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Sanho announced what the company calls the “world’s first and only external power for Apple MacBook family.” I’ve requested a review unit, but if the line of four external batteries (60/100/150/220 Wh) batteries works as described, this would overcome the most significant limitation I noted in my review of the MacBook Pro 17-inch laptop.
Apple custom-designed the MacBook Pro 17-inch battery to sustain up to 8 hours of light-duty use, with an expected battery lifespan of five years (1,000 charges.) One way it achieved this while also designing what is currently the thinnest and lightest 17-inch notebook was by custom-sizing the battery and permanently mounting it inside the chassis. Until now, if the battery died, the user was forced to find an AC power outlet.
Presumably, the Sanho HyperMac external battery along with a newly announced car charger would overcome this limitation to keep field users up and running.
One of the things I’ll be most interested in examining is the MagSafe connector. According to comments reported to Mel Martin in an entry at TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog), Sanho President Daniel Chin said they take an original Apple MagSafe and splice on the HyperMac components. We’ll see how well it works.