[citation][nom]del35[/nom]Surely making laptops without accessible batteries and lacking standard connectivity is very impressive hardware development.That is why I bought for half the price an Asus that can run circles around a top of the line Apple laptop.[/citation]
Well, come to think of it, I have no problem with taking my Mac in to have its battery replaced after 1,000 charge cycles...if it needs it. I know you're just trolling and dislike Apple and all that but they make a nice workstation and they make a nice laptop. Hell, admit it or not, without the MacBook Air there would be no Ultrabooks. Without the iPad I could say the same for tablets.
I'm not saying their stuff is the best, because I don't necessarily believe that...but OS X is solid and they make good hardware...even if they charge a bit too much for it.
...you know, as I think about it...let's go back to the MacBook Pro's battery you started this with. Its actually quite easy to have replaced. There's multiple Apple stores near me...all I have to do is drop it off and have the battery replaced for another 1,000+ charge cycles. I. Am. Not. Complaining.
Yes, I could order a Sager laptop with a faster CPU and GPU (and maybe an equivalent screen) but it wouldn't cost significantly less, if less at all and I doubt it's chassis would have the rigidity of the MacBook Pro. The keyboard? Well I guess that's preference, but I like the MBP's backlit chiclets.
No, I'm not saying Apple laptops are the best, but they're good, and they're certainly better than a lot of the Apple-hating teenage trolls here give them credit for being. I was working on some reports one afternoon recently at Starbucks and was kind of embarrassed that there were so many people with a MacBook Pro (because I was using mine there too). 13", 15", and 1 or 2 17". Yes, there were some Dells and HPs, but the number of MacBook Pro's on hand was almost disturbing. I know my 2 MacBook Pros are solid and capable machines (my 15" is downright pretty decent...and no, it doesn't have a gaming-GPU...just midrange piece but the 1680x1050 screen is gorgeous)...and I can't imagine everyone else's MacBook Pro's are a piece of garbage. They're not gaming machines, but nor are they meant to be...but they can game just fine (at least mine can)...even at its native resolution I can play Metro, in a VM and still have an enjoyable experience.
If you don't like Apple that's fine, just don't buy them. ...but from what I can see it looks like a lot of folks are voting with their wallets.