Batteries
Message from 2022
This post is pretty old! Opinions and technical information in it are almost certainly oudated. Commands and configurations will probably not work. Consider the age of the content before putting any of it into practice.
I’ve had my unibody MacBook for just about five years. I still use it; even now it’s a great little computer for kickin’ it online. I find it a bit slow for dev work (I’ve been spoiled by faster computers), but it’s passable.
Yesterday I pulled the (five-year-old) battery and found that it swelled up, which would explain the problems I’ve had clicking the trackpad. Knowing the dangers of malfunctioning Li-Ion batteries, I made an appointment at the Apple store to euthanize dispose of the broken battery.
While the Apple store did have a replacement battery, this computer isn’t worth the $100 they wanted (it’s also been out of warranty for the better part of four years). I mostly use it on the couch, plugged in. The MacBook Pro I use for work gets more battery life at two years than this one did new.
However, after getting home and having to cold-boot twice after the power connector disconnected, I did order a $40 replacement battery just to be a UPS.