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MacBook Pro Retina battery repair

Jumpthesnark

Jumpthesnark

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 24, 2022
1,254
5,182
California
Just yesterday I dropped off my 2015 MacBook Pro 15" Retina at the Apple Store for a battery replacement. I bought it refurbed in 2018. The speakers had gone bad, so I replaced them two months ago (that was a journey), cleaned up the interior and redid the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU while I had the machine open. That was when I really noticed that the battery was swollen, so I knew it was time to replace it.

The Genius was super helpful, and surprised that I had switched out the speakers. Ran diagnostics that showed everything was working except the battery was in trouble. I showed him that the bottom of the case was being pushed out by the battery - the four feet weren't even touching the desk any more! And he showed me that the trackpad was also being pushed up, which I hadn't noticed.

So they're going to try to fix it on site, said it should take 3-5 business days. It will cost $199. If they can't fix it there, I'll bring it to a local repair shop that specializes in Macs, but I wanted to take it to Apple first.

Will update with the results!

Here's a photo showing the MacBook after I removed the case, but before I had replaced the speakers, done the cleaning, etc. You can see the puffy battery cells.

IMG_3974.jpg
 
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Jumpthesnark said:
Just yesterday I dropped off my 2015 MacBook Pro 15" Retina at the Apple Store for a battery replacement. I bought it refurbed in 2018. The speakers had gone bad, so I replaced them two months ago (that was a journey), cleaned up the interior and redid the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU while I had the machine open. That was when I really noticed that the battery was swollen, so I knew it was time to replace it.

The Genius was super helpful, and surprised that I had switched out the speakers. Ran diagnostics that showed everything was working except the battery was in trouble. I showed him that the bottom of the case was being pushed out by the battery - the four feet weren't even touching the desk any more! And he showed me that the trackpad was also being pushed up, which I hadn't noticed.

So they're going to try to fix it on site, said it should take 3-5 business days. It will cost $199. If they can't fix it there, I'll bring it to a local repair shop that specializes in Macs, but I wanted to take it to Apple first.

Will update with the results!

Here's a photo showing the MacBook after I removed the case, but before I had replaced the speakers, done the cleaning, etc. You can see the puffy battery cells.

View attachment 2001328
Click to expand...
I had the free bottom with top case replacement , and track pad replacement done and it was free of charge. The battery changed too. I also have the 2015 15 inch MacBook Pro. If your serial number is the serial #'s that the Mac Service Center has for free repairs, you will get it done free. I did.
 
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smooth0906 said:
If your serial number is the serial #'s that the Mac Service Center has for free repairs, you will get it done free. I did.
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Ahhh lucky! I checked online before I brought it in and no joy. The page on Apple's site said my serial number wasn't eligible. Either it wasn't part of the recall, or it had already been serviced (I bought it as a refurb).
 
Jumpthesnark said:
Just yesterday I dropped off my 2015 MacBook Pro 15" Retina at the Apple Store for a battery replacement. I bought it refurbed in 2018. The speakers had gone bad, so I replaced them two months ago (that was a journey)
Click to expand...
Can you say a little more about replacing your speakers? I'm about to do this for my 2017 15'' mbp, and everything I've read says that they need to have a good air tight seal with the new tape or they'll rattle like the old ones. Any advice or parts source you used? ifixit isn't helpful here unfortunately.
 
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$200 is a very good price for a battery replacement. I spent $100 on the ifixit battery replacement kit just a few weeks ago. The battery in my late 2013 rMBP looked a lot like yours. It took a bit over an hour and now the computer sits flat on the desk again and the trackpad clicks like new.
 
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kschendel said:
$200 is a very good price for a battery replacement. I spent $100 on the ifixit battery replacement kit just a few weeks ago. The battery in my late 2013 rMBP looked a lot like yours. It took a bit over an hour and now the computer sits flat on the desk again and the trackpad clicks like new.
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Wow, hat-tip to you for undertaking that project. I looked at the same option and watched the video, and I really didn't like how difficult they made the battery removal look - all that isopropyl alcohol, all that prying and scraping. I thought I'd pay $100 more and have professionals do it, and not risk tearing a battery cell or ruining things some other way.
 
UPDATE - I got a call from the Apple Store today and they already had it repaired. It took less than a day. I ran over after work and picked it up. It looks great* - sits flat again, the trackpad is normal again. Would have loved it if this were covered under their battery replacement program, but I'm not unhappy with how things turned out.

*in addition to the battery, they replaced the top case, so I have a new keyboard and trackpad. The top case was damaged from impact when I bought it as a refurb, so it's in better condition now than it was when I bought it.
 
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Jottle said:
Can you say a little more about replacing your speakers? I'm about to do this for my 2017 15'' mbp, and everything I've read says that they need to have a good air tight seal with the new tape or they'll rattle like the old ones. Any advice or parts source you used? ifixit isn't helpful here unfortunately.
Click to expand...
I don't know about the 2017 MBP, but I can tell you I got my speakers from eBay, from someone who sells what appears to be legit Apple parts for repair, and not the knock-offs that I've seen for sale on Amazon. Here's what I got https://www.ebay.com/itm/333273354082 check his stuff, he had lots of items. Good luck and let us know what you hear!
 
Jumpthesnark said:
UPDATE - I got a call from the Apple Store today and they already had it repaired. It took less than a day. I ran over after work and picked it up. It looks great* - sits flat again, the trackpad is normal again. Would have loved it if this were covered under their battery replacement program, but I'm not unhappy with how things turned out.

*aside from the bits that already looked like it was treated pretty poorly before I bought it as a refurb.
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Generally, battery replacements are done in store in a quick manner. Surprised they didn't tell you to wait an hour or so.
 
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In my case, the battery removal went very well. I skipped nearly all of the "caution, this cable is extremely delicate" steps and used dental floss with just a few careful drops of the adhesive remover. I think it's probably a lot easier to remove a badly swollen battery than a new one, because the swollen battery has already done some of the work for you.

I was getting quotes of $400 and up for someone to do it, so I decided to give it a try.
 
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Jumpthesnark said:
I don't know about the 2017 MBP, but I can tell you I got my speakers from eBay, from someone who sells what appears to be legit Apple parts for repair, and not the knock-offs that I've seen for sale on Amazon. Here's what I got https://www.ebay.com/itm/333273354082 check his stuff, he had lots of items. Good luck and let us know what you hear!
Click to expand...
Thanks. Did you follow any specific guides to make the repair a success?
 
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kschendel said:
In my case, the battery removal went very well. I skipped nearly all of the "caution, this cable is extremely delicate" steps and used dental floss with just a few careful drops of the adhesive remover. I think it's probably a lot easier to remove a badly swollen battery than a new one, because the swollen battery has already done some of the work for you.

I was getting quotes of $400 and up for someone to do it, so I decided to give it a try.
Click to expand...
The problem with DTI battery repairs, is if you are not careful and the new and/or old battery's leads touch anything that creates an arc/short.
 
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Jottle said:
Thanks. Did you follow any specific guides to make the repair a success?
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Yes, definitely. There are lots of YT videos out there, and I watched a bunch, because someone always skips past something. The single best one was this
he didn't speed through it and he was careful to really show all the little cables that needed to be detached. He's also the one who led me to the eBay speaker seller I referenced, which was big. Aside from that I went to OWC to make sure I had the right tools to take the MacBook apart, and I got a dry-erase magnetized mat from Amazon to keep all the screws organized once I removed them. So many tiny screws ?
 
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