The battery on my unibody Late 2008 15" MBP is bulging and stretching the case. The battery won't sit flat on a table. I'm not that close to an Apple Store... what do people think my results would be if I took it in? My AppleCare has expired; does Apple usually replace bulging batteries even out of warranty? Or will I have to buy a new one?
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Late 2008 15" MBP battery bulging
- Thread starter eatrains
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You'll have to buy a new one. Also before it explodes remove the battery and just power on your mbp but it's power cord.
Based on others who have posted their experiences, while not guaranteed, your chances are pretty good that they'll replace it, even out of warranty. Bulging is definitely sign of a defective battery. It doesn't hurt to ask. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:
A friend of mine had an out of warranty fix for a first gen MBA with a bulging battery, free. It also had a broken hinge which apple is known to fix for free. So maybe that was a special case? This repair was done less than 6 weeks ago
The official line is they won't, so it's a matter of finding someone willing to do it.
I wouldn't trust or recommend any battery that didn't come from Apple, based on the number of complaints I've read in the forum by those who bought 3rd party batteries and had problems.
If you take it to the Apple store, they might replace it free. It depends on how nicely you ask and who you talk to. They've been known to make exceptions to rules to keep customers happy. This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:
My Late 2008 Aluminum Unibody MacBook had this same issue about 2 months ago. I do have AppleCare, but when I went to my local Apple Store and showed the guy the battery, he went to the back and brought out a brand new shrink wrapped retail battery and opened it. THEN he said "You have AppleCare right?" to which I nodded, and he gave me the battery and took my old one. Didn't check in the computer or anything. So they clearly know this is an issue and in this case, didn't seem to be too stringent about it.
Both the user manual for the battery and the Genius did mention that this is actually normal. The battery bulges to prevent bad things from happening.
YMMV, of course.
Both the user manual for the battery and the Genius did mention that this is actually normal. The battery bulges to prevent bad things from happening.
YMMV, of course.
I recently replaced my battery in my macbook for this exact same issue, but I replaced it with a non-apple battery.
Looks exactly the same, even has the gauge on it. The only difference that I can tell is that it's not a 100% perfectly flush fit on the bottom. But the laptop sits flat and it's easily good enough, seeing as it cost less than £30.
It holds a good few hours charge as well - what else do you want from a battery. I was skeptical, but then considering the difference in cost I figured it was worth a shot.
Looks exactly the same, even has the gauge on it. The only difference that I can tell is that it's not a 100% perfectly flush fit on the bottom. But the laptop sits flat and it's easily good enough, seeing as it cost less than £30.
It holds a good few hours charge as well - what else do you want from a battery. I was skeptical, but then considering the difference in cost I figured it was worth a shot.
I originally got a mid-2007 MacBook Pro when it came out, along with the extended warranty. Then it got hit with a bad battery, then it had the nVidia graphics issues, then it came back from repair with a faulty power supply, then it got stuck at the Texas repair place for weeks because of a hurricane. So when it had a screen problem in October 08, Apple just gave me a new unibody. So even though the computer was brand new, the AppleCare was still linked to my original MacBook Pro and expired in summer 2010.
Of course this laptop has had lots of problems (AirPort freezing and crashing the computer, display flickering on the integrated graphics card, etc). And now the battery is bulging. I've had bad luck.
My battery has swollen to the point that I can't close the battery lid. I'm gonna ask nicely at the Apple store for them to replace it, but I'm not expecting much.