Damaged 15-Inch 2015 MacBook Pro Demonstrates Why Apple Initiated Battery Recall Program

[Bin Cook]

Ancient Korean proverb: He who laughs Samsung, eventually get burned lap.

 

[brewmonkey]

This repair involves replacement of the entire bottom half of the MBP, meaning case with keyboard and trackpad. Apple does not recommend or support a battery-only replacement, so I'm not sure what your local service provider is doing but if they are replacing just the battery, it is not Apple-approved.

I know all those parts are sometimes replaced (I've seen the Product Repair Summary showing all those parts replaced), but not always. I just got mine back and the battery is all that's on the summary and my keyboard and case are absolutely the same old ones (there are tiny little blemishes on both that are dead giveaways, not to mention my poor old mushy keys lol). FYI.

 

[Macpro2019]

So a voluntary recall of a four year old laptop after a couple isolated incidents are reported = hundreds of Note 7s exploding, pressuring Samsung to stop production?
[doublepost=1562213049][/doublepost]
fixed that for you

Doesn’t matter. Samsung did what they did...recall the phone and stopped selling them.

 

[IIGS User]

I am now on my 4th Apple lemon during my adult life. I have a laptop subject to this recall and was told "leave it for up to a week at your nearest Apple store or ship it to us and you should have it back in 2 weeks." I am an attorney, use the machine daily in my work, and don't have another machine. Does Apple have loaners? No. Do they plan to compensate me for shutting down my business for up to a week or two? No. Do they particularly care? in my opinion, no, as well. Fortunately I found a service provider (though not currently on Apple's approved list) who has ordered a replacement battery for me and will install it "while I wait" once it comes in. If there were a decent alternative to Apple, I'd run, not walk, towards it.

Apple has slung so many lemons in my direction the past year, I'm beyond sour.

There's nothing really special coming from this company. Except cheapskate phone chargers and overpriced mediocre quality products that are supposed to be "premium".

The "too big to fail" is settling in at APPL. Be interesting to see the day this oak splits in two. Probably along the OS/hardware. OS X will be sold off to make up for all the mistakes. iOS will be on Samsung phones, and quality will continue to falter.

When you offer less value than the competition, and charge more for the same, or an inferior product, it's the beginning of the end.

And no one ever calls the beginning of the end. No one has the coconuts. I'll probably be rotting in a pine box at about the same time. Say, five years?

 

[DesertNomad]

In an airplane, at least you have fire extinguisher at your disposal in the cabin. Imagine leaving your laptop at home and when you get back from work you find your house burned to the ground. I procure to leave always laptops on glass surface when leaving home just in case this big battery is deffective.

I fly a small, single engine piston aircraft and take it across the country every year. Usually, my Mac is in a bag in the rear baggage compartment and essentially inaccessible during flight (you could crawl into the and reach over the back seats). I may need to rethink that. We do carry a Halon fire extinguisher, but I may need to invest in a fire bag for $600.

https://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/laptop-fire-containment-bag.html

 

[MarvinK9]

Mine qualified for the recall. The battery had also started bulging several months prior. It would rock a bit. It was also at the point where the lid was not closing entirely. I took it into an Apple Store on a Monday. It was sent to Texas and it was back via FedEx on Saturday. The lower inside with keyboard is new. The bottom where the slight bulge was isn't new, but the bulge is gone.

My battery was swollen as you describe, I had the battery replaced at my own expense (~$300Cdn) a month before the recall. I checked, but unfortunately my serial number did not qualify so I don't get any refund :-(

 

[nick235]

Just as I install Catalina and then googling to see if there is a hack to get sidecar working on my mid 2015 15” retina with my iPad Pro, only to find that my MBP might blow up. Sounds like an episode of wacky races. Genius Bar appointment booked, fingers crossed that they replace the top case.

Edit: mine qualified for the recall.

 

[eddjedi]

I guess all those people trying to scaremonger others into buying the 2015 MBP rather than the new one just in case the keyboard fails don't feel quite so smug now. Oh by the way, the keyboard on my 2016 MBP still works just fine thanks.

 

[MattMJB0188]

Why are these exploding now? Why weren't they exploding in January of 2016, or March of 2017, or July 2018? Are they all set to explode in June/July 2019?

 

[rgbrock1]

cost: up
qc: down

This has absolutely nothing to do with Apple's QC. This problem lies squarely at the feet of the battery maker and nowhere else. THEY should be held accountable, not Apple. (Although Apple might want to look at sourcing their batteries elsewhere.)

 

[ElectricPotato]

That smoking hole strikes fear into laps everywhere.

MacBook have high grade sturdy Aluminum

Aluminum? Yes. High grade? Arguably.

Sturdy? Well, sturdy enough maybe. When I took one apart it was unsettlingly thin.

 

[rgbrock1]

People, people, people. Instead of going off on Apple over this issue use your heads. Apple doesn't manufacture the batteries so Apple QC has absolutely nothing to do with such. The problem with the exploding, overheating batteries lies solely at the feet of the battery manufacturer. There are two battery suppliers to Apple: Panasonic and Rayovac Industrial Group. From my understanding, the bad batch of batteries in the subject MBP's come from Rayovac. Which is interesting in that Rayovac also supplies batteries to Samsung for use in their phones. Coincidence? I don't think sooooo....

