2020 MBP Battery swelling?

[RED84]

This is really odd considering how new it is.

2020 Base MBP with 16gb ram

Last night while using it I felt a gap between the bottom of the case and when I looked, sure enough the bottom case was popped open slightly on both sides. I have noticed that battery life on this seemed oddly poor (dropping 10% in 30-45 minutes) on extremely light use (50% brightness, just safari and messages open). I've included a pic of the case.

I messaged apple support (I have AC+ for it) and sent them the pics and they suggested I either try to get a curbside genius appointment at my local apple store or send it in to them. So I'm waiting this morning for the store to open to see if I can get an appointment today.

Also, as I was handling it both sides popped themselves back in and it hasn't popped out since.

 

[velocityg4]

It's possible you got a defective battery. The manufacturing process isn't perfect. Definitely have them take a look.

 

[Fishrrman]

Agree that you should take it to an Apple Store genius bar if possible.

But... an important question, please answer:
Are you one of those "I leave my MacBook plugged into the charger all the time" guys...?

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Agree that you should take it to an Apple Store genius bar if possible.

But... an important question, please answer:
Are you one of those "I leave my MacBook plugged into the charger all the time" guys...?

This laptop is a month old tops. It’s the 2020 10th generation model that was released in late May.

 

[magbarn]

Agree that you should take it to an Apple Store genius bar if possible.

But... an important question, please answer:
Are you one of those "I leave my MacBook plugged into the charger all the time" guys...?

I believe that kills batteries, but OP's battery is a few months old tops. That's a defect, not from abuse.

 

[RED84]

Agree that you should take it to an Apple Store genius bar if possible.

But... an important question, please answer:
Are you one of those "I leave my MacBook plugged into the charger all the time" guys...?

I do keep it on the charger most of the time, but usually take it off a couple times a week to use away from the desk. I’ve heard plenty of advice that modern batteries aren’t negatively affected by constant charging, and it is in fact the amount of cycles that are more detrimental.
Regardless I’ve only had it for 2 months, so it is most likely a defective battery.

Unfortunately I’m not able to schedule an appointment with my local Apple store so looks like it’s getting shipped out 😕

 

[magbarn]

I do keep it on the charger most of the time, but usually take it off a couple times a week to use away from the desk. I’ve heard plenty of advice that modern batteries aren’t negatively affected by constant charging, and it is in fact the amount of cycles that are more detrimental.
Regardless I’ve only had it for 2 months, so it is most likely a defective battery.

Unfortunately I’m not able to schedule an appointment with my local Apple store so looks like it’s getting shipped out 😕

This is wrong. Ask Tesla
Going from 20-80% will wear a battery down much slower vs 0-100% cycles.
There's a reason why Tesla and many laptops will allow you to set a max charge level.
My wife and I have owned multiple macbooks since 2005 and her laptop batteries die much faster than mine despite her only getting less than 100 cycles, while mine usually get well over 500 cycles. Difference is that her macbooks are plugged in all the time. I could understand if it was just 1-2 macbooks, but she's owned 4 and I've owned 10.

 

[RED84]

This is wrong. Ask Tesla
Going from 20-80% will wear a battery down much slower vs 0-100% cycles.
There's a reason why Tesla and many laptops will allow you to set a max charge level.
My wife and I have owned multiple macbooks since 2005 and her laptop batteries die much faster than mine despite her only getting less than 100 cycles, while mine usually get well over 500 cycles. Difference is that her macbooks are plugged in all the time. I could understand if it was just 1-2 macbooks, but she's owned 4 and I've owned 10.

thanks for the advice! Like I said I don’t keep it plugged in all the time but have heard plenty of compelling arguments to the contrary, mainly around the idea that the OS manages the charging and doesn’t actually keep it pinned to 100% all day. Again, I’m no expert and just going with what I’ve read.

I usually take the approach of I’m going to use my devices as I need to use them, that includes keeping the charged for periods. If that lowers the long term life of my battery so be it, I’m not going to spend my time micromanaging it.

all of that said, however, the fact that I may have a swollen battery 2 months in is probably due to a defect

 

[Killbynumbers]

I do keep it on the charger most of the time, but usually take it off a couple times a week to use away from the desk. I’ve heard plenty of advice that modern batteries aren’t negatively affected by constant charging, and it is in fact the amount of cycles that are more detrimental.
Regardless I’ve only had it for 2 months, so it is most likely a defective battery.

Unfortunately I’m not able to schedule an appointment with my local Apple store so looks like it’s getting shipped out 😕

The battery doesn't constantly charge. Even though Apple has designed the battery % to show 100% while plugged in, it fluctuates between 95%-100%. Why? Once the battery is fully charged, it doesn't charge anymore until the battery drops down to about 95% again. Right now, the battery % shows 100% at the top but Coconut battery shows my battery % as being 97% and it doesn't say it's charging.

