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May 31, 2006
Is Apple Aware of MacBook Pro Battery Issues?
I was just IMing with my friend (and WoW troublemaker) Jonas Luster when he busted out this scoop. Several of our friends have MacBooks or MacBook Pro's that have had battery meltdowns recently and in fact the MacBook Pro that Jonas is using right now just had the same issue, so he went down to the Apple Store to buy a new battery and had an interesting conversation with one of the employees there. Jonas says... "so my battery on the new Book died, MB Pro That sounds a hell of a lot like Apple knows there is an issue and still selling the MacBooks with defective batteries to me. Of the 8 people I personally know who have MacBooks or MacBook Pros, 5 of them have had battery issues. I'm going to ask friends with fried/not fried batteries to post the serial numbers / date codes in the comments - if you have one please do the same. NOTE: Since some of the people in the comments are clearly too dense to figure this out, let me explain a little clearer - he didn't take a broken battery in and ask for a replacement, he went in and bought a new battery, the guy at the store is the one who mentioned that his other must have broken which is the point of this whole post - This is such a common problem right now that Apple is assuming if you are buying a new battery it's because your other one must have fried. Posted by sean on May 31, 2006 05:47 PM | View blog reactions
Previous Entry: links for 2006-05-30 Next Entry: Two wheels of glory Typical response from Apple. As much as I love their machines, I get pissed every time they stall on admitting defective products. They wait for critical mass and then do a recall. And THAT is the reason I will wait another year to upgrade to MBP. Posted by: shane on May 31, 2006 06:11 PM
Can't help you out with personal experience yet but I wanted to say thanks too because I was just about to get a new MacBook but will wait now to see if anything else blows up... Posted by: John on May 31, 2006 06:12 PM
Since I'll have a steady paycheck coming in again, I was going to save up for a couple months and pick up a MacBook — now it looks like I'm going to wait a bit longer than that. Then again, I do have too many portables. Maybe I should just get an iMac instead... Posted by: Jason Cosper on May 31, 2006 06:33 PM
But what does AppleCare have to do with it? I can hardly see those Books being over a year old... Posted by: #cb on May 31, 2006 06:55 PM
I know I had real battery issues, with the battery giving out and not sleeping the laptop properly before it did so, and I have to wonder whether or not the new battery I got as part of my repair is going to do the same thing after 100 cycles. I did buy AppleCare, as I do with all my laptops, and that does decrease the hassle. Posted by: Tom Bridge on May 31, 2006 07:05 PM
NO PROBLEMS WITH Posted by: austin on May 31, 2006 07:15 PM
I also had a problem with my MBP battery, I saw an article that explained how to obtain your mac's age and manufacturing place, I saw that it was one of the first 2 week models. I went to an apple store, the strange thing is that the guy who was attending me told me exactly the same "I can not comment". Something's going on don't you think?? Posted by: R031E5 on May 31, 2006 07:25 PM
My battery started hitting the fan just this week. No spectacular burnouts, but just an annoying little habit of shutting down without any warning while running on battery (and yes, the battery was fully charged). Called Apple last night and it was a known issue, at least on the batch my battery came from (mine was one of the first MBP's off the line). They're sending me a new battery as I type. Now, if I could just get them to acknowledge the HEAT! Posted by: taupecat on May 31, 2006 07:33 PM
I too am now on my MacBook Pro 2nd battery. Since I'm not close to an Apple store, I had to go through a local Authorized Service shop. It took 16 days to get the battery, since they were out of stock, and it seems Apple didn't have much either. W8607 (1st or 2nd week - I ordered within 20 mins of announcement). Posted by: Ken on May 31, 2006 07:40 PM
No problems with the battery on my Macbook yet. Getting about 4 hours of life out of it with it set on Normal speed. Posted by: Jason D- on May 31, 2006 09:22 PM
White MacBook, 3rd week build, problems with charging, shutting down when working from battery, waking from sleep after 24 hours (even though 100% charge). Posted by: DavoMrMac on May 31, 2006 11:15 PM
what AppleCare has to do with new machine? This sounds stupid - if you have problem with machine that is less than a year old, you will get it fixed under warranty, and you don't need AppleCare for that. Why to buy battery if you can get one free if your machine is still up to a year old? Posted by: alexmak on May 31, 2006 11:29 PM
If you, like me, work mostly from your lap, the $129 for a battery are much less than the trips to the Apple store, the loss of your MBP for a week, while the repair Genius is on vacation, or even simply the three hours it takes to convince someone in the store that, indeed, they need to warranty cover what breaks under warranty. Posted by: Jonas M Luster on June 1, 2006 12:06 AM
MBP bought the day of the keynote. Battery started dying without warning about half way through the battery. The charge capacity started fluctuating between 2400 - 3800 (well below the spec-ed 5300). called apple and sending me a new battery today. Posted by: jonnyp on June 1, 2006 12:20 AM
We have to exchange 3 batteries for 3 different MacBooks, the problem is that the exchanged have the same fault. I started to think that it's not only a battery problem and have to be related to the bugs on the SMC chip. Posted by: Cryptonome on June 1, 2006 01:31 AM
Every time Apple comes out with a new popular product, there are horror stories swirling around the internet. Not only is this story suspicious as hell, but it's also not logical. As pointed out above, you do not need Apple Care to replace broken/defective parts on an Apple product that is less than a year old. Hell, I dropped my new iPod at about 8 months and broke it; Apple gave me a new one with no questions asked. Next time you try to "slam" Apple with your fabricated stories, at least get your facts strait. Posted by: Fox on June 1, 2006 01:46 AM
