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Battery Replacement 2010 MBP 13 2.4ghz A1278

2

2hand

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 14, 2013
11
1
Floss Angeles
Hey guys, I need a replacement battery for my MBP 13 which I just purchased from eBay.

My MBP is clean considering its 5 yrs old and I feel like it was a good buy. Anyways I'm noticing that my

battery's connector is located near the middle of the battery itself (while I was upgrading it to SSD ), where

as all the one's I've seen for my model on eBay, amazon and iFixit seems to be on the far right hand side of

the battery. I saw a youtube video of a battery replacement seems to show exact same one as I have....but

I can not seem to find the right one. Is going through Apple store and spend over 100 bucks the only avenue?

eBay and Amazon prices are like 40 bucks, which I like but the connector's location is different.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
2hand said:
Hey guys, I need a replacement battery for my MBP 13 which I just purchased from eBay.

My MBP is clean considering its 5 yrs old and I feel like it was a good buy. Anyways I'm noticing that my

battery's connector is located near the middle of the battery itself (while I was upgrading it to SSD ), where

as all the one's I've seen for my model on eBay, amazon and iFixit seems to be on the far right hand side of

the battery. I saw a youtube video of a battery replacement seems to show exact same one as I have....but

I can not seem to find the right one. Is going through Apple store and spend over 100 bucks the only avenue?

eBay and Amazon prices are like 40 bucks, which I like but the connector's location is different.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

I would up getting apple to do a replacement on a 2009 macbook pro 17" before it became "vintage".

The real problem is that eBay batteries are hit and miss in performance,. sometimes don't work right, or don't have the longevity of the official Apple battery. Looking at reviews at places like amazon or threads on mac rumors, replacement batteries are all over the place with their reviews.

Apple will not sell an official battery to anyone except service providers, and the service providers won't sell the part to the general public. Therefore, if you want an official battery, you need to get apple to do the battery service. I even checked a local Apple only computer chain store (The Mac Store), and all they use are third party batteries (even if the genuine part is available from apple!).

Once Apple won't service the computer, there is no choice but 3rd party batteries. I would go with the NuPower brand sold by OWC, vs an eBay generic battery, as at least you can return it for another replacement if you have issues shortly after you install it.

FYI, list of Vintage/Obsolete computers (typically 5 years after being Discontinued)
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624
 
Richdmoore said:
I would up getting apple to do a replacement on a 2009 macbook pro 17" before it became "vintage".

The real problem is that eBay batteries are hit and miss in performance,. sometimes don't work right, or don't have the longevity of the official Apple battery. Looking at reviews at places like amazon or threads on mac rumors, replacement batteries are all over the place with their reviews.

Apple will not sell an official battery to anyone except service providers, and the service providers won't sell the part to the general public. Therefore, if you want an official battery, you need to get apple to do the battery service. I even checked a local Apple only computer chain store (The Mac Store), and all they use are third party batteries (even if the genuine part is available from apple!).

Once Apple won't service the computer, there is no choice but 3rd party batteries. I would go with the NuPower brand sold by OWC, vs an eBay generic battery, as at least you can return it for another replacement if you have issues shortly after you install it.

FYI, list of Vintage/Obsolete computers (typically 5 years after being Discontinued)
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624
Click to expand...
Thanks for your advise....I looked at the link and I don't see my mid-2010 MBP 2.4ghz core 2 duo A1278 listed.
Also my issue with the battery is that the battery connector location to the logic board is different. As i stated mine is near the middle of the battery, and the one's I've come across is towards the right side of the battery. I am so confused.
Thanks for your help.
 
You can try searching using Apple's part number for the battery, which is:
661-5229

Amazon has a bunch of different sources for those.
You can see in the pictures for each battery, that the battery connector for all is the same, and should look much the same as the one that you have now.
It's often a crapshoot to get a decent quality third-party battery, if you don't get from Apple. You can read the various pages descirbing those batteries, and take a look at the customer responses. Some may show a good reputation.
Take your time.
 
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2hand said:
Thanks for your advise....I looked at the link and I don't see my mid-2010 MBP 2.4ghz core 2 duo A1278 listed.
Also my issue with the battery is that the battery connector location to the logic board is different. As i stated mine is near the middle of the battery, and the one's I've come across is towards the right side of the battery. I am so confused.
Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

Looking at Wikipedia, you macbook pro 7,1 was discontinued with the new model that was released February 24, 2011. Apple is estimated to discontinue support (including battery replacement service) Feb 24, 2016. If you want a new official battery from apple, you will want to get it replaced before then.

When I had the battery replaced, the Apple genius had to get an override from his manager, as my battery tested good even after 5 years. I simply explained that I wanted to get it replaced before the computer was vintage, and they approved the replacement. It took 30 minutes I think, since they had the part in stock.

I checked the firmware on the replacement battery, it was recent manufacture date, zero cycle battery, so it wasn't a battery that had just been sitting on a shelf for the past 5 years.

I was giving the computer to my parents, so I didn't want to deal with any problems a 3rd party battery could create.
 
