If you want to replace the battery on your brand new 2012 Retina Display MacBook Pro, it’s going to get pricey.
Per MacNN, the newly-published iFixit repair guide for the Retina MacBook Pro breaks tasks down by component, such as the logic board, left and right fans, or the SSD. Of special interest though is the battery, which iFixit estimates could cost US$500 to replace “if technicians follow the safer Apple-suggested procedure and replace the entire upper case assembly along with the battery.”
In an earlier teardown, iFixit called the Retina Pro the “least repairable laptop” it had ever taken apart. This is mostly because Apple has gone to extreme measures to keep the computer thin. The battery, for instance, is glued into the case instead of using screws, and the different parts of the display assembly have been merged together, dropping a glass protection layer. Even opening the chassis can be a problem, since Apple uses an unusual pentalobe screw type to hold the lower case together.
So, yes, the Retina Display MacBook Pro can be repaired by the user, even if iFixit does feel that some trepidation is warranted…