A Macworld reader has a perfectly good 2009 MacBook Pro–except for its swollen lithium-ion battery. He wants to keep it on hand for limited uses after safely removing and disposing of the battery. Is there a downside to working battery-free?
Not really. As long as you’re always plugged in, a Mac laptop has no idea about or interest in whether it’s drawing power from a battery or a wall outlet. Years ago, I used a hand-me-down iBook like this (in the era in which you could just pop out a dead battery, as they were removable) so my kids had a machine to work on when they were little.
Of course, the big problem is that any power discontinuity means that the Mac shuts off instantly. Hard drives used in older Mac laptops can suffer from an instant power off but are typically okay as long as the machine isn’t being moved around. Any work in progress that’s not saved is lost.
Read more at Macworld.com