Many modern laptops have so-called ‘non-replaceable’ batteries. The general idea is that by the time the battery will no longer hold a charge for more than half an hour, you’ll probably want to upgrade to a newer laptop anyway, so there’s no point making the battery removable. That’s what they say, anyway. The manufacturers also claim that non-removable batteries allow their laptop designs to be slimmer and lighter, and that consumers prefer sleeker products. The reality of course is that if the laptop is still working perfectly well, there is no point in upgrading if you can just get a new battery for it. The manufacturers don’t want that though, because if you keep using the same laptop indefinitely, buying a new battery as and when required, they won’t be able to sell so many new devices.
Although they’re not supposed to do it, the real reason that the manufacturers make laptop batteries difficult to change is planned obsolescence. Despite all their waffle about being green and protecting the environment, all they’re really interested in is flogging more equipment, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find they have a behind-the-scenes mutual agreement not to make laptops with easily replaceable batteries. If one manufacturer made laptops with batteries that were easy to change and none of the others did, customers would all buy from that manufacturer and ignore all the others. That doesn’t seem to happen, which suggests that the manufacturers are all co-operating with one another rather than competing in a free and open market. Unfortunately the non-removable battery seems to be part of every manufacturer’s marketing strategy, and we’re stuck with it. Don’t expect the makers to ever admit what they’re doing though.
The situation with mobile phones is similar to what it is with laptops, but worse. The excuses from the manufacturers are more or less the same, except they make even more extravagant claims, such as the nonsense about making the devices waterproof. Some top-of-the-range mobile phones are genuinely waterproof, but most aren’t, so the manufacturers are careful to say only that their phones are ‘water-resistant’, which usually means that they just have a water-repellent display. Also the situation is made worse because mobile phones are normally glued together, rather than screwed together, and taking one apart can be quite nerve-wracking. Usually you need to blast the device with hot air from a heat gun to make the glue soft, then carefully prise the screen off the front of the phone with a soft plastic tool (or a guitar pick if you have one handy). The internal components are even smaller and more delicate that those of a laptop, and the battery is usually glued inside the body so it takes a lot of carefully applied force to prise it loose. As with a laptop, you have to take precautions against static electricity discharge, which can easily destroy minute circuitry if you’re not careful.
To find out the best way to maximise the life of your laptop’s battery, see Battery University’s advice about batteries.