 

[alexjholland]

'One of those kind of people'?

I live out of a suitcase and use my MacBook in home offices with an external monitor, where I live for a few months at a time.

What do you expect me to do?
- I can't stick an iMac in my suitcase.
- I don't want (or need) to use my MacBook out and about in coffee shops etc. It's a ****** way to work.

 

[Bezbozny]

As per my post here:

Swollen Battery

Apple communities removed my post within minutes of posting so i thought i d post it here instead I am extremely disappointed with apple, its support and quality control. I have a late 2013 Macbook pro 15 inch. In August 2017 i noticed that my battery was swollen and i took it to an apple...

forums.macrumors.com

i think that apple is using cheap batteries without any quality control.

There are a lot of people that will just blame the end user because he/she was plugging his laptop more than he should etc etc but the fact does not change that this is a common problem, which is potentially dangerous both for the user and for the laptop. Even if it wont explode it is compressing the rest of the components of teh laptop, ultimately destroying it.

At least you are within your warranty period and will have it fixed. For the rest of us we are out of lack and we are orced to pay for our laptop not to get destroyed from a neglected hardware problem and from incorporating cheap materials without any quality control.

 

[703541]

Agree that you should take it to an Apple Store genius bar if possible.

But... an important question, please answer:
Are you one of those "I leave my MacBook plugged into the charger all the time" guys...?

Does Apple publishes a guide WARNING not to keep the MacBook plugged in all the time or else it will lead to a swelling battery ?

 

[mguzzi]

If you have never had to send a laptop into Apple - both times I sent them a defective laptop I received my repaired laptop back in less then 48 hours from the time I dropped it off with FedEx. Their turn around time is awesome.

I should have also added that the first laptop was not even a year old and wouldn't power on. The second one was a 2015 Mac Book Pro that the screen starting peeling on, and it was out of warranty.

 

[Bezbozny]

My experience with apple service is very bad... I had an old laptop and the screen was flickering. I went to the apple store and they told me that they need to replace the screen and it would cost 500 pounds.
I took the apple to a non authorized repair store who found out that a cable was losing connection. He reconnected it and he took no money for the repair because it was something very minor...

 

[chrfr]

Also, as I was handling it both sides popped themselves back in and it hasn't popped out since.

Given this fact, this is not going to be caused by a swollen battery. I've seen and repaired Macs where the bottom plate wasn't quite seated properly and it just pops in and there's never a problem again.

 

[CYB3RBYTE]

ALL modern (in the last 3-4 years since the redesign) Mac portables should be able to be plugged into the wall with no adverse affects. You want to run a 90-10 charge cycle every so often, but leaving them plugged into a dock, like I do with my 16" Pro has no major ill effects in my experience.

My specific machine has 94.5% battery life left due to running cycles while being plugged in, since my dock only does 75w charging and it wants 100w at full CPU load. Fold for Covid has been my machine's main process since march, so this all makes perfect sense. At idle, the battery never leaves 100%.

If you have AC+, use it when your battery fails (around >80% life capacity) and have it replaced. They are all different, with minor chemical differences from the factory. Sometimes you luck out and get an overcapacity, sometimes you get one slightly under spec.

 

[RED84]

Given this fact, this is not going to be caused by a swollen battery. I've seen and repaired Macs where the bottom plate wasn't quite seated properly and it just pops in and there's never a problem again.

I’m hoping that’s the case! Still sending it in just in case, I’d rather not take a chance with something this new.

 

[chrfr]

I’m hoping that’s the case! Still sending it in just in case, I’d rather not take a chance with something this new.

It definitely can't hurt to have it checked, but you can at least be quite confident that batteries don't just stop being swollen unless they've had a catastrophic failure.

 

[RED84]

ALL modern (in the last 3-4 years since the redesign) Mac portables should be able to be plugged into the wall with no adverse affects. You want to run a 90-10 charge cycle every so often, but leaving them plugged into a dock, like I do with my 16" Pro has no major ill effects in my experience.

My specific machine has 94.5% battery life left due to running cycles while being plugged in, since my dock only does 75w charging and it wants 100w at full CPU load. Fold for Covid has been my machine's main process since march, so this all makes perfect sense. At idle, the battery never leaves 100%.

If you have AC+, use it when your battery fails (around >80% life capacity) and have it replaced. They are all different, with minor chemical differences from the factory. Sometimes you luck out and get an overcapacity, sometimes you get one slightly under spec.

I’m pretty confident that using it charged most of the time isn’t detrimental. A lot of the advice to the contrary here seems to be older ways of thinking about older Battery technology and times when the OS didn’t manage it through trickle charging and other means. Everything official I’ve read supports this and only comments on forums seem to not agree and only have personal anecdotes to support them.

