I’ve had that happen exactly zero times but I’ve upgraded laptop components multiple times (especially when they were designed to be upgraded). Anecdotes and all that.
But seriously. Laptops are lasting years longer now before becoming obsolete than twenty years ago. Most people just use their laptops for web browsing, Zoom and maybe spreadsheets and power point. Why would they ever need to upgrade the RAM?
Gamer rigs are another story. I know very little about that but I think that those nerds can upgrade things on their own
Except when your battery finally dies the USB-C brick won’t work. Replacing the battery is the only option in that case.
You answered yourself. If systems are lasting longer, you get forced OS upgrades, bloated software updates and other resource hogging stuff as times goes by. Your storage fills up both from your own use (intentionally saving files) and more software bloat. Being able to increase your memory and storage is basic 101 to making a device last longer. You can take some trashy 5th Gen laptop and make it viable by replacing the storage with solid state and increasing the amount of RAM from its likely base of 4/8 to 16GB.
They’re lasting longer because the RAM and storage are sufficient now long term for nearly everyone, not because they are more rugged. How rugged they are is an area where they are worse. My last laptop “died” because the screen bezel cracked.
I’ve noticed people are buying laptops with smaller screens. They look like Tablets. I’ve seen 12.5" touchscreens.
Bigger screens are still available for people that want it.
Cute baby laptop. 
I find the small keyboard to use. But. I have big hands.
Amazon link. I shortened it.
Yeah, I strongly disagree with that. I’m looking at new laptops with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage and if you think that’s good enough for long term usage, I dunno man. That said, this hijack is probably long enough.
Only had that happen once with a laptop that was already quite elderly, but a MacBook Pro will run without a battery assuming continuous power is applied.
I also had a laptop with a completely dead battery but it worked fine when plugged in. I didn’t try an external battery though. This was an old Gateway laptop I believe.
It can be hit or miss, many laptops needed a working battery to run, seemed like poor design at the time.
No, it’s done this way because that’s what people buy.
Most customers want a thinner, lighter laptop with a bigger, more reliable battery than a battery that can be easily replaced. And it’s not like it’s actually hard to replace an internal laptop battery like it is on a phone.
I worked on Moto Mods which let you magnetically snap an extra battery on the back of your phone without adding much Z-height.
You could also attach a camera, 360 camera, speaker, projector, satellite modem – literally anything.
How many did people buy? Did Apple or Samsung take the idea? Where were all the people that said they would buy a phone if they added back an SDCard slot? A second SIM? A replaceable battery? It was honestly heartbreaking.
If your battery dies, and you’re not about due to replace the computer anyway, then that ONE TIME in however many years, you unscrew the screws etc. to change it. Or pay someone else $20 to do it for you. It’s OK for something that’s only done maybe once a decade to take a little longer.
And I kept on using my last laptop (some sort of Mac; I don’t remember the exact model) for years after the battery failed, because I only used it plugged in anyway.
Ehhh, that’s a chicken and egg problem. People buy cheaper laptops, cheaper laptops generally come with fewer features. Easier to replace, easier to service parts will increase the service lifetime of a computer. Making them easier to service really wouldn’t increase the size or weight that much. It would increase the cost, though. Whether that design would break even price wise long term is something I don’t know. But:
Replacement of a 14" Mac Book pro’s battery runs about $229 from Apple right now.
Is that just the labor, or also the part?
I believe it’s the full service, including parts. It’s still way more than the $80 or so you’d pay for just the battery.
It looks like a kit with a battery and tools from someone like iFixit is $110, a third party repair shop might cost you $150 and for Apple to do it is $249.
Yes, and all are more expensive than the $35 or so a swappable battery cost me.
No, it’s not. Laptop and phone markets are absolutely brutal. All of the inefficiencies are beaten out of them and reinforced with every year’s product cycle. If there was market share to pick up by adding a removable battery, then it would be done.
It’s not a bunch of mustache twirling CEOs thinking about their new ivory backscratcher, it’s a school of fish trying to get enough to eat to live another day.
What was the reaction to Moto Mods? Awesome, but too expensive. The market voted.
Customers care about price far, far, far more than anything. It’s why Walmart sells disposable lawn mowers, why we have ads all over every form of media, and why every service is enshitified.
The swappable (if you can do it yourself with an iFixit kit) battery is, let’s say, $90 or $100 now with a couple of screwdrivers making the cost $110. The battery itself is more expensive whether it is easily swappable or a little less easily swappable.
I look into a modern power brick.
I have an old one for my phone. There’s no way it could provide the charge needed for a laptop.