New Apple 17-inch Adaptive Charging Battery Discussion Thread

[brighterisbetter]

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/17inch-battery/

The part I found particularly interesting:

The battery in the new 17-inch MacBook Pro is made to be smart. It's built with a chip that talks to each of its cells to determine their precise condition. The chip shares this information with the computer. And the computer uses an advanced algorithm to make delicate adjustments to the charging current, varying it to suit the changing conditions inside the cells. This Adaptive Charging reduces the wear and tear on the battery and gives it a much longer lifespan than ever before.

Is this truly a concept designed by Apple, or did they borrow it from the MOSFETs that are found in cordless powertool battery packs?

 

[coppertrail]

My Lenovo T61P employs some form of what Apple has labeled "Adaptive Charging". Charges the battery up to 100% and then lets it drain down a bit to keep it at less than full capacity. I just checked and it's around 95% having been plugged in for over 48 hrs.

Limitations I see with the integrated battery:

1. You now have to take the notebook into an Apple Service Center to have the battery replaced?
2. Gone is the ability to switch to a spare battery for extended periods away from a power source?

An arguement could be made "Do you need more than 8 hrs on a battery?". My next question is: Does this 8 hrs include watching DVD videos and using wireless internet, both of which significantly lessen battery life.

Regardless, I have to say that the I like the space saving aspect of the new battery design. It looks like they've used flat cells (most likely those used in cell phone batteries) vs. the 18650 cells commonly found in Laptop battery packs.

 

[Fallingwater]

This is marketing speak for a balancing charge, which all appliances with series connected LiIon batteries do (or should do). Ok, maybe it's a bit smarter since apparently it's controlled directly by the computer and not just by the electronics in the pack, but I don't see anything to write home about.
Also, the "chip talking to the cells" thing makes me laugh. "Talk to" as in "take voltage and temperature measurements", which is what LiIon-powered gadgets have done for ages...
Bah. I hate marketing.

Also, they don't use cell phone batteries in laptop designs, they use custom prismatic ones, or LiPos of bigger size.