 

[chrfr]

I’m pretty confident that using it charged most of the time isn’t detrimental. A lot of the advice to the contrary here seems to be older ways of thinking about older Battery technology and times when the OS didn’t manage it through trickle charging and other means. Everything official I’ve read supports this and only comments on forums seem to not agree and only have personal anecdotes to support them.

I've seen batteries that get discharged regularly last for years without issue, I've seen others that get discharged regularly and still fail prematurely, and I've seen the same behaviors with batteries that don't get discharged regularly. It seems that battery manufacturing, like everything else, is imperfect- some batteries will last longer than others. I just use my computers and devices, and if the battery needs replacement, I get it replaced.

 

[CYB3RBYTE]

I just use my computers and devices, and if the battery needs replacement, I get it replaced.

I wish I could frame this on a wall and point to it whenever someone asks me a battery related question. This right here folks is the way to do it, lol.

 

[Malus120]

Agree that you should take it to an Apple Store genius bar if possible.

But... an important question, please answer:
Are you one of those "I leave my MacBook plugged into the charger all the time" guys...?

I don't mean to call you out in particular, but what's with all the battery usage shaming lately???
Are there ideal way to preserve battery health? Yes. Does everybody's use case for their device match that? Of course not! Are these (any mobile) devices even marketed in a way that would even suggest that only the ideal use case is legitimate? No, once again of course not because that's ridiculous. These are mobile devices, the whole point of which is that you can move them it's not just that they run off a battery.

Most laptops stay plugged in most of the time because it's not always clear when one might have to take the laptop out and no one wants to find themselves with a dead laptop after a short time.

The fact that periodic discharging needs to happen for ideal battery health should be handled at either the hardware or software level and is not something the end user should be required to understand.

 

[703541]

I don't mean to call you out in particular, but what's with all the battery usage shaming lately???
Are there ideal way to preserve battery health? Yes. Does everybody's use case for their device match that? Of course not! Are these (any mobile) devices even marketed in a way that would even suggest that only the ideal use case is legitimate? No, once again of course not because that's ridiculous. These are mobile devices, the whole point of which is that you can move them it's not just that they run off a battery.

Most laptops stay plugged in most of the time because it's not always clear when one might have to take the laptop out and no one wants to find themselves with a dead laptop after a short time.

The fact that periodic discharging needs to happen for ideal battery health should be handled at either the hardware or software level and is not something the end user should be required to understand.

Totally agree.

How can the charging behaviour of a user blamed for a SWOLLEN battery in a consumer electronic product.
BATTERY HEALTH [The Maximum amount of charge a battery can hold] may be affected by the way a user charge.
But a SWOLLEN BATTERY is clearly a defect no matter how a user charges his/her electronics.

Blaming a user for a SWOLLEN BATTERY and asking them if they always use their laptop plugged in is totally uncalled for.

 

[hollandog]

ALL modern (in the last 3-4 years since the redesign) Mac portables should be able to be plugged into the wall with no adverse affects. You want to run a 90-10 charge cycle every so often, but leaving them plugged into a dock, like I do with my 16" Pro has no major ill effects in my experience.

My specific machine has 94.5% battery life left due to running cycles while being plugged in, since my dock only does 75w charging and it wants 100w at full CPU load. Fold for Covid has been my machine's main process since march, so this all makes perfect sense. At idle, the battery never leaves 100%.

If you have AC+, use it when your battery fails (around >80% life capacity) and have it replaced. They are all different, with minor chemical differences from the factory. Sometimes you luck out and get an overcapacity, sometimes you get one slightly under spec.

My battery health was 90% and Good after 3 years before it's swollen. Battery health is not a good way to measure swollen risk.
[automerge]1594221509[/automerge]

I've seen batteries that get discharged regularly last for years without issue, I've seen others that get discharged regularly and still fail prematurely, and I've seen the same behaviors with batteries that don't get discharged regularly. It seems that battery manufacturing, like everything else, is imperfect- some batteries will last longer than others. I just use my computers and devices, and if the battery needs replacement, I get it replaced.

Would you want to pay $700 to replace the battery once it's swollen? Because how Apple decided to glue the battery to the top case and you need to pay to replace the entire top case?

I know if you are lucky they sometimes fix it for free or $200. But that isn't consistently true depends on which Apple Store you go and which Genius you speak to.

 

[chrfr]

Would you want to pay $700 to replace the battery once it's swollen? Because how Apple decided to glue the battery to the top case and you need to pay to replace the entire top case?

Apple publishes the $200 price on their website. If you're quoted $700, it's necessary to escalate it, but you should be paying $200.