 

[Polyphonie]

cost: up
qc: down

Not with the 2015 15” MBP. It’s based on the same design that came out in mid-2012 and by the 3rd year, the price has gone down considerably from $2199 in mid-2012 (with 8GB RAM) down to $1999 (maybe $1799- I’m not entirely sure if it’s that low) and with 16GB RAM (the standard memory for 15” since I believe 2014).

So in this instance:
cost: down
qc: down

 

[NutFlush920]

I called the day the ready the recall launched. Shipped it as soon as I got the box on Monday and had it back that Saturday morning at 9 am from FedEx. Very fast

 

[Cyberpower678]

That smoking hole strikes fear into laps everywhere.



Aluminum? Yes. High grade? Arguably.

Sturdy? Well, sturdy enough maybe. When I took one apart it was unsettlingly thin.

It’s not a hole. That’s the paint coat fused to the bottom plate from
The intense heat. It was ripped off of the black table.

 

[justperry]

I have my doubts about this picture and what happened, a (Lithium ion)battery casing a fire does not burn through aluminium, and you need a bigger explosion to create such a hole in aluminium, just under the MacBook you see a burned patch or even a hole in the Table or whatever it was on, I don't think an exploding battery caused this one, hell, I can't recall ever seeing an actual Lithium cell explode on the web, they are really reactive, quick burn close to an explosion but not like for instance a firecracker.

 

[Webster's Mac]

OK but in this instance the battery exploded during sleep mode/unplugged, that is how I've left my Macbooks for years when not in use, obviously the safest route is a full shutdown, any truth to the theory that shut downs wear out your computer faster than sleep mode? Or was that always a myth?

Shutting down does not wear your computer out faster

 

[steve19150]

Apple in June launched a voluntary recall and replacement program for 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Retina display sold between September 2015 and February 2017, citing defective batteries that could overheat and pose a fire safety risk.

Right after the replacement program was announced, designer Steven Gagne shared some images of a MacBook Pro that caught fire, and those images were today surfaced by PetaPixel, giving us a look at why 2015 MacBook Pro owners should take this recall seriously.

Gagne said that the battery in his MacBook Pro exploded, causing a small fire and filling his house with smoke. He heard the sound of the battery popping, and then smelled a strong chemical scent. The MacBook Pro wasn't plugged in and it was in sleep mode.

He was able to get to it quickly enough to extinguish the fire before it did real damage, but the seriousness of the damage to the MacBook Pro emphasizes that this could have been far worse.

Apple has asked customers with a 15-inch MacBook Pro from 2015 to stop using it until the battery inside can be replaced. Apple has a website outlining the recall program, with MacBook Pro able to enter a serial number to see if they need a battery replacement.

The recall affects the 15-inch MacBook Pro from 2015 and does not impact later models released in 2016 and beyond. Those with 15-inch 2015 machines will need to visit an Apple retail location, an Apple Authorized Service Provider, or contact Apple support to arrange a mail-in repair.

You can determine which Mac you have by clicking on the Apple logo in the menu bar and selecting "About This Mac." The year of the machine is listed in parentheses, and affected machines will say "15-inch, Mid 2015."

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Apple has received a total of 26 reports of batteries overheating, including five reports of minor burns and 17 reports of minor damage to nearby personal property.

Apple sold approximately 432,000 affected MacBook Pro units in the United States and 26,000 in Canada.

Article Link: Damaged 15-Inch 2015 MacBook Pro Demonstrates Why Apple Initiated Battery Recall Program

[doublepost=1562260787][/doublepost]That's not a bug it's a feature.

 

[cult hero]

Lithium-polymer and lithium-ion are not the same. Laptops do not need Lithium polymer. We’d have a lot more exploding Macs if we did. Lithium-ion are more stable but pump out less current, while Lithium-polymer pump out a ton of current but are much easier to destroy.

Huh? I never implied they were the same.

Also check the tech specs. MacBooks use lithium-polymer and to my knowledge have for quite some time. Even the 12" MacBooks use them. iPhones use lithium-ion.

 

[MacGekko]

Wear out how? There’s no hard drive.

So that information is no longer valid with the SSD drives?

 

[MacGekko]

Mail in repair, for potentially exploding laptops.

That does not seem like a good idea.

Are you reporting that Macbooks are exploding after being fully shut down?

 

[Cyberpower678]

Huh? I never implied they were the same.

Also check the tech specs. MacBooks use lithium-polymer and to my knowledge have for quite some time. Even the 12" MacBooks use them. iPhones use lithium-ion.

Huh. My mistake. I retract my statement.

 

[Cyberpower678]

I have my doubts about this picture and what happened, a (Lithium ion)battery casing a fire does not burn through aluminium, and you need a bigger explosion to create such a hole in aluminium, just under the MacBook you see a burned patch or even a hole in the Table or whatever it was on, I don't think an exploding battery caused this one, hell, I can't recall ever seeing an actual Lithium cell explode on the web, they are really reactive, quick burn close to an explosion but not like for instance a firecracker.

That’s not a hole. That’s the paint that burned on to the bottom plate and separated from the table.

 

[justperry]

That’s not a hole. That’s the paint that burned on to the bottom plate and separated from the table.

Hard to see whether that is the case or not.

I still think this story is fake/have my doubts, lithium does not create a hole like that in aluminium.

 

[DogHouseDub]

My MBPro 2014's gets so hot that touching your finger above the keyboard near the edge that it can feel like fire. I added a fan widget to increase fan speed to keep it from burning up.

FWIW I do this on all my Macbooks - heat is what leads to component failure, and I can handle the extra white noise when it keeps my internals happy