The battery on my late-2010 MacBook Air doesn't last more than 10 minutes and the condition says "Replace Now" and as I understand it, late-2010 MacBook Airs are deemed obsolete at the end of the month. A replacement battery at the Apple Store is $129 but I see that these laptops are only selling for about $300. Should I even replace the battery or just wait it out until Apple announces new laptops?
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Is replacing battery on a Late-2010 MacBook Air worth it?
- Thread starter Nahmeanz
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If your MBA still works well for you, why not replace the battery? I have a 2010 MBP and have replaced the battery as it is still a lot cheaper than buying a new laptop. Check eBay for batteries.
If you want to use your MacBook when it's not connected to power, then replace the battery - for $130 you get a computer worth $300. But if you want a server at home, or you want a desktop computer, where some people would buy a MacMini, your MacBook Air will do that just fine without a new battery.
A new battery is $110 from ifixit, with all of their support and warantees: https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/MacBook-Air-13-Inch-Mid-2011-Mid-2012-Battery/IF188-070-1
You can get a decent one with 80%+ capacity on ebay for about $25: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...0.A0.H0.X661-6055.TRS0&_nkw=661-6055&_sacat=0
You can get a new(ish) one on ebay for about $45: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...X661-6055+oem.TRS0&_nkw=661-6055+oem&_sacat=0
Those are your 3 main choices.
Personally, if the Macbook Air works for you, I think it's better to replace the battery than to send an otherwise good computer to the landfill. I have replaced a battery in a 2011 Macbook Air, and it was worth it. I bought one of the "grade A" ones on ebay for ~$40.
Two bits of advice if you go forth with the replacement: (1) Don't over-tighten the screws holding the battery in place. The plastic there is very fragile and easily cracked. (2) Take the old battery to an Apple store and ask them to recycle it for you, do not just throw it in the trash.
Any opinions on the 3rd party batteries on eBay? I need to replace the battery on my wife's late 2010 11" and can't find any oem ones. Ifixit doesn't even carry oem anymore. With the Note 7 fiasco fresh in mind, I'm hesitant to get a big generic battery straight from China.
It's certainly a little riskier to get a 3rd party battery. Historically, when batteries were easily replaceable, the risk with 3rd party batteries was more than their capacity was less than stated and they wore out quickly. I am not sure whether that risk is as prevalent anymore. For $35 bucks, I would try it. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-A13...341973?hash=item1a18a0d055:g:6aAAAOSwdzVXoxVr
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Sure thing. If you haven't opened the Macbook Air before, you will need a pentalobe screwdriver (might come with the battery, depending on where you buy it). Also, in the center of the battery is a little tamper-evident clip that will break when you open it. It often leaves a crack in the middle the plastic frame of the battery. Don't worry about this, it's harmless.
In case you already got it, too bad, but the best 3rd party battery out there are LMP betteries, same as Apple's except with no limit on the loading cycles.
A bit lateral but ... I'm dealing with a sticky MBA late 2010 trackpad. Many forum posts say replacing battery will fix it. Anyone have experience with new battery changing/improving trackpad behavior? Thanks!
If your trackpad is "sticky" on a MacBook that old, chances are that your battery is starting to swell. You should get it out of there ASAP as it will damage anything that isn't solid enough to stop it. I had a 2010 MBP whose trackpad was stuck solid. I opened it up and the battery had swollen and bent the spring clips for the trackpad "click". Once I got the battery out, I was able to bend the clips and all was well.
My daughter's 2011 MBA 13 went past 1000 cycles. At one point the "Replace Battery" notification finally clicked on. Unfortunately the battery had begun selling before that - she just thought the trackpad was wearing out and she had to push hard against it to make it work. In the end, a battery and a trackpad and things were back to normal. My point - replace the battery sooner than later, otherwise a replacement trackpad may be added to the equation.
I don't think _that_ is what you need to be afraid of. Samsung tried to get to the extremes of battery size and it didn't work. These batteries won't be doing that. You might not even get the capacity that they promise.
One thing that is absolutely not worth it: Buying "original Apple" hardware on eBay or Amazon. Apple bought about 100 different "original Apple" items and not a single one of them was original Apple.
Just got my ifixit battery and installing it in the Air - underneath the cellophane I find that each of the four cells also has a panel of plastic. There's no obvious way to peel them off so I wondered whether i should? The original obviously has no such panels.
I did this with a 2010 Air after the warnings and the gradual expansion of a battery cell. Replaced it with a 3rd party battery and handed the old battery to Apple for disposal. I think it's worth it unless you want to shell out for a new Macbook
Oh they do, but it doesn't show the unboxing or insertion of their replacement part. I checked all the videos of battery replacement (ifixit only have battery removal videos) and nobody had one with cellophane sheets on the four cells, so I removed them.
Early results show a much improved battery life - up from 1 to 4Hrs + and this is a C2D originally designed for Snow Leopard but running Sierra.
The extensive fan cleaning and dusting I gave it doesn't seem to stop the CPU temperature going up up up when it does anything intensive (espec on charge) but may keep it away from the scary 95C I was getting when Skypeing before.
They do but it's really not needed with the 2010, apart from identifying and knowing how to remove the batter connector. Otherwise it's very simple