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Apple Exchanging Some 2012 and Early 2013 MacBook Pros Needing Battery Service With Newer Models [Updated]

This whole thing reminds me of “don’t discuss your pay rate with coworkers” because everybody is more or less okay till they get that info. Obviously Apple does not want to broadcast this info the way it has been.....

Now I get to complain! I bought a 2016 15” that came in around 3,000 bucks because I needed a new computer for school and I waited and waited on Apple to finally update and they did. Then 5 months later they come out with updates faster than any time in recent memory. I was not given the opportunity to spend $200 bucks to get the new one, I was stuck with the one I bought like everybody else. BUT because you need a new battery now you can get a 5 Year newer computer for $200 instead of 3,000...I wish I have never found out my coworkers pay and I wish I had never read this article. Yes I am jealous that I just replaced my 8 yr old computer for 3,000 while others with a computer newer than my old machiene are essentially given a free new computer.

I am not knocking anyone for taking advantage of this, you would be silly not to! It is just a bit annoying that this leaked, and now I know what could have been.

Ugh.....
 
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ZillaL said:
"A section called "Health Information" lists the battery's cycle count, which should be under 1,000, and condition, which should say "Service Battery" or equivalent."

Think you mean above 1,000.
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mr-victor said:
Wow wow wow.

I have a 15" mid-2012 rMBP and I'm just reading about this. I have way over 1,000 cycles (1,200), and Design Capacity at 45.2%. The thing has just been saying "go change me now" for the past year or so. I guess I'm in for a visit at the Apple Store?
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You need to have less than 1,000 cycles to qualify. The batteries aren't designed to have above 80% of the original capacity after 1,000 cycles.
 
dlondon said:
You need to have less than 1,000 cycles to qualify. The batteries aren't designed to have above 80% of the original capacity after 1,000 cycles.
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I still need my battery replaced. What would they do? Force me to wait until they get new stock and refuse to give a refurbished unit?
 
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treimche said:
I had the "Service Battery" warning a couple different times on my mid 2012 retina MBP. It has since gone away, but the battery is still pretty sketchy compared to when it was new. The laptop will turn off at anywhere from 5% to 30% battery remaining. I have 550 cycles. Thinking I'm going to see if mine qualifies for a new battery replacement (or laptop replacement preferably).
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Check your battery capacity using coconutBattery.
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bigboi6969 said:
I still need my battery replaced. What would they do? Force me to wait until they get new stock and refuse to give a refurbished unit?
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You'd have to check with the store. I'm not sure Apple is under any obligation to offer replacements to those with under 1,000 cycles but they are apparently doing so. Perhaps they will do the same for you but it wouldn't be unreasonable for Apple to say you'll have to wait. I suspect they will make you wait but you could be lucky.
 
I ask today a premium service partner in Austria and they told me, that the replacement of only the batterie costs 500€.
Why does it cost more by a partner as by apple?
 
jw2002 said:
While I do have a mid-2012 15" MBP with a "Service Battery" health and only 350 recharges, I think I will pass. Later models (after 2014) no longer have an NVIDIA GPU, yet I need to code using CUDA and Optix. Unfortunately, the OpenCL based ray tracers don't match the performance of Optix, so getting a later model MBP might actually be a downgrade in my case.
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I believe if you try and get it repaired and tell them that you are willing to wait for the topcases to come back into stock then Apple will cover the cost of the replacement topcase when they are eventually available again.
 
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Pbrutto said:
Reddit guy is full of ****, sorry folks....there is more to his story or he is just a pathological liar. There is just simply no way that Apple would just say “we’re gonna charge you 200 and give you a 5 year newer computer” for just a battery. Perhaps a year or two newer, but no way...
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Sorry, but your are wrong. Yes way. I got a brand new touch bar 15 inch in replacement of my late 2012. They didn't have any previous 15inch to match my specs. My 2012 was CTO and they ended giving me a brand new 2017 15 inch touch bar with top specs. I kid you not. I have my receipt and I can prove this to be true of needed.
 
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HVDynamo said:
I have a 2012 15" cMBP too, it's been a great laptop. All I have done to it is upgrade the slow hard drive with an SSD and this thing still is still really fast. Battery still lasts me hours as well. I am very happy I bought this rather than the retina. Although I do wish it had the screen.
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I upgraded the RAM on mine from 4gb to 8gb. Machine has been rock solid. Battery life incredible.

I also wish I had the screen but have zero complaints. Can't believe this thing is already 5 years old!
 
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ArrowStarks said:
Sorry, but your are wrong. Yes way. I got a brand new touch bar 15 inch in replacement of my late 2012. They didn't have any previous 15inch to match my specs. My 2012 was CTO and they ended giving me a brand new 2017 15 inch touch bar with top specs. I kid you not. I have my receipt and I can prove this to be true of needed.
Click to expand...

Going to see if I'll have similar luck, going by Apple Store tommorow, have a CTO top model from 2012 as well.
 
Wait, so 200 bucks magically transforms a 5 year old MBP into a brand new MBP w/ Touchbar, but Apple still can't even officially acknowledge the god awful popping sound my 2016 13" MBP makes every couple of minutes now?

Wow...
 
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Note that Apple will not replace rMBPs with a Russian (Cyrillic) topcase.
The Genius confirmed after I was told I would be getting a refurb that the Russian models are not covered under the program


rMBP 2012 15" 512GB
 
Wondering if anyone has tried this China? I have a feeling would be less lucky there since I believe the top case in manufactured in Shenzhen.
 
dlondon said:
You need to have less than 1,000 cycles to qualify. The batteries aren't designed to have above 80% of the original capacity after 1,000 cycles.
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We got multiple reports that the techs do not even check the number of cycles if they see that the battery needs service. Because the battery is probably the most fragile element of the computer, they have to consider your problem even though you are above 1,000 cycles. Multiple people here confirmed that what is important is the health of the battery. Basically if your battery is failing, it's worth taking a shot at this thing.
 
Popping into the apple store tomorrow in Hong Kong. When i first read about this earlier today, i immediately unplugged my cto top spec'd rmbp mid 2012 ( i usually use it connected to the thunderbolt display 99% of the time) and downloaded coconutbattery to test it. Initially for the first couple of hours, the design capacity was hovering between 81-83% or so. it occasionally dropped just below 80% for a couple of minutes, but would then increase back to the 81-83 range. However, for the last 3 hours, its remained constant at the 79.8% mark. Looking at the system information, the battery information shows the same result too, at 79.8%. Hopefully this is true, and it is indeed below the 80% mark when apple run their checks on it.
 
syilim said:
Popping into the apple store tomorrow in Hong Kong. When i first read about this earlier today, i immediately unplugged my cto top spec'd rmbp mid 2012 ( i usually use it connected to the thunderbolt display 99% of the time) and downloaded coconutbattery to test it. Initially for the first couple of hours, the design capacity was hovering between 81-83% or so. it occasionally dropped just below 80% for a couple of minutes, but would then increase back to the 81-83 range. However, for the last 3 hours, its remained constant at the 79.8% mark. Looking at the system information, the battery information shows the same result too, at 79.8%. Hopefully this is true, and it is indeed below the 80% mark when apple run their checks on it.
Click to expand...

Please let us know how it goes!
 
I've seen so many bugs in ios11 b3 that I'm surprised it's a beta. I hope b4 will cure them, though the majority of tweaks seem to be cosmetic, it's possible more work has been achieved elsewhere too. The main issues I have are still related to usability tweaks, things like selecting airplay speaker/bluetooth still takes too many swipes and long presses. It SHOULD be a control center option dropdown without any extra presses.
 
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