Swollen Batteries

[kryptticAZ]

I took a late 2016 MBP and a 2018 MBP in to Apple this week. BOTH had swollen batteries. The later is being repaired for no charge, despite being out of warranty and I traded the other one in. Note that neither of these are on the official recall list. I’m out of a computer for about a week and for some reason I was was warned about possible data loss. Is there something about battery replacement that can erase the flash drive, or is this just a standard warning?

The week delay is because Apple has to ship these faulty batteries via ground shipping due to safety concerns. It sucks, but I guess it’s better than it exploding and destroying the whole unit. I suspect this battery issue is much larger than they’re letting on and affects more than a “small number of customers.” Either that, or I just happen to own TWO units with bad batteries (that aren’t even on the official recall list).

 

[duervo]

It’s a standard warning to cover their butts.

 

[thekev]

Data loss is a standard warning anytime they're cracking open a machine. It's a pretty standard warning. I have encountered the swelling batteries on more than one occasion. Apple always asked the normal repair rate. One was a few months out of Applecare. I'm not actually sure what determines whether they extend such an offer.

 

[TonyK]

My wife's 2015 MBP was on a battery replacement list. We too got the standard warning. Used to NOT be this way but then it happened a few times so Apple just makes sure people are warned.

Always backup your systems before turning any system in for work.

 

[Howard2k]

Always backup your systems before turning any system in for work.

+1. It’s so easy to backup a system these days it’s astonishing to me that we get so many posts about data loss.

 

[posguy99]

+1. It’s so easy to backup a system these days it’s astonishing to me that we get so many posts about data loss.

Entitled gonna be Entitled, is all. Why should *they* have to do backups? How dare hardware be a physical thing!

 

[0388279]

The week delay is because Apple has to ship these faulty batteries via ground shipping due to safety concerns. It sucks, but I guess it’s better than it exploding and destroying the whole unit. I suspect this battery issue is much larger than they’re letting on and affects more than a “small number of customers.” Either that, or I just happen to own TWO units with bad batteries (that aren’t even on the official recall list).

My 2016 MBP fell below 80% original charge capacity and swelled after only 500 charges. My impression was that these batteries were supposed to last 1000 charges.

What are other individuals experience?

Don Barar

 

[posguy99]

My 2016 MBP fell below 80% original charge capacity and swelled after only 500 charges. My impression was that these batteries were supposed to last 1000 charges.

Yup. That's what the statistics say. And batteries are physical objects and none are absolutely identical. If you were within warranty or within AppleCare, it would have been replaced for that reason.
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Always backup your systems.

Fixed that for you.

 

[No Mercy]

Just last week I noticed that the bottom half split open on both sides on my MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018). I took it in to the local Apple store and they said it was a swollen battery. They also said it was "very rare" on the newer MBP's like I have. I asked for a new MBP and they said that since mine was so new, Apple policy is to repair and not replace.

The repair took 4 days, including shipping time. Not bad at all. Apple replaced the battery, logic board, track pad, fans and wiring and did a clean system install. They warned me about the clean system install. I have triple backup redundancy so it was no biggy. I was able to reinstall everything without a hitch. I had to reenter some software keys, but other than that no issues at all. There was no charge for the repairs. I do have Apple Care. The standard warranty expired 2 days before I took the MBP in for repair.

I did notice that the MBP would get very hot as it sat on my wooden desk so I bought one of those cheap cooling fan pads. Maybe it will make a difference? I have the Coconut Battery software to track the temps.

 

[thekev]

My 2016 MBP fell below 80% original charge capacity and swelled after only 500 charges. My impression was that these batteries were supposed to last 1000 charges.

What are other individuals experience?

Don Barar

There's always a distribution to these things, but apart from that, they don't last forever regardless of cycles. Some people appear to get lucky, but I always seem to see signs of swelling (sometimes more subtle) after 3 years or so. If you bought it in 2016, that's typical.

As for ones that stay on a shelf, they're stored around 50% charge, which is Apple's recommendation if they won't be in use for a week or longer.

 

[Chocomonsters]

Just last week I noticed that the bottom half split open on both sides on my MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018). I took it in to the local Apple store and they said it was a swollen battery. They also said it was "very rare" on the newer MBP's like I have. I asked for a new MBP and they said that since mine was so new, Apple policy is to repair and not replace.

The repair took 4 days, including shipping time. Not bad at all. Apple replaced the battery, logic board, track pad, fans and wiring and did a clean system install. They warned me about the clean system install. I have triple backup redundancy so it was no biggy. I was able to reinstall everything without a hitch. I had to reenter some software keys, but other than that no issues at all. There was no charge for the repairs. I do have Apple Care. The standard warranty expired 2 days before I took the MBP in for repair.

I did notice that the MBP would get very hot as it sat on my wooden desk so I bought one of those cheap cooling fan pads. Maybe it will make a difference? I have the Coconut Battery software to track the temps.

Apple now states 2 weeks turn-around time for a swollen battery repair in California since the unit has to be shipped to service center by ground for safety reason (not allowed for air shipping).