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Swollen Battery - MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

reddevil0728 said:
Well, it maybe small sample, but that doesn't change the fact that there may indeed by some intrinsic issue. So it is not nonsense like you said.
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Of course it is you have made a blanket statement about a product with no real evidence to back it up, there could be a problem means nothing. There could be a problem with almost anything.

As I explained this is a risk with any lithium ion battery and if you asked this question about any generation of any laptop computer you would get a similar number of results. Go on go and ask on dells forums, or microsofts or Lenovo or ask the same question on here for a 2013 MacBook pro or a 2014 MacBook air etc etc etc.

Its an underlying issue with the technology which we accept because they are currently the best battery option for a portable device that simple.
 
So far, my 2015 15" MBP is doing great. I was thinking about stolen batteries a few weeks ago and kind of worried about mine. I bought it a week after release and I have 21 cycles on mine.

I had a 2010 white MB in which the battery swelled up on it and a 2008 black MB that did the same.
 
Samuelsan2001 said:
Of course it is you have made a blanket statement about a product with no real evidence to back it up, there could be a problem means nothing. There could be a problem with almost anything.

As I explained this is a risk with any lithium ion battery and if you asked this question about any generation of any laptop computer you would get a similar number of results. Go on go and ask on dells forums, or microsofts or Lenovo or ask the same question on here for a 2013 MacBook pro or a 2014 MacBook air etc etc etc.

Its an underlying issue with the technology which we accept because they are currently the best battery option for a portable device that simple.
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I did use the word "seems" eh... I never said definitively there IS an instrinic issue.
 
reddevil0728 said:
I did use the word "seems" eh... I never said definitively there IS an instrinic issue.
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That's my point there is an intrinsic issue with the technology, NOT with 2015 MacBook pros, its a possible issue for any lithium Ion battery in any device made by any manufacturer.
 
Samuelsan2001 said:
That's my point there is an intrinsic issue with the technology, NOT with 2015 MacBook pros, its a possible issue for any lithium Ion battery in any device made by any manufacturer.
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Then maybe I will clarify... There seems to be an instrinic issue with the technology used to make the battery of the 2015 MacBook pro.
[doublepost=1511959830][/doublepost]
Samuelsan2001 said:
You seem to think there is a problem with 2015 MBP's causing this, there isn't this is a possible issue for all lithium Ion batteries.
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perception maybe.
 
diggy33 said:
Yep, had a guy at work bring his machine in because he said it was warped. I took a look at it, and the bottom cover was bowed out, so I told him it looked like the battery was swelling up. I hadnt seen that happen since the pre-unibody machines, so I was pretty surprised. Sent it in to our warranty provider and they replaced the top cover, so he got a new keyboard out of it as well since its all one piece. His battery only had 200 cycles on it

View attachment 738770
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I can see one battery being bad but from your image ALL the cells are bulging, that is crazy! Makes you think there is something wrong with the charging system.
 
Newtons Apple said:
I can see one battery being bad but from your image ALL the cells are bulging, that is crazy! Makes you think there is something wrong with the charging system.
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Could be. They did change it out, and I gave the guy a new power adapter, so we'll see what happens from here. Of the 300+ mid 2015 Mac's that we have deployed, he's the only one that has had this issue (so far)
 
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reddevil0728 said:
Then maybe I will clarify... There seems to be an instrinic issue with the technology used to make the battery of the 2015 MacBook pro.
[doublepost=1511959830][/doublepost]
perception maybe.
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Yes your perception, you are taking it personally, rather than looking at the evidence of which I have provided plenty.
 
reddevil0728 said:
Second time in two years, I have to get the battery of MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) replaced due to swollen battery issue. Anybody facing the same issue?

Seems like there is inherent manufacturing defect of the battery for this model.
Click to expand...

