I am having in issue with the battery of my black macbook, purchased in late 2008. Operation is fine; it still holds plenty of charge. Recently, I noticed that the battery was sticking out beyond the underside of the case. The battery pack casing was actually bulging out/being deformed. I did a quick google search and found this to be an all too common problem. The individual cells inside the battery have their own enclosures that expand with use, as the rechargeable battery cells give off a gas. When the individual cell enclosures expand, the force the battery pack case outward in turn. In many cases, the expansion also occurs on the other side of the battery pack, causing problems with the trackpad.
Others with the same problem had different experiences when dealing with Apple. Some received new batteries, no questions asked (Consumer Reports is one example). Others were told they would have to buy a new battery. After talking with Apple on the phone and at a genius bar, I fell into the later category. All the Apple employees I dealt with recognized the issue and they had all seen it before. One person I spoke with on the phone said they had had the same conversation hundreds if not thousands of times before, but the response was always the same: this is normal behavior; buy a new battery.
As an engineer who works with rechargeable batteries frequently, I know this is not normal behavior. It is normal behavior for this (poor) design, but that is different. The individual battery cell packs do not have enough space to accommodate the gas byproduct, so they bulge outward. I would obviously not expect my battery to hold the same charge it did when it was new, but I do expect the battery pack to have the same shape now as it did then, and to not damage my computer.
On top of that, Apple wants me to buy a new battery that will ultimately have the exact same problem, seeing as this is normal behavior. This amazes me. I have had PC laptops far longer than I have had my macbook that never experienced this "normal" behavior. (Prepares for "then why don't you just go buy another PC?" comments)
Another thing I realized was that batteries are not covered by AppleCare. So, even if this had happened within my AppleCare window (which has obviously expired), Apple would not have replaced the battery.
Has anyone had this problem recently? With which macbooks/macbook pros? Since this is "normal," I'm afraid the new macbook I was considering buying will have a battery that will do the same thing. Apple seems like they are setting a very bad precedent.
Others with the same problem had different experiences when dealing with Apple. Some received new batteries, no questions asked (Consumer Reports is one example). Others were told they would have to buy a new battery. After talking with Apple on the phone and at a genius bar, I fell into the later category. All the Apple employees I dealt with recognized the issue and they had all seen it before. One person I spoke with on the phone said they had had the same conversation hundreds if not thousands of times before, but the response was always the same: this is normal behavior; buy a new battery.
As an engineer who works with rechargeable batteries frequently, I know this is not normal behavior. It is normal behavior for this (poor) design, but that is different. The individual battery cell packs do not have enough space to accommodate the gas byproduct, so they bulge outward. I would obviously not expect my battery to hold the same charge it did when it was new, but I do expect the battery pack to have the same shape now as it did then, and to not damage my computer.
On top of that, Apple wants me to buy a new battery that will ultimately have the exact same problem, seeing as this is normal behavior. This amazes me. I have had PC laptops far longer than I have had my macbook that never experienced this "normal" behavior. (Prepares for "then why don't you just go buy another PC?" comments)
Another thing I realized was that batteries are not covered by AppleCare. So, even if this had happened within my AppleCare window (which has obviously expired), Apple would not have replaced the battery.
Has anyone had this problem recently? With which macbooks/macbook pros? Since this is "normal," I'm afraid the new macbook I was considering buying will have a battery that will do the same thing. Apple seems like they are setting a very bad precedent.
