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Macbook Swollen Battery: Help with Apple Defects
- Thread starter thelawnetwork
- Start date
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That's what I'm aiming and hoping for.
Didn't think anyone cared. Apple ended up unofficially acknowledging the battery issue but their remedy was to pay $142 to do no more than replace their defective battery. Too bad it was swept under the carpet and the resulting avoidable damage is what it is. As you can see, I wasn't exaggerating. Top photo is how much separation exists after removing the remaining screw - and that's just from the bottom panel. The battery swells on both sides. The middle photo shows you the bottom (hard plastic swell) and the top, which is soft and pushes into the trackpad - which you can see in the bottom photo just how pushed through it is. The disgrace is that it happened so often yet this was and is considered "expected" from Apple Macbook batteries - and the story told about how lithium ion batteries swell like this, etc. Yeah, right. I've never seen this happen, especially when not abused and certainly not when turned off and sitting in a neoprene sleeve in a room between 62-70F.
Again, I understand your frustration and anger but you seem to still feel that this is a problem isolated to Apple products which it is not. Again, the problem lies in the battery technology.
On the other hand, should Apple take more responsibility because they chose to employ such technology in their products? In my opinion, I think they should. As I stated, I have also seen this happen on my hardware. But I chalked it up to bad luck, learned the warning signs, picked up a new battery, and moved on.
On the other hand, should Apple take more responsibility because they chose to employ such technology in their products? In my opinion, I think they should. As I stated, I have also seen this happen on my hardware. But I chalked it up to bad luck, learned the warning signs, picked up a new battery, and moved on.
I too have never had this happen to HP laptops and I have owned about five of those. Of the Two MacBooks I've owned, it's happened to both. Never had this happen to any of my MBPs.
Like the Google search for swollen batteries indicates, this specific problem yields a disproportionately large number of several Apple Macbook models. Sure the issue can theoretically happen with other lithium ion batteries. But it doesn't with any other non-Macbook product I've seen anywhere near this frequency. And no one has been able to point to examples either, which should have been easy to find if true. Regarding warning signs, as others have posted, most of the time there aren't any. My device sat in the neoprene bag at room temperature after testing just fine. A few months later the battery is bursting out of the device. So now that you know, you can feel better that you weren't unlucky. 
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Follow up - new battery arrived, was ridiculously cheap at Amazon.com. Hoped it would just hold a charge that would get me 80% of the original Apple battery... OK... maybe 70%. Battery wouldn't charge at all. Drained from its precharged 70% level to 7% in less than an hour. Sent in a request for a refund. Manufacturer refunded the money and told me not to bother sending it back. While unfortunately there seem to be no reliable Macbook batteries left to purchase that are available and reliable (other than the $142 Apple option), at least the Macbook works with the charger and the battery only seems not to work (and hopefully not swelling and bursting!)
Check iFixit. I know they still sell some for my old 2008 black MacBook so they should sell some for the 2010. They DO have them in stock for $99.
Great idea. But in thinking about the cost of the battery plus tax and shipping, that comes out to probably 50% of the cost of buying another used MacBook. It doesn't seem economical to replace the battery.Perhaps, especially given my use, will probably not require remote needs, I may be able to get by with just using the power adapter.
I agree. @Queen6 nailed it and I'm grateful for now knowing the truth - I had no idea about the double kick in the pants = removing the bulging / swollen Apple Macbook battery causes a CPU slowdown. But having a detected battery inside - even if not charging properly - will apparently not slow down the machine. Fortunately what I have will allow me to make use of a late 2009 Macbook with a flawless screen, perfectly working DVD drive, excellent condition Magsafe AC adapter and running Yosemite and the latest Xcode. That is more than enough to use for basic browsing, email, testing website compatibility and uploading Apps from a home or office location.
$99 too. Apple compatible batteries unfortunately seem to cost a fortune. There are some others for $70 but reported charge varies, some saying it's 4 hours and others saying up to 2 hours. At the price for my HP and Lenovo batteries I'd buy them (about $30-50) but this still seems the best approach - recognized battery that doesn't charge. The old Macbook will perform very well as a desktop equivalent. All good here and thanks!
All good here and thanks!