This is counterfeit, right?

[Nermal]

Hi everyone,

I've bought a replacement battery for my MBP and I'm pretty sure that it's counterfeit; I just want to confirm that before I go back to the seller.

First of all, the label on the anti-static bag has a few typos. I'm sure that an official Apple bag wouldn't have typos, but it's possible that the battery was simply supplied in a third-party bag.

However... the warning label on the battery itself is a slightly different font than on my original Apple battery. Additionally, the serial number tag isn't straight, and there are scratch marks on the casing itself (they're a bit hard to see in the photo because I still have the film on it).

Am I correct in concluding that this is counterfeit, or has Apple's quality control plummeted that far in the past few years?

 

[durkkin]

Hard to say based purely off those photos, but it seems fishy based off the details you've given. Batteries are one thing I would definitely NOT take any chances with. It might be fine, but if it's not then you have a potential fire hazard.

 

[maflynn]

I can't tell from the image, personally, I'd look to buy the battery from Apple just to be safe.

 

[chrfr]

However... the warning label on the battery itself is a slightly different font than on my original Apple battery...Am I correct in concluding that this is counterfeit, or has Apple's quality control plummeted that far in the past few years?

The second battery is, without question, counterfeit. Apple doesn't ship random fonts and typos.

 

[bigeasy_uk]

It looks a bit dodgy to me. I wouldn't risk using it myself, far too risky!

 

[GoCubsGo]

The picture is terribly hard to make out but looking only at the writing, I think it is. The fonts do not match. I'd send it back.

 

[Barney63]

On the original it looks like the writing in the middle of the pack is imprinted in black, whereas on the new one it is printed in white.
Why not phone apple and ask them?
They may be able to confirm the serial number too.

Barney

 

[Nermal]

Thanks for the responses. I'll see whether I can get everything in one go:

1. Sorry about the quality of the pics; I didn't want to remove the protective film so they're a bit "shiny".

2. Buying from Apple was indeed my first choice, but they don't appear to sell a battery for this model. OWC, my second choice, also doesn't list them. iFixit does but has been out of stock for a month. As the battery life of my system has been plummeting (it's down to about two hours now) I got sick of waiting for iFixit and bought this so-called "genuine" battery locally.

3. The main print is black; it just looks white due to the film.

I'm not going to risk installing it; I'll try returning it for a refund (I'll give them the benefit of the doubt because it's probably a convincing fake if you don't have the original one handy to compare - aside from the scratch marks). If that doesn't work out then I'm not sure what I'll do, but I'll worry about that when/if it happens.

Thanks again for the replies.

 

[chrfr]

2. Buying from Apple was indeed my first choice, but they don't appear to sell a battery for this model.

Apple sells batteries for all of the unibody Mac portables at this point. For the ones that they deem non-consumer replaceable, you need to take it in for replacement. In the US, the charge for it is $129 on the non-retina 13/15" Macbook Pro, which is about the same as the price for the models which have an end-user replaceable battery.
I'd just contact your local Apple service provider and ask.
http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=servicefaq&geo=United_States&product=Macnotebooks

 

[Nermal]

For anyone following this: Out of sheer curiosity I plugged in the battery and queried it with System Profiler and the serial number didn't match the one on the label. Naturally I only had it plugged in for five minutes

The seller has offered to refund it; I've sent it back and hope that I'll get the money [Edit: I did]. In the meantime I've emailed an Apple reseller to get a price for a legitimate one.