This isn't normal, is it? (MacBook Pro 2016 battery)

[bigmattyh]

Hey all,

I've noticed in the last week or so that my 2016 MacBook Pro doesn't sit flush on my desk surface anymore. I usually have it perched on a Henge Stone dock (and constantly plugged in), but I just took it off and set it on the desk and it wobbles. Apparently there's a slight bulge on the bottom, approximately "under" the left-side fn/control/option keys.

I thought this might be a swollen battery issue. I pulled up iStatMenus to look at the battery health, and you can see that it's at 89% health, with only 46 charge cycles. The battery is only about 2.5 years old.

Is this typical? I'd appreciate hearing from anyone else who's experienced this or has any useful advice on next steps. Thanks!

 

[chrfr]

Hey all,

I've noticed in the last week or so that my 2016 MacBook Pro doesn't sit flush on my desk surface anymore. I usually have it perched on a Henge Stone dock (and constantly plugged in), but I just took it off and set it on the desk and it wobbles. Apparently there's a slight bulge on the bottom, approximately "under" the left-side fn/control/option keys.

I thought this might be a swollen battery issue. I pulled up iStatMenus to look at the battery health, and you can see that it's at 89% health, with only 46 charge cycles. The battery is only about 2.5 years old.

View attachment 915745

Is this typical? I'd appreciate hearing from anyone else who's experienced this or has any useful advice on next steps. Thanks!

If the battery is swollen, and it sounds like it is, you need to have it replaced- swollen batteries are unsafe. Swollen batteries also may not show as a defect in any of the system monitoring utilities such as what you’re showing above.

 

[bigmattyh]

That's helpful — thank you, I appreciate it.

 

[mtneer]

A battery may swell up for more reasons than battery cycles and use. In any case, that is far too risky to have it not taken care of. Please take it to Apple asap and get it looked at.

 

[Fishrrman]

"I've noticed in the last week or so that my 2016 MacBook Pro doesn't sit flush on my desk surface anymore. I usually have it perched on a Henge Stone dock (and constantly plugged in), but I just took it off and set it on the desk and it wobbles."

You don't want to keep using it like this.
A swollen battery is a fire/explosion hazard.

If the battery is swollen, then CALL APPLE RIGHT AWAY.

They'll send you a prepaid shipping box to return it to them if you can't come into an Apple Store.

A 2016 may be a little old for a "free repair", but the charge for a battery replacement from Apple should be $200 (US), which includes parts and labor. This is worth the money.

Also, and this is important for the future:
The WORST THING you can do with the newer MacBooks is leave the thing plugged into the charge "all the time". This probably has something to do with why the battery is now expanding like it is.

You want to "take it off charge" at least 2-3 times a week.
When you do, open the lid and let it "run down" to about 35-40% of charge.
THEN put it back onto the charger.
The battery seems to require some "exercise" to keep it from "getting fat"...

 

[bigmattyh]

Thanks for the replies. I'm arranging for it to be serviced ASAP.

The WORST THING you can do with the newer MacBooks is leave the thing plugged into the charge "all the time". This probably has something to do with why the battery is now expanding like it is.

That's interesting. I've read different points of view on this, all arguing one side or the other, but I'm still not clear on what the current status of the technology is. My understanding is (was?) that battery circuitry in newer devices prevent overcharging, so that leaving a laptop plugged in is less of a concern these days. I've seen nothing from Apple officially either way—if you have a link, I'd really like to see what they have to say.

 

[bigmattyh]

So yup, as it turns out: The battery was in very bad shape. I don't have any clear idea on what caused it, but my best guess is overheating. This is the first time I've seen this, in any device I've owned, so it was a bit of a mystery and adventure to figure out what was happening and to get it fixed.

If you're mechanically/technically inclined and like to do your own repairs—and, big caveats: if you have done stuff like this before, and you are patient, and you know a bit about what you're doing—I'd recommend the battery replacement kit from iFixit and following the guide there. (I posted some of my "story" there with more details and pictures in case you're interested.) Repair took about 3 hours total, and it was not easy. Discharged the old battery and recycled it with a local electronics recycler.

I hope in the next generation of MacBook Pros, Apple at least tries to make these machines more serviceable, because this was a huge amount of effort to replace this theoretically-consumable part. My work laptop takes less than 5 minutes to swap out the battery. I appreciate Jony Ive's "beautiful even under the hood" design sensibilities, but that ethos comes from a design studio where budget and reparability are not priorities.

 

[jimmysalg]

"I've noticed in the last week or so that my 2016 MacBook Pro doesn't sit flush on my desk surface anymore. I usually have it perched on a Henge Stone dock (and constantly plugged in), but I just took it off and set it on the desk and it wobbles."

You don't want to keep using it like this.
A swollen battery is a fire/explosion hazard.

If the battery is swollen, then CALL APPLE RIGHT AWAY.

They'll send you a prepaid shipping box to return it to them if you can't come into an Apple Store.

A 2016 may be a little old for a "free repair", but the charge for a battery replacement from Apple should be $200 (US), which includes parts and labor. This is worth the money.

Also, and this is important for the future:
The WORST THING you can do with the newer MacBooks is leave the thing plugged into the charge "all the time". This probably has something to do with why the battery is now expanding like it is.

You want to "take it off charge" at least 2-3 times a week.
When you do, open the lid and let it "run down" to about 35-40% of charge.
THEN put it back onto the charger.
The battery seems to require some "exercise" to keep it from "getting fat"...

I have the same issue....I called apple yesterday and they quoted me over $600!!!! I would have happily paid 200-300, to have the battery replaced.