Apple Care & Battery Question

[Benjamindaines]

I have a MacBook Pro that is 2 years old, but still is covered under AppleCare. My batter is suddenly crapping out on me (seems to have dropped from around 85% capacity down to 23%, has 366 cycles on it). My question is; does AppleCare cover this battery, can I get it replaced under warranty? Something tells me that the Battery isn't covered past one year...

--Thanks.

 

[CaptainChunk]

Apple's warranty (3-year AppleCare or not) covers batteries that have failed due to manufacturing defects only. Batteries are considered consumable items, unfortunately.

Your battery has a lot of cycles on it. I kind of doubt Apple would offer a replacement for it under warranty, but it can't hurt to try. More info here.

You can also try calibrating the battery and see if it helps any.

 

[Benjamindaines]

Thanks, I'll see what I can do about getting it replaced (maybe I'll get a semi-drunk genius?). Where is the best place to buy from? I'd love to spend less than 100.

 

[CalBoy]

Apple says on their battery page that 300 cycles is the expected number of cycles before the battery dips below 80% capacity, so I think you're technically not in the 'free battery' range.

However, many geniuses have been known to be friendly and simply give you a new battery, especially if you have Applecare on the machine. It's worth giving it a shot, but don't count on it.

As for where to get one, I think the EDU store has the best prices on replacement batteries (still not that awesome or anything), but Amazon would probably be a good bet otherwise. I don't think many vendors carry batteries.