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Macbook Battery Expanded

by ccora
18 replies
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My Macbook battery physically expanded and cannot be used anymore after 2-3 years. Now I have to get a new one. Has anybody else experienced this?
  • Profile picture of the author Roaddog
    Apple Support

    They (apparently) had some bad batteries at one time.
    I would take it out, it's probably leaking...
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Personally, ALL batteries can develop excess pressure. One of the byproducts is often, perhaps always, GAS! That, by itself, could be harmless, a burst battery often ISN'T! You should dispose of it, and get a new one. As for the other thing roaddog said... ALL batteries have a limited life, and I am sure mistakes happen all the time, but there was once a minor defect in a manufacturing process that affected a LOT of batteries. I believe Apple WAS one of the ones affected. I believe Sony and Dell ALSO were. There were metal filings present in the substrate that could cause a short causing the battery to short, catch fire, and EXPLODE!

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author QuickSurf
    It's a known problem, more so with older gen laptops... newer one can be a pain in the ass as unless you have a tri-tip screw driver (rare itself) that actually fits , battery ain't coming out lol.

    But you can search online even on Macrumors, Apple won't care, when the batteries are 1-2 years old with that issues before they "may" replace it but most got the response of "that's normal wear". With yours being 2-3 years old, doubt they'll do anything except charge you to put a new battery in. You can call apple or take it to a store and see what they say.
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    • Profile picture of the author ccora
      I brought it to two different Apple stores and they want $100 for a replacement.
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by ccora View Post

        I brought it to two different Apple stores and they want $100 for a replacement.
        Tat's about right, what's the problem?
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      • Profile picture of the author QuickSurf
        Originally Posted by ccora View Post

        I brought it to two different Apple stores and they want $100 for a replacement.
        And....? That's pretty much in the ballpark for what they charge. Are you trying to get them to do it for free? Not going to happen on a computer as old as yours.... the only time I've heard of them replacing batteries if it occurred within the 1yr warranty on the battery which would have been like 2-3 years ago in your case, even if you had apple care extended it pry wouldn't matter as plenty of people have gotten the "1yr on battery" response from Apple that had Apple Care.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Just to elaborate, batteries are EXPENSIVE these days, and lithium are the MOST expensive! People would LAUGH at the idea of lithium batteries, and they would be GONE if not for the fact that they are STABLE, have no "memory", and have a good weight to power ratio. I mean a lead acid battery may actually have a better power to cost ratio, though THEY are expensive, but FORGET them for a laptop! They probably ARE still used for backup UPS systems for desktops though.

    And apple is known for charging MORE. There is NO way they will give you a new battery after 3 years, unless it is a recalled one, MAYBE!

    Just replace it and be done with it.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Suthan M
    on a sidechat: i downloaded an app for my macbook called coconutbattery, and it shows how much life your battery has..

    My 1.5 year old Mac has about 88% left the last time i checked
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by Suthan M View Post

      on a sidechat: i downloaded an app for my macbook called coconutbattery, and it shows how much life your battery has..

      My 1.5 year old Mac has about 88% left the last time i checked
      There are SO many variables in battery life that EVEN if they had somethng to check the structure of the battery and estimate the life, I doubt they could estimate it reliably. AND, what IS life? I mean it IS possible to have a battery lose wattage such that everything seems PERFECT, but each full charge may last for a shorter period of time.

      Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author QuickSurf
      Originally Posted by Suthan M View Post

      on a sidechat: i downloaded an app for my macbook called coconutbattery, and it shows how much life your battery has..

      My 1.5 year old Mac has about 88% left the last time i checked
      Have you calibrated? Mac batteries have to be calibrated correctly and even then run on battery power at least once a week to like 50% then plugged back in. Id not calibrated right the battery can report wrong info in coconut and life will decrease.
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      • Profile picture of the author Suthan M
        Originally Posted by QuickSurf View Post

        Have you calibrated? Mac batteries have to be calibrated correctly and even then run on battery power at least once a week to like 50% then plugged back in. Id not calibrated right the battery can report wrong info in coconut and life will decrease.
        How do i do this? By me asking this question, you should guess already that i have not done this before
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        • Profile picture of the author QuickSurf
          Originally Posted by Suthan M View Post

          How do i do this? By me asking this question, you should guess already that i have not done this before
          Mac OS X 10.5 Help: Calibrating a MacBook or MacBook Pro battery

          MacRumors Forums - View Single Post - I'm calibrating my battery every day! Good or bad ?

          and it's a good idea with the mac batteries to run down to 50% and then plug back in like once a week. I'm almost always plugged in, so this gives the battery a chance to keep it fresh vs sitting plugged in all the time.

          My MB Pro 13 is 28 months old in Coconut Battery, and capacity is 90%, and I use this computer a lot. Sometimes your battery life may be showing normal numbers but the actual life is less since it can report flawed numbers if not calibrated.
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          • Profile picture of the author Suthan M
            Originally Posted by QuickSurf View Post

            Mac OS X 10.5 Help: Calibrating a MacBook or MacBook Pro battery

            MacRumors Forums - View Single Post - I'm calibrating my battery every day! Good or bad ?

            and it's a good idea with the mac batteries to run down to 50% and then plug back in like once a week. I'm almost always plugged in, so this gives the battery a chance to keep it fresh vs sitting plugged in all the time.

            My MB Pro 13 is 28 months old in Coconut Battery, and capacity is 90%, and I use this computer a lot. Sometimes your battery life may be showing normal numbers but the actual life is less since it can report flawed numbers if not calibrated.
            Thanks man..

            Now, all those times i feel like an idiot when my battery died on me midway when i am outside and i have no charger with me..

            Apparently, its a genius move :-p

            Next time, i know what excuse i am gonna give :p
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            • Profile picture of the author QuickSurf
              Did you try it? Forgot about this post but happened to check Coconut Battery today since I re-calibrated a few weeks ago... it's now at 91% capacity vs 86% I think before (good to do it every couple of months). The biggest difference though is when brand new or if somebody has never calibrated.

              For example, friend just bought an new MB Pro 15... even though they are "pre-calibrated" according to Apple, he was only getting just over 5 hours battery life and the % display didn't show properly (it would start dropping fast when you'd think it was at like 40%). Calibrated and now it works fine, doing the same work as before he can get over 6 hours on battery now and the display reads the correct % as it runs down.
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              • Profile picture of the author kettysimpson
                All the batteries have the same problem. Their backup will go down after 1 year or 2 year or maximum 2.5 years. After that problem arises with charging and backup. So there is no solution to extend the life of the battery you will have to install new one.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aviator Joe
    exact same thing happened to one of my friends really happy with my HP probook so far
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    QS,

    OK, HOW OLD are those directions? They sound like the requiremnents for NiMh, and NOT Li-ion.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author QuickSurf
      Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

      QS,

      OK, HOW OLD are those directions? They sound like the requiremnents for NiMh, and NOT Li-ion.

      Steve
      Thats straight from Apple, even their stores will tell/show you the same thing to do for calibrating. Macrumors people still do the same exact thing on the new 11' line. My readings were off till I calibrated and I wasn't getting the "time" out of the battery I should have... now I can watch like 3 HD movies on a plane no prob and the battery meter reports the right % and time.

      Their now apparently "pre-calibrated" like this points out for the new batteries http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490 , yet time and time again people prove that when doing the calibrating procedures they get longer battery life and readings are correct vs before (do a before and after with coconut battery, it showed a difference)
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