The Smart Battery, modern? Apple was already selling external batteries in the 80s

If you thought that the external batteries that we know so much today have originated as a result of the demand for energy with the rise of all the devices and accessories that we always carry with us, you are very wrong. Several decades ago that Apple already had an external batteryalthough logically it did not look anything like what we have today.

A true “flask” of energy

In the interest of expanding scientific knowledge, here’s what’s going on inside the battery pack of a Macintosh Portable #MARCHintosh2022 #MARCHintosh 1/8 pic.twitter.com/yKPlLnU80i

— Ron’s Computer Videos💥 (@ronscompvids) March 13, 2022

You can see this battery in the tweet above, intended for the Macintosh Portable and situations where plugging it into power was impossible. It granted between 5 and 10 hours of autonomysomething unusual for the late 80s. On Reddit they share photos of their original packaging:

Inside, three large rechargeable batteries and connected to each other so that they work in unison. And the funny thing is that they are batteries that are still sold in the United States, the company that manufactures them is still standing:

Reverseshot! 5/8 pic.twitter.com/0HpCfmj7kG

— Ron’s Computer Videos💥 (@ronscompvids) March 13, 2022

Fortunately, the external batteries we use today are more compact and dedicated to powering smaller portable devices. With the autonomies of 15-20 hours that the most popular MacBooks with Apple Silicon have, we don’t need those extra charges. I’d love to see the reaction of the early engineers of the original Macintoshes if they saw that batteries can now even charge devices wirelessly.