New MacBook Air design may make battery replacements easier, cheaper


MacRumors notes an Apple support document details the new process for replacing batteries in the new MacBook Air. The change should make it easier and perhaps cheaper repair.

In all other MacBook and MacBook Pro models with a Retina display released since 2012, when a customer has required a battery replacement, Apple has replaced the entire top case enclosure, including the keyboard and trackpad. This is because the battery is glued into the top case in Mac notebooks with Retina displays.

The battery in the new MacBook Air is still glued into the top case, the aluminum enclosure that houses the keyboard and trackpad, but Apple will be providing Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers with tools to remove the battery and reinstall a new one with no top case replacement required.

With laptops seeing longer service time, battery replacement would likely be a necessary repair at some point.