Battery replacement - 2011 MacBook Pro

[mac_in_tosh]

I have a recent MacBook Pro but continue to occasionally use the early 2011 one that I still have. I'm finding, not unexpectedly, that the battery is requiring frequent charging (one app says battery health is at 59%). I notice that there are replacement batteries available and they appear to be fairly straightforward to install. I have a couple of questions:

1. I'd be leery to chose just based on price e.g. from an Amazon vendor, although for this old a machine I also wouldn't want to spend too much. So where would you recommend I purchase from and what would be a reasonable price for a reputable battery?

2. I am running Mac OS 10.13.6 (High Sierra) on the machine, the latest OS that can be installed on it. How long will Apple continue to support this OS? I wouldn't want to upgrade the battery only to find out that I would stop using the machine due to Apple discontinuing security updates.

Thanks.

 

[justashooter]

Batteries can apparently be a crap shoot, but for $30-40 it's not too much of a gamble. OWC sells nupower versions but they run about $90.

Not sure how much longer security updates will continue for a 2011, but the end of them can't be very far off.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

I did some more reading and it appears, based only on past history as Apple doesn't reveal its support timetable, that support for High Sierra may end September 2020 with the release of a new OS. But that may not be as bad as I thought as web browsers that run on HS will continue to get updates (although for ultimate safety I'll probably stop using the 2011 for banking related things).

 

[magbarn]

Reply

I did some more reading and it appears, based only on past history as Apple doesn't reveal its support timetable, that support for High Sierra may end September 2020 with the release of a new OS. But that may not be as bad as I thought as web browsers that run on HS will continue to get updates (although for ultimate safety I'll probably stop using the 2011 for banking related things).

Why not use DosDude's Catalina or Mojave patcher and you can get even longer security support?

It's not a jailbreak or anything like that. It just removes Apple's planned obsolescence and allows the installer to proceed and after that you have a stock mojave/catalina install.

 

[macagain]

Batteries can apparently be a crap shoot, but for $30-40 it's not too much of a gamble. OWC sells nupower versions but they run about $90.

Not sure how much longer security updates will continue for a 2011, but the end of them can't be very far off.

I agree... I got a cheapo from ebay for about $35 last year, and it crapped out after less than a year. I got another one again from ebay, but a apple oem (came branded apple), and so far so good. It was $95 though.

 

[aajeevlin]

Also debating if I should replace the battery. My kid spilled water around the laptop so I decided to open it up just to see if the water got into it. It turned out that the battery was very swollen, I'm tempting to to get a battery for it just for the fact that the laptop still works and it has some what of a sentimental value. But given that I can swap for a new MacBook Air base (I don't do much with this laptop), I'm hesitant to spend the $100....

If I do get I'll probably get it from iFixit, I have seen crappy battery catch on fire, you don't want that in your house.

 

[Brian33]

Awhile ago I looked into getting a new battery for my 15" Early 2011, and at the time I thought going for OWC's would be a better bet than buying the cheapest battery available. Ultimately I decided not to proceed, as my original battery will still go an hour or so and we usually use it plugged in anyway (and it's not swollen).

Regarding OS support, yeah, I'm sure that Apple will drop security-fix support for High Sierra this Fall when the new macOs comes out. I use mostly Firefox browser, which I expect will continue to run the latest versions for awhile, so I'm willing to go for some months, maybe a year, but it does make me uncomfortable not having the latest OS security fixes.

I have not yet, but I think I will explore DosDude's patches that allow Mojave to install, though, as that would give another year of security fixes. (thanks magbarn) Then it might well be worth it to me to replace the battery, after all!

 

[aajeevlin]

Awhile ago I looked into getting a new battery for my 15" Early 2011, and at the time I thought going for OWC's would be a better bet than buying the cheapest battery available. Ultimately I decided not to proceed, as my original battery will still go an hour or so and we usually use it plugged in anyway (and it's not swollen).

Regarding OS support, yeah, I'm sure that Apple will drop security-fix support for High Sierra this Fall when the new macOs comes out. I use mostly Firefox browser, which I expect will continue to run the latest versions for awhile, so I'm willing to go for some months, maybe a year, but it does make me uncomfortable not having the latest OS security fixes.

I have not yet, but I think I will explore DosDude's patches that allow Mojave to install, though, as that would give another year of security fixes. (thanks magbarn) Then it might well be worth it to me to replace the battery, after all!

I think for me it's going to become another one of my collectable. I did the same for my 12inch PowerBook G4, I'm not using it but I bought new battery for it.