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MBPRO_13inch_Mid2009_Hard_Drive_DIY.pdf

    By the way its a PH #00 screwdriver and you don’t need to disconnect the battery to replace the hard drive (this is SATA).

    Wish I would had known it was #00 and not #0 like this teardown suggests! Glad I took it easy on the damn screws.

  • http://thecustommac.com Caleb Pike

    So you think Apple did this to contain Explosions and thereby lawsuits? (Remember the CultOfMac post on batteries exploding?)

    Hmmm…..

  • http://twitter.com/nquo nik

    If the battery is taken out, will it run on A/C power alone? (e.g. when you’re at home)

  • atomic

    mmmmmm, warranty voiding….