Oh, the Horror

Chuq Von Rospach has a post up regarding the rumors that the new 17″ MacBook Pro will have a fixed battery, rather than a user-replaceable one. I think he hits the nail on the head:

How many Mac Laptop owners ever swap a battery? How many own two batteries? I used to religiously carry a second laptop battery; I finally realized that I was using it maybe once a quarter (even though I also religiously swapped batteries every couple of weeks so they both stayed charged and fresh. do you? No, dind’t think so).

It’s easy to predict that there will be a group of people who are very upset about the lack of a swappable battery, and that they will be very vocal. They will also be few in number. It’s the same group that has knocked the iPhone for the same reason. They make a disproportionate amount of noise, and Apple generally ignores them. Sorry folks, Apple knows that features like this hardly get used at all.

I’ve had a few 17″ Apple notebooks, and i’ve never had a second battery. I spend little time on the road with my computer. I think hardcore road warrior MacBook users are a small minority. And of those,  a very small percentage use a 17″ as their travel machine. It’s just not a practical size for taking on trips, where you’ll need to lug it around for hours and use it in small places, such as airplanes.

If this rumor pans out, I don’t know if Apple will go this route with the entire line or not, but it makes sense for them to start with the 17″ version.