Hello i am a newbie here and i wanted to thank all on this page for there insight on it seems a known battery swelling on macbook pro's, i bought my macbook pro 15" retina late 2014, after about a year the trackpad started to fail, as i did not have apple care after a year and could not afford a new pad so i did nothing about it, on monday 21st of may this year my power supply (the white block) failed, was not expecting that to be honest for an apple product but i sure occasional it could happen, took the laptop into the apple store near me to get a replacement magsafe power supply and there guys told me of the trackpad/ battery issue, so i phone apple care usa last night they told me to speak to the store which i did this morning, the store excepted what i had to say, i offered to pay for at least 1 of the items involved just not both, but it seems under uk consumer rights laws i am protected for up to 6 years after i bought it, they are replacing the battery, trackpad, keyboard and top casing for free :) (i used the info on this page to back up the seemingly known issue with glued in batteries via apple on there new laptops of that period) so again thank you all :)
[doublepost=1527068899][/doublepost]to add to the above story the argument i made is this, the battery if dies should just die it should not swell over 1,2,3,4,5 or even 10 years it should stay flat (even though my macbook pro battery has not been charged more than 200 times and still has a strong battery life on it as i have not really used it), i have a powerbook g4 its battery is flat, it's flat as a pancake for a charge but its shape has not changed in 15 years! and if the battery has changed shape and is effecting any other part of the computer then you can safely expect apple to replace it for free with in a reasonable time after buying it even out of warranty (depending on your countries consumer rights time limit) so i hope this has helped to.
 
[QUOTE="UKdude, post: 26080077, member: 1131214"to add to the above story the argument i made is this, the battery if dies should just die it should not swell over 1,2,3,4,5 or even 10 years it should stay flat (even though my macbook pro battery has not been charged more than 200 times and still has a strong battery life on it as i have not really used it), i have a powerbook g4 its battery is flat, it's flat as a pancake for a charge but its shape has not changed in 15 years! and if the battery has changed shape and is effecting any other part of the computer then you can safely expect apple to replace it for free with in a reasonable time after buying it even out of warranty (depending on your countries consumer rights time limit) so i hope this has helped to.[/QUOTE]

LiIon battery swell when they degrade. My guess in the battery on your powerbook is quite swollen also, but is inside a plastic case. At some point is will break that case. Since 2009 or so MacBook batteries are not been housed in plastic cases. The are in packs and starting with the retina MacBooks multiple packs under the keyboard and trackpad.

Your case of replacing the battery for free is unusual and may be due to laws in your country. In most countries you are on you own after a year or two, unless you buy an extended warranty.
 
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jerryk said:
[QUOTE="UKdude, post: 26080077, member: 1131214"to add to the above story the argument i made is this, the battery if dies should just die it should not swell over 1,2,3,4,5 or even 10 years it should stay flat (even though my macbook pro battery has not been charged more than 200 times and still has a strong battery life on it as i have not really used it), i have a powerbook g4 its battery is flat, it's flat as a pancake for a charge but its shape has not changed in 15 years! and if the battery has changed shape and is effecting any other part of the computer then you can safely expect apple to replace it for free with in a reasonable time after buying it even out of warranty (depending on your countries consumer rights time limit) so i hope this has helped to.
Click to expand...

LiIon battery swell when they degrade. My guess in the battery on your powerbook is quite swollen also, but is inside a plastic case. At some point is will break that case. Since 2009 or so MacBook batteries are not been housed in plastic cases. The are in packs and starting with the retina MacBooks multiple packs under the keyboard and trackpad.

Your case of replacing the battery for free is unusual and may be due to laws in your country. In most countries you are on you own after a year or two, unless you buy an extended warranty.[/QUOTE]


The computer is a macbook pro 15" retina 2.5ghz quad i7 16gb ram with nvidia geforce gt 750 & intel iris pro, its on 104 cycles out of a 1000, when i bought it it cost £1999 (dec 2014) from a apple shop and the united kingdom consumer rights lasts 6 years after purchase. The repairs are being done in the same shop i bought it from and they are who authorised the free repairs (not apple care usa but apple care usa did remind me on my consumer rights which i told the shop to add some weight).

