Apple Offering Free Battery Replacements for 2016-2017 MacBook Pros That Can't Charge Past 1%

[MacRumors]

Apple today released macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 to address an issue that may prevent the battery from charging in some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models, and the company has since shared a new support document with more details.

Apple says a "very small number of customers" with 2016 and 2017 models of the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro have experienced an issue with the battery not charging past 1%. The battery health status on affected notebooks will indicate "Service Recommended." To identify your Mac model, click on the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen and click on About This Mac. The following models may be impacted by this issue:

- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)

If your MacBook Pro exhibits this behavior, Apple says to contact the company for a battery replacement, free of charge. Apple says it will examine the notebook prior to service to verify that it is eligible for the free replacement.

If your MacBook Pro has not exhibited this issue, updating to macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 as soon as possible is still highly recommended as a precaution. There is also a macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Supplemental Update that prevents the issue.

macOS Big Sur users can determine if their battery needs service by opening the System Preferences app, clicking Battery, selecting Battery in the sidebar, and clicking Battery Health. On macOS Catalina or earlier, users can hold the Option key and click the battery icon in the menu bar to reveal the battery status menu.

Article Link: Apple Offering Free Battery Replacements for 2016-2017 MacBook Pros That Can't Charge Past 1%

 

[LFC2020]

You learning Samsung, that’s what you call the best customer service in the industry.

 

[loby]

This might need to extend to the 2018 models...

 

[AgentOSX]

A year ago I had to pay $375 to Apple to get this issue fixed. When do I get my $ back?

 

[vicviper789]

You learning Samsung, that’s what you call the best customer service in the industry.

Best customer service? I would imagine making a battery that lasted more than 3-4 years to be a higher priority

 

[JPack]

The issues for the 2016-2017 keep piling on, not that I don't appreciate Apple's support programs.

• Flexgate
• Staingate
• Butterfly keyboard
• SSD failure (non-Touch Bar models)

Now battery failure.

 

[Tim Windsor]

This is exactly what I experienced today on my m1 MacBook Air. It’s now been sent in for battery replacement under the original warranty. Weird that it’s a hardware fix if it’s across so many Macs and seems to be triggered by Big Sur.

 

[dannyyankou]

My mom’s and my sister’s MacBook Air also had the same issue. They were purchased around 2016-2017 too I think

 

[JPack]

This is exactly what I experienced today on my m1 MacBook Air. It’s now been sent in for the battery replacement. Weird that it’s a hardware fix if it’s across so many Macs and seems to be triggered by Big Sur.

Probably a Big Sur firmware update that went wrong on the battery pack monitoring chip.

 

[Nimoy]

A year ago I had to pay $375 to Apple to get this issue fixed. When do I get my $ back?

Same! I just got off the phone with Apple. They said to check back in 2-4 weeks; they don't have a system set up YET to handle people who have already replaced the battery because this program is just rolling out. But they seemed fairly optimistic that it would get resolved eventually.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Best customer service? I would imagine making a battery that lasted more than 3-4 years to be a higher priority

customer service and battery durability are two separate things.

 

[diego.caraballo]

Oh Big Sur...first it killed 2013 and 2014 machines, now it’s finishing with the 2016 and 2017 models
Somehow the 2015 model escaped the fate, maybe it has some friends inside Apple

 

[pilot76103]

Well, I have something interesting that occurred after 11.2 was released. The battery wasn't the issue for me; instead, it was the charger. Coincidentally today, my 61W A1718 charger ultimately died. It provided 8W of power and would keep cycling between 60W and 8W if disconnected and reconnected. Eventually, the battery completely drained and wouldn't charge at all. I went out to Best Buy and picked up a new A1947 charger, and it's charging without issue. Could Big Sur 11.2 have killed my charger? I think it's a possibility considering Apple has acknowledged issues related to some form of power management within the OS.

 

[citysnaps]

A year ago I had to pay $375 to Apple to get this issue fixed. When do I get my $ back?

You'll likely have better results contacting Apple.

 

[citysnaps]

This is exactly what I experienced today on my m1 MacBook Air. It’s now been sent in for battery replacement under the original warranty. Weird that it’s a hardware fix if it’s across so many Macs and seems to be triggered by Big Sur.View attachment 1727847

Odd. I also have an M1 MBA (since early December 2020) and have yet to see that.

Did you recently update to Big Sur 11.2.1 or are you still on 11.2?

 

[technole]

When i took up the butterfly keyboard warranty on my 2017 MBP they replaced the battery as well, which isnt surprising since its on the same chassis.

 

[audieddie]

Apple today released macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 to address an issue that may prevent the battery from charging in some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models, and the company has since shared a new support document with more details.

Apple says a "very small number of customers" with 2016 and 2017 models of the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro have experienced an issue with the battery not charging past 1%. The battery health status on affected notebooks will indicate "Service Recommended." To identify your Mac model, click on the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen and click on About This Mac. The following models may be impacted by this issue:If your MacBook Pro exhibits this behavior, Apple says to contact the company for a battery replacement, free of charge. Apple says it will examine the notebook prior to service to verify that it is eligible for the free replacement.

If your MacBook Pro has not exhibited this issue, updating to macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 as soon as possible is still highly recommended as a precaution. There is also a macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Supplemental Update that prevents the issue.

macOS Big Sur users can determine if their battery needs service by opening the System Preferences app, clicking Battery, selecting Battery in the sidebar, and clicking Battery Health. On macOS Catalina or earlier, users can hold the Option key and click the battery icon in the menu bar to reveal the battery status menu.

Article Link: Apple Offering Free Battery Replacements for 2016-2017 MacBook Pros That Can't Charge Past 1%

This literally just happened today to my wife’s brand new 2020 MacBook Air (intel). I was looking in setting up an impossible to schedule repair visit and saw this article.

 

[iBluetooth]

You learning Samsung, that’s what you call the best customer service in the industry.

Completely agree. I have had them replace equipment without questions or charges. While I have problem with so many other electronics in my home that stop working after few years with obvious components failures, but the manufacturers charges me for it.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Good on Apple for promptly addressing the problem.

 

[Palliser]

So if you can charge to 2%, you’re out of luck 😂

 

[Apple_Robert]

Odd. I also have an M1 MBA (since early December 2020) and have yet to see that.

Did you recently update to Big Sur 11.2.1 or are you still on 11.2?

Same model here as well (bought 12/24) with no battery problems. The update today appears to have gone without any problems.

 

[countryside]

My 16" 2020 MBP has this issue .

 

[a104375]

So if I'm still on Mojave is it possible for this issue to occur without an update, or was it just an issues caused by the newer OS's?

 

[FHoff]

Best customer service? I would imagine making a battery that lasted more than 3-4 years to be a higher priority

Considering Apple doesn’t make the batteries you could pose that question the ones who do. So yes Apple has some of the best customer care.

 

[buckwheet]

Holy crap... Yeah, good thing they're addressing this. I can't imagine how irate I'd be if my relatively new machine wouldn't charge past 1%... haha... that's completely mental.

Having said that, I did have a 2016 MBP and it was H-O-T G-A-R-B-A-G-E!... Worst Apple machine I've ever owned. In 2nd place was a "Quicksilver" G4, 733. That thing was built fine, and it ran reliably enough, but it was slow as *****...