We’ve heard this story quite a bit; the batteries are of course rebranded, and the general consensus was that these were some form of a Sanyo Eneloop. The crazy kids over at Superapple decided to take apart a AA (we recommend that you don’t do this) Apple rechargeable battery to see what was inside.

Translated: Almost safe to say that the cells used will actually Sanyo Eneloop HR-3UTG, a high-quality articles with low self discharge, which largely determine the price of the whole ensemble.

This isn’t 100% confirmed, but the results of Superapple’s analysis suggest they’re pretty close, if not dead-on. So what’s the price difference between Apple’s rebranded batteries and Sanyo’s Eneloops?

If we head over to Amazon.com, we can buy a AA 4 pack with a charger for $18.09 and an additional AA 4 pack for $10.49 as of this posting (United States). Total, that’s $28.59 for Sanyo’s four battery charger and eight AA batteries, compared to Apple’s two battery charger with six batteries for $29.00 available on the online Apple store. The better deal is with the Eneloops, especially if you still tote the Apple Wireless Keyboard that takes three batteries instead of two.

Catch the full analysis at Superapple via the source link below.

[Superapple via Engadget]

Update: I noticed a comment this morning via Engadget about Apple’s Eneloop batteries being of the HR-3UTGA variety instead of the reported HR-3UTG (nicknamed “old Eneloop”). There are some key differences, which Andy S. was able to confirm in the comments below.

- Apple’s batteries have 1500 charging cycles compared to the old Eneloop’s 1000 charging cycles
- Apple’s batteries retain 75% of their charge after three years compared to retaining 85% charge after one
- Apple’s batteries are suitable in conditions as low as -20°C, compared to just -10°C