If i came to this thread from the uk with a swollen battery then its across the board not just one location worldwide, so please people check your consumer rights laws (if you have any), but you can still get discounts and you can barter with apple i was willing to pay for either the battery or the trackpad but not both, it was them who went 2 steps further by offering the full repair for free with replacing the keyboard and the front casing as well.
 
reddevil0728 said:
Second time in two years, I have to get the battery of MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) replaced due to swollen battery issue. Anybody facing the same issue?

Seems like there is inherent manufacturing defect of the battery for this model.
Click to expand...

Mine is 15” MBP Retina mid-2014 i7 16GB RAM 1TB SSD, got it in mid 2015. Just experienced swollen battery too. Of course it’s just outside of AppleCare warranty. Brought it into Genius Bar, guy told me it will cost ~US$200 to replace the battery but any other damage caused by the battery will be free of charge, i.e. motherboard, top panel, etc.

What I don’t get is this swollen battery look very similar to the current 13” MBP battery that’s being replaced right now under their replacement program. How do we know there aren’t more similar incidents? The supervisor even told me he experienced similar swollen battery with his own MBP and he had to pay for the fix too!

I currently have 3 MBPs in my family, each of them have experienced various defects, 2 faulty monitors, speakers, etc, that somehow coincidentally occurred shortly after warranty expired. I have a 6 year old Fujitsu that will probably outlast all of these. This will be the last Mac, if not Apple products (don’t even get me started on our iPhones n iPads), that I will waste my money on. The only thing premium is the price.
 

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Could anyone update that if your MBP battery replacement was covered by Apple? If not how much did you pay?
 
I have a Macbook pro, 15-inch, mid-2015 purchased around March 2016. The battery started swelling after about a year. At first it was very slight, but gradually the swelling accelerated. By February 2019 the swelling was so bad I feared it would catch fire or explode. So, I shut it down and put it on my tile floor. I called Apple and the told me to send it in for a $99 repair, which I did. The whole repair cycle from drop off at FedEx to having it back in my hands took less than 48 hours. That was 15 Feb 2019 and Apple never charged me the $99.

About 3 months ago, the swelling phenomenon started again. Now (28 Dec 2020) I have my MacBook Pro sitting on an inch and a half thick granite cutting board just in case it catches fire. Looks like I need to repeat the replacement dance.

BTW, I totally agree with reddevil0728 that there is "some intrinsic issue" since the same thing happened twice for me.

Oh, and there's this, too. https://support.apple.com/15-inch-macbook-pro-battery-recall
 
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openmic said:
I have a Macbook pro, 15-inch, mid-2015 purchased around March 2016. The battery started swelling after about a year. At first it was very slight, but gradually the swelling accelerated. By February 2019 the swelling was so bad I feared it would catch fire or explode. So, I shut it down and put it on my tile floor. I called Apple and the told me to send it in for a $99 repair, which I did. The whole repair cycle from drop off at FedEx to having it back in my hands took less than 48 hours. That was 15 Feb 2019 and Apple never charged me the $99.

About 3 months ago, the swelling phenomenon started again. Now (28 Dec 2020) I have my MacBook Pro sitting on an inch and a half thick granite cutting board just in case it catches fire. Looks like I need to repeat the replacement dance.

BTW, I totally agree with reddevil0728 that there is "some intrinsic issue" since the same thing happened twice for me.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Whats your battery usage like? (do you go from 100 to 0 often or mostly stickingto 60-70%?)
 
openmic said:
I have a Macbook pro, 15-inch, mid-2015 purchased around March 2016. The battery started swelling after about a year. At first it was very slight, but gradually the swelling accelerated. By February 2019 the swelling was so bad I feared it would catch fire or explode. So, I shut it down and put it on my tile floor. I called Apple and the told me to send it in for a $99 repair, which I did. The whole repair cycle from drop off at FedEx to having it back in my hands took less than 48 hours. That was 15 Feb 2019 and Apple never charged me the $99.

