rMBP Battery Replacement

[Ifti]

What happens when the battery on the rMBP needs to be replaced??
I understand one can get Applecare to cover any battery issues (other then general wear and tear etc) for the first 3 years, but Im planning to buy a max spec 15" rMBP on the next refresh with Haswell, and will be keeping it for as long as possible.

If it develops any battery issues within its Applecare coverage, do they replace the entire system since the battery is glued in??

How much does a battery replacement cost when outside of warranty, or is it too early to tell??

 

[chrise2]

You can replace the battery. Just super not easy. Odds are, you probably won't replace the battery. You won't want to spend the money on an older laptop. You'll just live with shortened battery life or buy a new laptop.

 

[MH01]

http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=servicefaq&geo=United_States&product=Macnotebooks

 

[luffytubby]

What happens when the battery on the rMBP needs to be replaced??
I understand one can get Applecare to cover any battery issues (other then general wear and tear etc) for the first 3 years, but Im planning to buy a max spec 15" rMBP on the next refresh with Haswell, and will be keeping it for as long as possible.

If it develops any battery issues within its Applecare coverage, do they replace the entire system since the battery is glued in??

How much does a battery replacement cost when outside of warranty, or is it too early to tell??

Isn't it like 1000 dollars to replace the battery?:/

 

[boshii]

Isn't it like 1000 dollars to replace the battery?:/

Why would it be $1000? That would make it more expensive to replace than the logic board.

 

[chrise2]

Why would it be $1000? That would make it more expensive to replace than the logic board.

Typical laptop battery is like $100 / $150. Throw in labor and extra bucks because everything Apple costs more, $300 or so wouldn't be unreasonable. That's just a guess though.

 

[Ccrew]

Isn't it like 1000 dollars to replace the battery?:/

Apple charges a flat $199

 

[Stetrain]

It costs $199.

As I understand it they replace the 'topcase', which means the palmrest/keyboard/trackpad part of the notebook, since that's what the battery is glued to.

 

[Ifti]

It costs $199.

As I understand it they replace the 'topcase', which means the palmrest/keyboard/trackpad part of the notebook, since that's what the battery is glued to.

Ah, so with a battery replacement you get a new top case and keyboard as well?
Wonder what the price would be!

 

[Stetrain]

Ah, so with a battery replacement you get a new top case and keyboard as well?
Wonder what the price would be!

I'm guessing that they will probably refurbish the top cases that they get from that replacement process. They could put new batteries in them at a service center and use them as replacement parts for others.

 

[AppleMacFinder]

You won't want to spend the money on an older laptop.

I thought cMBP is not considered as older laptop, in relation to cMBP
And it is much cheaper and easier to replace the battery on cMBP,
the only obstacle is that you need to get a triangle screwdriver

 

[thundersteele]

Official Replacement Option

Formally, when the battery no longer holds a sufficient charge it is necessary to provide Apple with the entire notebook to have the battery replaced. Apple has posted complete details on the company website -- and the price varies in different countries -- but in the US it costs US$199, in Canada it costs C$209, in the UK it costs £159, and in Australia it costs A$229 to have the battery replaced.

Those who live near an Apple Store can have the battery replaced the same day with an appointment or opt for service by mail which takes 3-4 days.

From everymac.com, found via google. Not such a big deal.

 

[Spikeywan]

I visited MeAunt last night. Her Dell Inspiron had finally got to the point where it needs a new battery, as it'll only run for 2-3 minutes before turning off. It's taken it a long time to get to this point, but as she always has access to mains power wherever she uses it, it's not a problem. Despite batteries being available for about £35, and you simply un-clip the old one, and clip the new one in, we decided that it's just not worth getting one.

If she suddenly changed her usage and needed to run it off battery, then she'd buy one, but I see no point in buying a new one now to watch it slowly die.

So, when you consider how much dramatically better the battery is in a rMBP than an ageing Dell, by the time the rMBP battery is next to useless, I would expect the rMBP would be too.

 

[chrise2]

I thought cMBP is not considered as older laptop, in relation to cMBP
And it is much cheaper and easier to replace the battery on cMBP,
the only obstacle is that you need to get a triangle screwdriver

What I meant was, when the laptop is 3 - 5 years old or whenever the battery performance becomes unacceptable, you may not think its worth it to replace the battery for whatever the cost is. You may also not care about your laptop that much at that point and may just try swapping it out yourself too!

 

[AppleMacFinder]

What I meant was, when the laptop is 3 - 5 years old or whenever the battery performance becomes unacceptable, you may not think its worth it to replace the battery for whatever the cost is. You may also not care about your laptop that much at that point and may just try swapping it out yourself too!

What I meant was, when the laptop is 3 - 5 years old or whenever the battery performance becomes unacceptable, you may not think its worth it to replace the battery for whatever the cost is. You may also not care about your laptop that much at that point and may just try swapping it out yourself too!

