The battery in my Bluetooth headphones lasts about 30 minutes – yikes. It is over 3 years old – most rechargeable batteries need to be replaced every 18-24 months, as most have a useful life of 500 to 1000 discharge/charge cycles.
BUT – most consumer products today no longer have replaceable batteries. One to two decades ago, it was possible to buy cell phones and notebook computers with batteries that were easily replaceable. But the tech companies realized they could make products die quickly, and then be replaced with new ones – by eliminating user replaceable batteries!
Bluetooth Headphones
I took apart my BT headphones and it uses 2 very tiny button cells – how small? Perhaps 6 mm in diameter! They are soldered in! There is no part # on the battery, either.
Since the headphones have an audio jack, I am connecting them to my desktop computer via an audio cable.
But my cell phone and Android tablet have no audio jack – they use Bluetooth.
There should be a Bluetooth to headphone adapter – and maybe there is – but I have not found one yet.
In the interim, it is possible to use a USB-C to audio jack adapter (about US$5) and may give that a try.
Bluetooth ear buds have the same problem – no user replaceable batteries!
Notebook Computers
I replaced the battery in my 2015 Macbook Pro. First, Apple does not provide end user replaceable battery designs or options (my Macbook from around 2006 or so, had an easy battery replacement – just swap the battery on the back).
For the 2015 MBP, this required disassembling and opening up the notebook, removing many internal parts, then carefully removing the glued in (yes, glued in!) battery pack, installing a new battery, and then re-assembling the system. That process took about 45 minutes.
We have a 2019 Microsoft Surface Pro 7 – a notebook computer that iFixIt rates a 1 out of 10 on repairability! To replace the battery – if you dare – you need to use heat to unglue the touch panel screen, carefully remove the screen without breaking it – then remove numerous parts to get to the battery. Having watched several videos, I’m unsure if I will do this replacement. Later versions of the Surface Pro were made more repairable – unfortunately, we are stuck with the SP7 model. For now, I used it as a plugged in computer due to the short battery life.
The SP7 was designed as a disposable computer.
Moving Forward
Starting in 2027, Europe will require that products with batteries have replacement options.