About 3 months ago, the swelling phenomenon started again. Now (28 Dec 2020) I have my MacBook Pro sitting on an inch and a half thick granite cutting board just in case it catches fire. Looks like I need to repeat the replacement dance.

BTW, I totally agree with reddevil0728 that there is "some intrinsic issue" since the same thing happened twice for me.

Oh, and there's this, too. https://support.apple.com/15-inch-macbook-pro-battery-recall
Click to expand...
While it probably does not matter because of the recall, but, do you leave it plugged in all the time. That has been known to reduce battery life.
 
jerryk said:
While it probably does not matter because of the recall, but, do you leave it plugged in all the time. That has been known to reduce battery life.
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Yes, I leave it plugged in most of the time. When I bought it I basically switched from a Desktop setup to using the Macbook pro as a replacement CPU, but having the portability when I need it.

If I may kindly ask, would regular discharge to a target % charge improve battery life? If so, what is the frequency of "regular discharge" needed and what would be a suitable target % charge to reach?

As an informative note, I checked my serial number using an online thing by Apple getting this response ...
The serial number you entered is not eligible under this program because either:

  • It's not in the affected serial number range.
  • Our records show that your device has already been serviced as part of this Program.
Looks like Apple classified the repair done back in 2019 under the recall, although at the time I sent it in they had not announced the recall. At least, I was not aware of a recall. I'm calling tomorrow, probably going to chose mail in repair again.
 
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openmic wrote:
"BTW, I totally agree with reddevil0728 that there is "some intrinsic issue" since the same thing happened twice for me."

An important question:
Are you one of those "I leave it plugged into the charger all the time" guys?
Then... THAT'S where the source of your troubles lies.

Once you have a fresh battery installed, here are my recommendations as to "maintaining" it:
- You can leave it plugged into the charger during the day, but 3-4 times a week, take it OFF the charger and let the battery run down to about 40% or so. Then, plug it back in.
- At night, whether you power it off or just let it sleep, DISCONNECT THE CHARGER FROM THE WALL OUTLET. Then, plug it back in the next morning.
I suggest doing this via the wall outlet to reduce wear and tear on the Magsafe connection.

Do these two things, and I'll reckon your battery will last A LOT longer.

My opinion only.
Others will disagree.
Some will disagree vehemently.
 
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OMG ... Apple Service and Support wants $639.81 to replace the battery on my Macbook pro, 15-inch, mid-2015. That induced sticker shock in me to say the least. Needless to say, I'm not paying that much for old technology. I've been thinking about doing a CPU refresh. It looks like Apple is somewhat forcing me down that path.

FYI, https://www.ifixit.com sells the complete battery repair kit for $109.99 ($139.09 with tax and $20 standard shipping. Today is 12/29/2020 ETA of the kit is Jan 4-6.) Back in 2019 I watched a video on how to do the replacement. It is quite involved. At that time I chose to send it in because Apple quoted $99 for the repair. But this time I'll do it myself because of the totally unreasonable Apple cost.
 
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Fishrrman said:
openmic wrote:
"BTW, I totally agree with reddevil0728 that there is "some intrinsic issue" since the same thing happened twice for me."

An important question:
Are you one of those "I leave it plugged into the charger all the time" guys?
Then... THAT'S where the source of your troubles lies.

Once you have a fresh battery installed, here are my recommendations as to "maintaining" it:
- You can leave it plugged into the charger during the day, but 3-4 times a week, take it OFF the charger and let the battery run down to about 40% or so. Then, plug it back in.
- At night, whether you power it off or just let it sleep, DISCONNECT THE CHARGER FROM THE WALL OUTLET. Then, plug it back in the next morning.
I suggest doing this via the wall outlet to reduce wear and tear on the Magsafe connection.

Do these two things, and I'll reckon your battery will last A LOT longer.

My opinion only.
Others will disagree.
Some will disagree vehemently.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for the most excellent guidance! :)
 
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