Yes, this does not seem to be rare, I have an old Dell notebook which battery became bad:
enough only for 5 minutes of portable work The cheapest battery costs $30 from China,
but I do not want to invest more money to this dying notebook which costs around $120 today.

However, I doubt this sort of thing would ever happen with Macbook Pro, especially with classic model.
For classic model, battery could be bought for $76 if not lower (my cool story could be interesting)
but for retina model it would be difficult to replace the battery by yourself without Apple's help,
and Apple will charge a lot for their service like usual (full retail battery price + labor fees)

 

[printz]

Sorry, I don't think a 5-year laptop (a possible time when its battery dies) is useless. Things just don't evolve that fast any more for mainstream applications. Sure, there are the new games and high-resolution films, but some users like me don't care about them. And I'm super glad I replaced white MacBook's battery after 4 years of use, since I still use it a lot when I don't want to bring the 2-grand rMBP with me [I have 2 laptops for reasons independent of me].

I hope that, if I'm unable to replace the battery, at least the rMBP still work without it and plugged all the time, though the new T connectors are ridiculously easy to remove. I hope the new batteries don't swell and threaten to destroy the laptop.

How do I maximize the battery's service life? By keeping the laptop plugged as often as possible?

 

[Ifti]

Im looking to purchase a max spec rMBP as soon as the Haswell models are out, and am fine in 'investing' the money into it as Im looking to keep it as long as possible.
Although I always buy Applecare, since the battery is so difficult to replace, the only concern I have is what if the battery swells etc after 4 years or so, when Applecare ends?

Is battery swelling with older systems normal?

 

[ozbilge10]

probably, it is more complicated than non retina ones.why do you wan to change your battery

 

[Mr MM]

Im looking to purchase a max spec rMBP as soon as the Haswell models are out, and am fine in 'investing' the money into it as Im looking to keep it as long as possible.
Although I always buy Applecare, since the battery is so difficult to replace, the only concern I have is what if the battery swells etc after 4 years or so, when Applecare ends?

Is battery swelling with older systems normal?

it happens, as in all LiPO and LiION batteries, not usual, but it does.

you know the price to change the battery, its actually compatible with the same size of batteries that are out there, 200 (one of the few notebooks that has such a high wattage battery is the x230 and it costs 200 for that as well)

 

[leman]

Im looking to purchase a max spec rMBP as soon as the Haswell models are out, and am fine in 'investing' the money into it as Im looking to keep it as long as possible.
Although I always buy Applecare, since the battery is so difficult to replace, the only concern I have is what if the battery swells etc after 4 years or so, when Applecare ends?

Is battery swelling with older systems normal?

Battery is not part of warranty anyway, so AppleCare won't help you. Yes, some battery swelling is not unexpected. It costs $199 (euro 199) to replace the battery, which is a very good price given the battery quality and the labour involved.

 

[Stetrain]

Im looking to purchase a max spec rMBP as soon as the Haswell models are out, and am fine in 'investing' the money into it as Im looking to keep it as long as possible.
Although I always buy Applecare, since the battery is so difficult to replace, the only concern I have is what if the battery swells etc after 4 years or so, when Applecare ends?

Is battery swelling with older systems normal?

That $199 replacement cost is for a non-warranty replacement. Even after your AppleCare runs out the $199 price for a battery replacement is still valid.

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Battery is not part of warranty anyway, so AppleCare won't help you. Yes, some battery swelling is not unexpected. It costs $199 (euro 199) to replace the battery, which is a very good price given the battery quality and the labour involved.

The warranty does cover defective batteries, just not normal wear and tear from usage.

If you battery swells or loses capacity faster than it should with the number of cycles you have put it through, they should replace it under warranty.

 

[fskywalker]

That $199 replacement cost is for a non-warranty replacement. Even after your AppleCare runs out the $199 price for a battery replacement is still valid.

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The warranty does cover defective batteries, just not normal wear and tear from usage.

If you battery swells or loses capacity faster than it should with the number of cycles you have put it through, they should replace it under warranty.

After how many cycles does a battery tends to get damaged?

 

[Stetrain]

After how many cycles does a battery tends to get damaged?

The built-in battery of your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air is designed to deliver up to 1000 full charge and discharge cycles before it reaches 80 percent of its original capacity.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

 

[fskywalker]

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

Thanks a lot for the information and the link!!!

 

[aolbites]

Im looking to purchase a max spec rMBP as soon as the Haswell models are out, and am fine in 'investing' the money into it as Im looking to keep it as long as possible.
Although I always buy Applecare, since the battery is so difficult to replace, the only concern I have is what if the battery swells etc after 4 years or so, when Applecare ends?

Is battery swelling with older systems normal?

Applecare ends after 3 years, btw.