My daughter has a 4 year old Mac Book Pro laptop which is now bulging near the lower section / mouse pad area. Has anyone else had this problem. Someone has told me it is a battery problem.
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Yes, it is the old-style battery slowly destroying itself. Apple used to replace the battery for free as there was a fault with it, but it may be far too late for that now.
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This thread could be helpful. Although dated it suggests it could be worthwhile contacting your closest Apple shop.
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If you do replace the battery and based on the age of the laptop, you may finder it a lot cheaper and more convenient to get a replacement through other providers other than Apple. Just google mac book battery replacement (insert your location) and call them to get prices.
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Agreed. We have this problem with my wifeâs ageing MacBook. It was so old that Apple couldnât provide a battery, but someone (one Melbourne, I think) got a battery at a good price to us in a few days. Easy fix and the MacBookâs running well.
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Thank you everyone.
I will pass your messages on to my daughter.
You never know she might be able to get them to fix it as it looks like a problem a bit more common than we thought.
If you do need to get a replacement battery then I would caution against a non-Apple one.
My experience of purchasing these, twice, has not been good.
For me they would not hold their charge well and within weeks have difficulty in charging at all!
My purchases were for the removable MacBook batteries.
We took ours to Apple and it was immediately snatched away and the battery replaced immediately. It can be a fire hazard.
If you are going to replace the battery, and Apple shop wonât do it for you free, be very careful buying a battery online. Check to see if there are reviews etc on the battery suppliers of choice. Lots of batteries sold online from offshore vendors can be really dangerous and explode and be fire hazards.
I just checked my source. It was Macfixit Australia, and 14 months down the track, the new battery is still performing well.
Iâm generally wary of after market bits for cameras and computers, but this battery seems fine.
FYI.
Apple wasnât able to replace the battery due to the age of the laptop despite my daughter not owning it for very long (old store stock apparently). She needed another laptop quickly and decided to buy another, not Apple this time. Thank you for your response.
Good your problem got resolved, but technology companies, as with auto companies, are into cutting support for products as quickly as they are able, hence the independent parts markets.
I cannot vouch for this company, but they are illustrative of the âafter marketâ supply and service chain, notwithstanding the previous comments that there are some dodgy ones out there.
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I have heard similar experience of friends when their ipad failed after a few years use. Apple said their old ipad couldnât be repaired. They were however happy to take their old one and they could âswapâ it, I mean sell them an equivalent reconditioned used one. I suspected at the time that the old one could be repaired (nothing is technically unrepairable) and were either taking their âbrokenâ one for spare parts or to recondition it to sell onto another of their customers. Possibly the later more plausible.
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Notwithstanding other companies policies, my experience with Apple has always been good. For them not to have a battery for a MacBook would imply the MacBook was at least 5 years old. I had a MacBook with a battery failing after 3 years and thought I would buy a cheaper 3rd party battery from ebay. It lasted less than six months. I then tried another supplier which I thought was Australian based and after a lengthy delivery it too began to fail after 6-8 months. I then ordered a replacement battery online from Apple. It is still working after 4 years.
I have found that 3rd party li thium batteries are simply not up to scratch and will now only buy the dearer but reliable manufacturerâs own.
As an aside to this story my wifeâs iphone (5S) was having battery problems too. Still I looked at 3rd party alternatives and also read the forums on recommendations. There was one comment by an Apple store tech who said the 3rd party batteries are underspec (partially due to air transport restrictions?).
Anyway I decided to go with the manufacturer and booked a time at the local Apple store. Went in, tech guy took one look and said the battery had begun to expand. Because of this they are prohibited from replacing the battery. Before my jaw dropped he then asked âWould you be willing to take an exchange iphone for the price of the battery replacement?â Same model, colour and capacity.
3 year old phone swapped for the cost of a battery with a fully refurbished one.
I thought that was a good deal, with a guaranteed official component.
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