Battery Guarantees and replacement under Applecare

[bunnspecial]

I have a late 2011 MBP that I bought new in April, 2012(I'm still covered under Applecare).

At the time, I recall reading the built-in battery "should" still hold up to 80% of its capacity at up to 1000 cycles.

My battery is currently sitting at 661 cycles, and iStat Nano is reporting the "health" at 77%. I realize that health can fluctuate somewhat, but I'm wondering if I should pay a visit to the Apple store while I'm still under Applecare.

Or, more specifically, I'm wondering if Apple replaces batteries that don't meet the 1000 cycles/80% health within the Applecare warranty period.

My computer is certainly not unuseable as it is now, but I can definitely noticed the diminished capacity as compared to new, and obviously I'd prefer to have this replaced under warranty if it's eligible for replacement.

 

[ipaclansite]

I've had this happen to me on my 2011 Macbook Air, with the health periodically dipping below the 80% mark, with a Service Battery warning. The second I brought it to the Apple Store for them to check the warning disappeared. They ran their internal diagnostics where they plug your laptop in and boot up some diagnostic tool, and found that my battery was still in the green. This happened to me a few times, and I brought my laptop in twice when it occurred, both times the warning had disappeared when the Genius came to check it out.

This meant that they couldn't do anything about it. Now that my warranty expired (just a few days ago), they will not cover it should it happen again. I was told I would have to buy a new battery from them if I wanted to get it replaced.

I would say if it the problem occurs frequently, or that Service Battery warning is solid, take it in, and they'll likely replace it for you. If its intermittent like mine was, it'll be gambling with the hope that the battery fails their diagnostics that one time.

It was really too bad, since it would've been nice to get a new battery just before the warranty expires

On the other hand if you do exceed the 1000 cycles, I believe that isn't covered and you will have to pay out of pocket for that, since it is not a defect, and considered normal consumption.

 

[bunnspecial]

Thanks-

I checked under System Profile and the battery still registers as "good" so I'm guessing that Apple probably wouldn't replace it at this point.

I have another ~8 months or so of Applecare, and in all honesty if the battery does go I'd rather it be replaced closer to the end of the warranty period for obvious reasons.

Fortunately at least the battery replacement can be a DIY project on the MBP, so if mine does go bad when it's out of warranty that's likely the route I'll take rather than paying Apple to do it.

 

[Nermal]

I got the "Service Battery" on my Early 2011 and they wanted me to pay NZ$250 for a new battery. I ended up buying a third-party one for $140ish.

Edit: I only had the one-year manufacturer warranty. I could've argued that the battery is "supposed" to last longer but I didn't really want the hassle.

 

[bunnspecial]

I'm guessing that, looking at this, the battery probably wouldn't qualify for replacement despite what iStat nano says

 

[bunnspecial]

Well, system profiler just changed to "service battery", so I made an appointment at the Genius bar this afternoon and am going to see what they say.

 

[DJEmergency]

73 cycles seems good for 6.8 months? my stats:

 

[5to1]

I've had this happen to me on my 2011 Macbook Air, with the health periodically dipping below the 80% mark, with a Service Battery warning. The second I brought it to the Apple Store for them to check the warning disappeared. They ran their internal diagnostics where they plug your laptop in and boot up some diagnostic tool, and found that my battery was still in the green. This happened to me a few times, and I brought my laptop in twice when it occurred, both times the warning had disappeared when the Genius came to check it out.

This meant that they couldn't do anything about it. Now that my warranty expired (just a few days ago), they will not cover it should it happen again. I was told I would have to buy a new battery from them if I wanted to get it replaced.

I would say if it the problem occurs frequently, or that Service Battery warning is solid, take it in, and they'll likely replace it for you. If its intermittent like mine was, it'll be gambling with the hope that the battery fails their diagnostics that one time.

It was really too bad, since it would've been nice to get a new battery just before the warranty expires

On the other hand if you do exceed the 1000 cycles, I believe that isn't covered and you will have to pay out of pocket for that, since it is not a defect, and considered normal consumption.

For future reference, next time you have an intermittent problem just take a picture on your phone (or screenshot if its an iPhone/iPad) and show them that. In fact take a picture every time it happens, then you can show them the time stamped pics to show its a recurring problem. Worked for me in the past with an iPad which had a wifi issue.

 

[mastermind6192]

Replacement Battery

In order to determine if your battery is considered defective or consumed you can just ring up AppleCare or visit a retail location. If its consumed aka using any battery over time will degrade than its not covered, but if its defective aka you have 5 cycles and it last 20 min than its covered. Per APP terms " Consumable parts, such as batteries, except in respect of battery coverage under APP for iPod or unless failure has occurred due to a defect in materials and workmanship" http://www.apple.com/legal/sales-support/applecare/appmacnaen.html

 

[maflynn]

Apple considers it a component that incurs wear and tear and degrades over time,. If the symptoms of the charging are out of the norm from their expectations then they'll replace it, i.e., new battery not holding a charge.

 

[TBFoxRDMS]

Same old story

I had the same problem as ipaclansite, with near dead battery during AppleCare period. Took it in, and they said "No, it's in the yellow. No fix under warranty." Not long after that, I was having another issue and I took it in. AppleCare now expired. They took care of the issue I was having but said "Your battery is in the red. You should replace it." I said "It was in the yellow two weeks ago" and he said "Oh, we are supposed to replace it under warranty when it's yellow." I asked him to check his records about the last visit, and he said "We have no record you were here two weeks ago." Nice.

Having said all that, it's now a four-year old 13" MBP, it still runs fine (as long as it's plugged in), and I could theoretically get a new battery for $120 and make it like new. But I'm not, I'm getting a more lightweight 2014 13" MBP Retina.

Cheers,
Traci

 

[bunnspecial]

I visited the Genius Bar yesterday, their internal diagnostics showed the battery just barely still in the "green."

Since I still have 8 months of warranty, I suspect that it will get worse within the warranty period and I'll talk to them again about replacement.

If it expires outside the warranty period, I'll likely make it a DIY project.