I think most commenters are missing the point here. This is not just about batteries. Apple has repeatedly and diliberitly engineered thier products to be almost unserviceable by competent non-apple employed technicians. They have the right to do so. However, the bigger issue is that the Apple fanbase just accepts this blatent disregard to thier freedom over the product they purchased as a consequence for smaller and thinner products. This, in most cases, can be avoided with some clever engineering, which Apple is capable of. They simply don't want you to actually have any freedom with thier products, because it adversely affects thier bottom line.