Should a laptop have a replaceable battery and be upgradeable

[#1]

Not according to Apple it shouldn't
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+Macbook+2015+Teardown/39841
What is the point of getting a laptop like this

[#2]

should a laptop have a replaceable batter? - i'm on the fence really. what benefit does having one give you? if you're going to carry another battery about then you might as well just carry the mains charger.
should a laptop be upgradeable? IMO no. you are buying a product as it is when it comes out the box. if you want upgradable devices then a laptop is not the device for you.
people want small thin devices, so that means smaller boards with things physically on the board - thus no upgrade-ability.

[#3]

If all the components last forever, they needn't be replaceable.

[#4]

Given how profitable the iphone has been for apple, I bet all these PC oem's wish during the PC boom they sold hardware that wasnt upgradeable as clearly that method makes more money.
I can see why apple do it, although its a bad deal for consumers.

[#5]

Depends why you want the laptop.  Mine is effectively a desktop 99% of the time, but can be moved when I need to.  It is (for a laptop) easily repairable and upgradeable; almost the opposite of an Apple.  However, if I was willing to spend lots more money than I am, expected to upgrade before the battery died anyway, and wanted a machine to carry around a lot I might consider one.
Carrying a mains charger isn't an alternative to a second battery when away from the mains.

[#6]

Most laptop batteries have a 3 year life, .. so the idea of carrying around a spare... "just in case".. means you probably need to buy a new one and fit it anyway... It depends, I suppose, on the actual usable hours rate of the battery, whether you want to carry a second one, to complete a days work... however.
My small size laptop... ( Hannspree 10" ).. has a usable battery hours time of about 6 hours... so I don`t need to carry a spare, or a charger...
My main laptop... this one.. is, effectively a "desktop" machine... and always plugged into the mains... the battery hours usage is probably about 1.5 hours.. as it is over 5 years old now...
Upgrading this will not be an option... it will just keep going until it  (or me) finally gives up on life.... ! then it will be replaced... ( I won`t be, though !!!!!      ) ....

[#7]

Quote from: Oldjim

What is the point of getting a laptop like this

The logo to put on display at Starbucks I guess...
That said, those of us who rely on the 2nd-hand market for used computers do tend to find replacing batteries a PITA even when they're not built-in like the above mentioned apple product, as the manufacturers charge an arm and a leg for even a small capacity battery (and as for the chinese knockoff "to fit" clones, pff, screw those explode-o-matics!!!), my present laptop for instance, the old battery was barely operating for 20 minutes even on low power settings, and a replacement 3-cell from lenovo was not cheap (somewhere around £70+), an incentive to upgrade for others, not so for me!!
But, I recently purchased two genuine replacements 2nd hand (barely used, but in great condition) for not a lot of money on ebay, one the main 6-cell battery on the back, the other a LiPo that slots in place of the DVD drive, now my laptop can last up to 6 hours despite it being more power hungry than most, so my old, tired, worn out, laptop is mobile, happy, and useable despite attempts by the manufacturer to obsolete it by overcharging for replacement parts...

[#8]

I would not buy any phone/tablet/laptop if I can't easily replace the battery. It'll always be the first thing to die (with the fans coming in second), and I use things as long as they're usable. A decent laptop 5+ years old shouldn't break a sweat for office work. That's all before I even begin to consider the negative externalities of electronic junk.
A few weeks ago, a friend came back from a short trip to a 4-5 year old swollen Macbook. Seeing how it had begun to push up on the trackpad, I wondered what extra damage would have been caused if he didn't have the tools and expertise to remove the battery. Then I read about how common a problem this was for Macbooks of that era, with Apple charging silly amounts for out-of-warranty replacement even though this was evidently a problem existing at manufacturing. Not cool.

[#9]

I've a different spin on things.  
When I worked for a consultancy they gave me a notebook for my work. But when in the office I plugged my notebook into a docking station and this had a full size monitor and keypad and footrest and wrist supports were available too. I was fought to she my chair so the screen was at eye level and my forearms horizontal.
Most people have their laptops plugged in to the mains anyway. 
Laptops are not ergonomically correct and a sure cause of back, neck and shoulder problems. Better get a desktop or docking station  

[#10]

Replaceable laptop battery is a must, my 11 year old HP laptop would have been thrown away years ago if I hadn't been able to replace the worn out battery in it.
It also run's Windows 7 much better then XP which the hardware was actually originally designed for 

[#11]

the idea is to eradicate the knockoff exploding batteries problem and simultaneously increase the replacement cycle from 5+ years to 1+ years ...... there going to find problems with the hardware breaking inside the EU wide mandatory 2 year period ....... lets all hope apple gets fined into oblivion and stops flogging £100 devices for £2k+ 

[#12]

Personally i think yes - batteries should be replaceable and the machines should be upgradeable - although i do accept that with small devices this is hard.

Replaceable batteries is a very big must for me. If you're not able to directly take it out at the back then when you unscrew it you should at least be able to remove the battery easily without removing half of the devices other components and risk breaking them etc. Not overjoyed with the hudl to be honest in this respect. We all know rechargeable batteries fail after a few years yet these devices could serve a lifetimes use for photo albums, wall monitors etc.

[#13]

i guess it's whether you think it should be user replaceable.
One of our MacBook Pro's 2009 model didn't have a user replaceable battery, however I had it replaced in the apple store with no charge for labour.
Electronics are now a consumerist product, like cars, and this is one of the knock ons. I suspect the new windows ultrabook thingies will be similar.

[#14]

Cars have replaceable batteries.

[#15]

Quote from: dvorak

i guess it's whether you think it should be user replaceable. One of our MacBook Pro's 2009 model didn't have a user replaceable battery, however I had it replaced in the apple store with no charge for labour. Electronics are now a consumerist product, like cars, and this is one of the knock ons. I suspect the new windows ultrabook thingies will be similar.

that ties you to having to take it to a store for repair though and whilst you might well get the labour free you have to pay the overinflated parts price, when my Toshiba laptop battery died I checked the internet for the cheapest parts price and found I could get it for less than half price from the manufacturer of the battery compared to Toshiba's price, its the exact same battery that Toshiba was offering but I was skipping out on their mark-up.
having a none user replaceable part removes market place competition for spares (those genuine parts that get bought in differing volumes by different places and run on smaller margins are always cheaper)
since batteries are listed as consumable parts they dont get covered by warrantees / guarantees by the majority of device sellers regardless, that means the "sealed unit" option is not a good one
particularly when you cant inspect it for signs of damage, if my battery unit gets hot it indicates a fault and I would be remiss to continue using it, in a sealed device I cannot tell if this is actually the case or not which can lead to all kinds of nastiness happening, from a vent style leak ot a full on fire ....