News Modding MacBook Air Could Cause Fire

Modders are warned to be careful of the battery in Apple's MacBook Air, which is unusually fragile.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2010/11/09/modding-macbook-air-could-cause-fire/1

 

How can you really be shocked by any design decisions Apple make, whether they're for the good or the bad. They just don't want people tinkering, so go out of their way to fudge it as much as feasibly possible so they can't.

 

Apple doesn't want anyone to open their products, that's not a secret. Maybe they did that to teach people who try a lesson?

 

Shouldn't there be warnings all over the thing mentioning how it could explode if opened? Could this not be an issue if the casae gets a bit too much pressue over the battery?

Perhaps more importantly... who's apple going to blame when these things start exploding?

 

It would seem HardMac has no evidence of which battery chemistry has been used.

LiCo cells are unstable by design and yes, would cause a serious fire if punctured or discharged too much.

LiFePO cells are much more stable, but have a lower voltage and possibly lower energy density.

LiMn is used mostly in power tools but is a very stable chemistry. It doesn't need protection circuits for overdischarge or overcurrent for instance.

So which is it, HardMac? I'm not much of an Apple guy, don't own a single one of their products, but this reeks of sensationalism before facts.

 

SSD on the logic board, RAM soldered to the logic board, no internal ports of any kind... you'd have to be some kind of genius just to figure out what mods were even possible.

 

Wait! Explodes if hitted in the right place, and airport safe? All in a white an shiny exterior?

 

Er then why do they supply instructions with the machines on how to upgrade? My MBP came with detailed manual on upgrading RAM or HD.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

So for the people willing to void their warranty, don't touch the battery...

If you tell people not to open the laptop and they do and they ruin it by doing so then they cant really be to blame.

 

Who cares what kind of battery it is, putting out a warning to help people is a good thing to do. Would you rather that they just sat back and did nothing?

 

yes the mac book pro can be upgraded because it was designed to be. it uses standard ram modules and hard rives that you can swap out and in. the NEW macbook AIR though has all the ram and storage chips soldered directly to the logic board, ergo no way to put more on then what it came with.

 

You have to give reasonable notice under law I think, people don't expect to open a laptop and have it explode - just the same as someone wouldn't expect to die from opening an unplugged TV. That's why they have warning stickers over them.

If Apple hasn't acknowledged this issue, and someone does open it - I'm sure Apple will say "curiosity got the cat" but UK and US law I believe will say you have to give proper notice, because.. cats can be curious.

 

you cant access the hdd with a simple plate or something?

 

Why are people talking about the laptop exploding if you hit it in the right place? I'm pretty sure the aluminium body offers more protection than the casing used on most laptop batteries.

 

A lot of people on bit-tech like modding, and so will inevitibly end up taking stuff apart.

The MacBook air is relatively more dangerous to take apart because of this lack of internal shielding, so that's why people talking about it.

 

Check IFixit, the screws needed to open the MBA's cover are very special... And there are several all very special.
I'm not surprised they ditched the battery cases, they really wanted to make it thin. At any price.

 

Oh hi Apple hater. Welcome to bit-tech. Now, kindly listen carefully to the next few sentences because I'm about to prove what you just said is nothing but fanboy/hater bull****, k?

Apple openly admitted the different and slightly more exposed design of the batteries in their new MBP, MB Air and mobile devices like iPhones and iPods long ago, at a WWDC event and on their website. This new design is what allows them to fit more cells into their mobile device batteries and create higher mAh batteries which hold more charge and last longer. Making their products as "tamper proof" as possible has less to do with it than the price of tea in China.

No. See below.

You hit the nail on the head. It's obvious that Apple are using a battery chemistry (none of which anyone else who has commented here knows anything about, obviously) which allows them to do this safely. The "protective casing" on other laptop batteries which use more volatile chemistries is only there because those are inferior to whatever type Apple are using here. I'm willing to bet that I could shoot a MBA battery whilst it was being over charged and it still wouldn't make a difference.

 

I would rather that they qualified their statements. Warning people without decent research and complete information isn't a warning, it's fear mongering. They want more clicks on their petty French site, and that's what they got.

'Who cares what kind of battery it is'? You do realize that whether or not a battery is dangerous depends ENTIRELY on what kind of battery it is, don't you? HardMac ought to care. Pretty sure Apple cares.

 

Apple-products like these are not ment to be opened by anyone not working for Apple. End of discussion.

The only hardware produced by apple, where a customer is actually allowed to open and modify hardware is the MacPro Desktop and on the MacBookPro and MacBook you're only allowed to change the HDD and RAM, which doesn't require you to open the case in it's full extend.

If you crack an egg, then warranty is void.

I'm not a hardcore Apple-fan, never was, but you simply can't complain about their products, if you do anything with them you're not supposed to do.

If you don't like this, then don't buy Apple-products. Period.

Just shut up allready, as this discussion is getting very old.