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zionicion

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 20, 2011
12
13
Has anyone else encountered this? The laptop wasn't dropped or damaged. In fact, it hasn't left my house in 6 months. Yet I noticed today that the body of the laptop is seriously warped. I'm bringing it back to apple but I wanted to see if anyone else has seen this. I can actually see through the laptop...
 

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That's a swollen battery, it's a safety issue and needs to be replaced ASAP. Most likely they'll do it for free even if it's not under warranty.

I have the 2018 15" MBP, mine isn't swollen yet, but I've seen so many posts about swollen batteries in the 2018 models, and I think it's just a matter of time until mine becomes like yours :/
 
That's a swollen battery, it's a safety issue and needs to be replaced ASAP. Most likely they'll do it for free even if it's not under warranty.

I have the 2018 15" MBP, mine isn't swollen yet, but I've seen so many posts about swollen batteries in the 2018 models, and I think it's just a matter of time until mine becomes like yours :/


Crap. I was afraid this might be the issue. I'll get it in ASAP. Thanks.
 
If you don't have open Apple Stores where you are, call them.
Call APPLE -- DO NOT call a "3rd party service provider".
They will send a prepaid shipping box for you to send it in for battery replacement.
Being a 2018, they should cover this repair for free.
Expect a turnaround of 7-10 days (perhaps better, just don't know).

You wrote:
"The laptop wasn't dropped or damaged. In fact, it hasn't left my house in 6 months."

I have a question for you, please answer:
Did you always keep it plugged into the charger (or at least the majority of the time?
 
There are many swollen batteries thread you can check them out. For getting free repair out of warranty it's really depend on your luck. My 2016 15" is being serviced now and was quoted $695 + tax multiple times and finally got a quote for $199. Just FYI so you don't get disappointed if they refuse to fix it for free.
 
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If you don't have open Apple Stores where you are, call them.
Call APPLE -- DO NOT call a "3rd party service provider".
They will send a prepaid shipping box for you to send it in for battery replacement.
Being a 2018, they should cover this repair for free.
Expect a turnaround of 7-10 days (perhaps better, just don't know).

You wrote:
"The laptop wasn't dropped or damaged. In fact, it hasn't left my house in 6 months."

I have a question for you, please answer:
Did you always keep it plugged into the charger (or at least the majority of the time?
I've had the 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 MBP (all 15 inches, except for the 2012 which was 13"), and always used them while plugged in most of the time and never had a swollen battery. your theory of "always plugged in causes swollen batteries" isn't necessarily true. I believe it has something to do with heat rather than with charge level.
 
That's a swollen battery, it's a safety issue and needs to be replaced ASAP. Most likely they'll do it for free even if it's not under warranty.

I have the 2018 15" MBP, mine isn't swollen yet, but I've seen so many posts about swollen batteries in the 2018 models, and I think it's just a matter of time until mine becomes like yours :/
If it's a security issue, then they need to fix it for free outside warranty. A company cannot allow dangerous devices out in the public. If it was just broken, that would be tough luck. (Some years ago Apple had to replace 6 year old iPods that apparently could become dangerous. But only if they were working).
 
There are many swollen batteries thread you can check them out. For getting free repair out of warranty it's really depend on your luck. My 2016 15" is being serviced now and was quoted $695 + tax multiple times and finally got a quote for $199. Just FYI so you don't get disappointed if they refuse to fix it for free.
For my surprise, I was at an AASP once, and the employee was more than happy to show me her screen with GSX open, and when she entered my serial number (it was a Late 2013 15" MBP, and the visit was last year), the system lists all repair programs that my device is eligible to, which included battery replacement for swollen batteries, and because I was surprised I asked her if it's a mistake and only mid 2015 models are eligible she said no all MBP are eligible as soon as the battery is swollen with normal use.
 
Quick update. I called Apple Support to which they said: "Oh my, that's bad". They promptly scheduled a same-day drop off to repair the laptop. That was a Thursday, I picked up the laptop Monday. They told me in the store that it had to be repaired there because it wasn't safe to ship by air.
 
Several weeks ago my wife told me her 2018 MBP 15” wouldn’t stay closed. Looking it over, not only was the lid not closing properly but the bottom had bellied out so much that only two feet could touch down at a time; clearly an attack of battery swelling. All the Apple stores in my state are closed for the duration, so I went online to support, where I got a case number and phone number. Called that, waited 25 minutes on hold (to Apple’s credit there’s a choice of three styles of hold music or silence—took the latter) and finally had phone answered by a very friendly woman who asked me to check the battery condition, which I did with Coconut Battery. When I told her it was in perfect health she assured me that the battery was fine and I had nothing to worry about. As for the deformed case, she suggested I take it to an authorized repair place. I called them—the tech told me it certainly was a bad battery, it would cost over $500 and to call Apple back, which I did.

The friendly guy who answered agreed that it was a swollen battery and put me on hold for about five minutes. When he came back on he apologized that there wasn’t any kind of program for out-of-warranty battery replacement and quoted a price of close to $700 for a repair. I called back the local place, who wouldn’t quote a price without looking over the computer for $70. I called Apple again. This time, the friendly guy who answered told me he was sure the previous guy I had spoken with was wrong, and found a program that covered the repair at no charge to us. He said I’d get a shipping box within two business days, later confirmed with an email.

Monday and Tuesday passed without a box, so on Wednesday I made a fourth call and another friendly guy told me the box had been delivered by UPS on Monday! Except it hadn’t—we had watched the UPS truck pass us by. He looked into it and told us that somehow another customer’s box shipment had gotten attached to our repair order. Received Fedex box on Friday, took it back to Fedex in late afternoon, just in time for Labor Day weekend. Apple’s repair place got it on Tuesday, had it back to us repaired and working properly on Thursday, a couple of days shy of two weeks after we first called them.

Moral: while everyone was friendly, not all were knowledgeable, so call more than once.
 
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