I think it will be quite a long time before Apple discontinues the availability of the battery that you need.
The same model battery can be used in every 13-inch MacBookPro, from 2009 to mid-2012 models (non-retina!)
Apple still sells that mid-2012, 13-inch MacBook Pro, which continue to use that same battery.
So, you should be good for replacement batteries at least another 2 or 3 years, probably at least 5 more years.
 
DeltaMac said:
I think it will be quite a long time before Apple discontinues the availability of the battery that you need.
The same model battery can be used in every 13-inch MacBookPro, from 2009 to mid-2012 models (non-retina!)
Apple still sells that mid-2012, 13-inch MacBook Pro, which continue to use that same battery.
So, you should be good for replacement batteries at least another 2 or 3 years, probably at least 5 more years.
Click to expand...

I would agree with you, Apple should provide the battery service as long as another model uses an identical battery. The problem is that apple doesn't work logically in this case. My experience was with initially trying to find a replacement for a an early 2009 17" macbook pro battery. The exact same battery part number is used on the 17" early 2009, the mid 2009, and the 2010 17" models. Despite this, apple refused to do the battery service on the vintage early 2009 model. I was specifically told once the models are vintage, apple will not replace the battery, even if they use the exact same battery as a current (nonvintage) model.

I actually got fortunate in my case, as once I had the actual computer in my hands, I discovered that the 17" macbook pro was a mid 2009 model, which allowed me to get official battery service a couple of months before the macbook pro was listed as vintage.

I wish apple simply sold common consumable parts online for "enthusiasts" to replace, such as the life limited batteries for their vintage/obsolete models of computers.

At least third party replacement batteries are available for the vintage mac models apple refuses to service, but as mentioned above the reviews can be hit or miss. Proactively replacing the battery before they become unavailable may be worth it for some people, an not worth it at all for others.
 
It's a battery. That you can replace yourself.
No real reason to have a shop "service" the battery, particularly when it is long out of warranty. And, as you found out, an Apple store shop can tell you they don't want to do it.
But -
Those MBPro models are easy to swap out batteries. Just remove the bottom cover, then 3 screws to get the battery out.
Yes, you might use the special tri-lobe tool to make removal easier, but a simple small straight screwdriver will also work.
It's a fairly straightforward replacement that takes all of 5 minutes, even for a first timer.
Or, you can buy the battery somewhere, and pay someone else to swap it out. Your choice, then.
 
DeltaMac said:
It's a battery. That you can replace yourself.
No real reason to have a shop "service" the battery, particularly when it is long out of warranty. And, as you found out, an Apple store shop can tell you they don't want to do it.
But -
Those MBPro models are easy to swap out batteries. Just remove the bottom cover, then 3 screws to get the battery out.
Yes, you might use the special tri-lobe tool to make removal easier, but a simple small straight screwdriver will also work.
It's a fairly straightforward replacement that takes all of 5 minutes, even for a first timer.
Or, you can buy the battery somewhere, and pay someone else to swap it out. Your choice, then.
Click to expand...
But the problem is you can't buy the official battery even if you wanted to replace yourself
 
Samuelsan2001 said:
iFixit do batteries for models back to 2008 if I remember rightly.
Click to expand...

I can second the "buy an Apple/iFixit" battery, at least don't buy it from ebay. I bought one for my older 2010 MBP which I sold to my sister, and it stopped charging after 1 month of ridiculous ussage (like watching mails/websurfing 1h a day). I asked the seller for a replacement/refund since it was on warranty, and 0 replies from them. So if u can spend a bit more for an "official" battery or buying it from a more serious site like iFixit, i would recommend it.
 
DeltaMac said:
I think it will be quite a long time before Apple discontinues the availability of the battery that you need.
The same model battery can be used in every 13-inch MacBookPro, from 2009 to mid-2012 models (non-retina!)
Apple still sells that mid-2012, 13-inch MacBook Pro, which continue to use that same battery.
So, you should be good for replacement batteries at least another 2 or 3 years, probably at least 5 more years.
Click to expand...
Thank you @ Richdmoore and @ Deltamac......Appreciated guys.
 
Woochoo said:
I can second the "buy an Apple/iFixit" battery, at least don't buy it from ebay. I bought one for my older 2010 MBP which I sold to my sister, and it stopped charging after 1 month of ridiculous ussage (like watching mails/websurfing 1h a day). I asked the seller for a replacement/refund since it was on warranty, and 0 replies from them. So if u can spend a bit more for an "official" battery or buying it from a more serious site like iFixit, i would recommend it.
Click to expand...
Thank you Woochoo, I will avoid eBay then. Guess I'll just have to spend 100 bucks from iFixit or OWC.
Thanks everyone for insight.
 
Well I've just issued a return for the anker battery I bought from amazon. And ordered the official genuine battery from ifixit. It's £20 more expensive but for battery I want to keep it genuine.

Will give a small review vs anker when I get it.

P.s reason why I returned Anker battery was the laptop shutdown randomly after battery level falling below 25%. Until then, it held charge well. But still I needed a reliable battery as this is the machine I'll take out for work.
 
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