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2015 rMBP 15" blew up! Reddit thread with pic!

His model also didn't qualify for the battery replacement recall either. his went up in smoke.
 
My model was manufactured in September 2016. My MacBook Pro is just over 5 years old.

And it does what I need it to do along with the Apple ecosystem experience.
 
I'm wondering if the MBP referred to in post 1 above was "showing signs" of the expanding battery BEFORE it blew up?

And, if the owner ignored such signs...?

I could be wrong, but I would think that a battery beginning to "fail" would swell up and give some notice of the impending failure?
 
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The laptop looks in perfect shape. All you need to do is stain your table with powder from a laser printer cartridge and gently place your laptop on top of it, contact Apple and win a free M1 Pro?

And of course, you can't post pictures of the actual laptop where it failed, because it didn't! So you need to post a picture with the lid closed, so people can't search for any sign of the keyboard melted and you need to pose it on the opposite side of where the "fire" came out. That way the illusion stays intact.

I would have at least wiped of the marks here left by the laptop feet as he dragged the computer around to find the best angle to make it looks real:
1638710689865.jpeg


Here how a real battery explosion looks in a laptop:

Edit: But I'm very curious to see if that will land him a new MacBook pro M1.
 
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JustAnExpat said:
Kewl story!

Sadly, the battery is located in front of the system by the trackpad, and if the battery went kaboom, the front of the system would be damaged.

Pictures of the battery location found at:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Retina+Display+Mid+2015+Battery+Replacement/89284

(see around step 40)
Click to expand...

In all fairness, the poster on Reddit probably isn't the most technically savvy.

His post stated that he started to see sparks and smoke, then a POOF with some flames. Then the battery pack/cell probably burst and pushed out the gray particulate matter in the photo.

I think he probably took the initial photo for shock value and had to send more photos to Apple support to see the issue.

Or he didn't want to open it or touch it because some of the materials can be harmful.
 
BreakYurAnkles said:
In all fairness, the poster on Reddit probably isn't the most technically savvy.

His post stated that he started to see sparks and smoke, then a POOF with some flames. Then the battery pack/cell probably burst and pushed out the gray particulate matter in the photo.

I think he probably took the initial photo for shock value and had to send more photos to Apple support to see the issue.

Or he didn't want to open it or touch it because some of the materials can be harmful.
Click to expand...
I agree that he is probably not technical savvy. Anyone knows that if something blast out of something it will shoot straight out, not at an angle.

1638711123971.jpeg
 
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hmorneau said:
I agree that he is probably not technical savvy. Anyone knows that if something blast out of something it will shoot straight out, not at an angle.

View attachment 1923468
Click to expand...
I'm not a physicist, but I do know that these computers have vents, fans, and ports.

I did learn that when there's energy, it goes to the path of least resistance (or from high energy to low energy.)

judging by the photo's it looks like it escaped through the bottom vents and some of the ports on the side.
 
There’s nothing special about MacBooks that prevents them from experiencing thermal runaway.

Dendrites grow over time with repeated cycling. If these metallic microstructures penetrate the polymer separators, it can cause an internal short circuit and thermal runaway. A lot of research is going into ways to inhibit or retard dendrite growth.
 
BreakYurAnkles said:
I'm not a physicist, but I do know that these computers have vents, fans, and ports.

I did learn that when there's energy, it goes to the path of least resistance (or from high energy to low energy.)

judging by the photo's it looks like it escaped through the bottom vents and some of the ports on the side.
Click to expand...
yeap, it does happens, it just doesn't look like the picture you posted.

This look more like it:

AFYLdy58YVTxJvzFnNdBQm.jpg


You can see that when the pressure build-up it come out from the front and side (where the batteries are).

The fans are blasting toward the screen, so it couldn't explain the angle.

738770


But I do have a 2015, 15", and to answer your question, no I'm not too worried. While those things happen, it's pretty rare. Also, it depends if it's the original battery. That's one thing I'm always worried about buying second-hand, is it the original Apple battery, or the aftermarket no-name one. I think those things are more likely with non-oem batteries.
 
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hmorneau said:
yeap, it does happens, it just doesn't look like the picture you posted.

This look more like it:

AFYLdy58YVTxJvzFnNdBQm.jpg


You can see that when the pressure build-up it come out from the front and side (where the batteries are).

The fans are blasting toward the screen, so it couldn't explain the angle.

738770


But I do have a 2015, 15", and to answer your question, no I'm not too worried. While those things happen, it's pretty rare. Also, it depends if it's the original battery. That's one thing I'm always worried about buying second-hand, is it the original Apple battery, or the aftermarket no-name one. I think those things are more likely with non-oem batteries.
Click to expand...
mine has its original OEM batter manufactured in august 2016. with only 150 charge cycles. -still shows good health under system settings.

In the reddit OP picture, he might have moved it after it happened and took the picture.
 
Sorry for a terrible drawing but he could have moved the laptop once it stopped smoking.
 
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