Hmm. I don't know why they didn't have AppleCare, since the MBP is only a couple of months old. I had my MBP battery replaced a month or so back by AppleCare UK. Posted by: Tom Morris on June 1, 2006 03:41 AM
Looks like my MB is a week 20 build (May). (4H6200QQ***). *So far* I've not had any battery issues. It does get a bit hot on the left side, but I'm ok with that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed... Posted by: Jill on June 1, 2006 06:54 AM
from the 1 year warranty: This warranty does not apply: (a) to damage caused by ...(f) to consumable parts, such as batteries, unless damage has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship; or (g) if any Apple serial number has been removed or defaced. this means that if they don't acknowledge a 'defect in materials or workmanship', then they don't have to replace anything due to the battery. Posted by: john on June 1, 2006 07:49 AM
"Not only is this story suspicious as hell, but it's also not logical. As pointed out above, you do not need Apple Care to replace broken/defective parts on an Apple product that is less than a year old." Dumbass - HE WENT TO BUY A NEW ONE, he didn't tell them anything about having a broken one - that's the whole point of this post. Posted by: sean bonner on June 1, 2006 08:15 AM
And what we're saying, since you're either too dense or paranoid to figure this out, is that it makes no sense for the clerk to mention AppleCare since (a) the laptop is evidently too young not to be covered by warranty (b) AppleCare terms and conditions don't cover batteries any more or less than the standard warranty does (c) no matter what the standard warranty says, it's hard to believe Apple would refuse to exchange a one-month-old battery, risking a lawsuit. Posted by: #cb on June 1, 2006 08:49 AM
"You don't need to insult your readers just because they note that something doesn't make sense." Clearly you are new to my site as insulting my readers because they note things that don't make sense is 97% of what I do here. Posted by: sean bonner on June 1, 2006 08:52 AM
I am having problems with my battery, does not seem to last any longer than 5 minutes once unplugged. Seems I started having the problem *after* the SMC firmware upgrade. I wonder if that is not the issue. Posted by: jerrybrown on June 1, 2006 10:23 AM
http://www.engadget.com/2006/05/03/apple-initiating-a-silent-recall-of-batteries/ Posted by: Jonas M Luster on June 1, 2006 12:37 PM
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=499940&tstart=0 Posted by: Jonas M Luster on June 1, 2006 12:46 PM
I think it's kind of stupid to simply buy a new battery without asking apple to replace it. there's a guarantee for two years, at least in europe. they have to pay it if the issue wasn't your fault. Posted by: Bensch on June 1, 2006 01:56 PM
FWIW I have a week 18 MBP, run it on battery all the time with no issues. I've only had it for two weeks so who knows what might happen. Posted by: James on June 1, 2006 03:17 PM
MAGES ARE OVERPOWERED!!! Insult and discuss Posted by: Michael #1 on June 1, 2006 04:23 PM
> I think it's kind of stupid to simply buy a new battery without asking apple to replace it. there's a guarantee for two years, at least in europe. they have to pay it if the issue wasn't your fault. As I say above - warranty or coverage, I am in the final stages of so many projects, and more or less dependent upon having my laptop on me for most of the time, that the $129 for a new battery aren't that hard to stomach. My thinking, of course, was to see if I can get a replacement after next week, when standing inside an Apple Store for longer than the 5 minutes it takes me to grab a battery and pay becomes a feasible option. But as it stands, the Apple Store employee brought up the issue of replacement by himself, not prompted by me. Posted by: Jonas M Luster on June 1, 2006 04:47 PM
Mages are overpowered... i agree mich... you talking about WoW? :P Posted by: Monk on June 2, 2006 09:18 AM
Yet another reason why I never buy first-gen Mac hardware. Posted by: mack on June 2, 2006 09:20 AM
Try an IBM/Lenovo laptop, no battery problems with them. ;) Also, nerf Shamans Posted by: Michael on June 3, 2006 12:49 AM
It's fine, lrn2play Posted by: Jonas M Luster on June 3, 2006 02:41 AM
Got a MBP back in March and I've had no real problems with it, It's a great machine however, after the firmware update a week or so ago, the MBP continued to turn off without warning or shut down a the battery became low. Now it does not even registar the battery is installed in the machine let alone charge. No LED's on the battery work either. I love using Apple's hardware just a shame it breaks so much - my ibook has gone through 4 logic boards so far. And the never admit a problem so we, their customers never know where we stand! Oh, serial is W8611VR.... Cheers for running your site, it's been most helpful in finding information about this issue, Regards Posted by: Ross Murray on June 5, 2006 11:19 AM
Yes there are aware. There was a recall like a year and a half ago. Where you all been? Posted by: ProfMKD on June 6, 2006 02:24 AM
CORRECTION: That was a powerbook battery recall. Posted by: ProfMKD on June 6, 2006 02:27 AM
I have this same exact issue. I have one of the macbook pros with serial w8607 and am experiencing the issue where the machine turns off abrubtly after 5-10 minutes of use. The battery is fully charged but after this happens I press the battery meter button and it has one light flashing indicating that it *thinks* that the battery is dead. Plugging it in and then quickly removing it seems to "reset" the battery meter back to where it should be when I test it again. I called up applecare and they wanted to make me pay to have someone talk to me about the issue since it's past 90 days. I'm going down to the apple store at 5 today to discuss this with someone at the "genius" bar. Posted by: Michael Kovacs on June 9, 2006 12:31 PM
MacBook Serial: W86092QL*** I have been having the problems mentioned here. The MacBook will shutdown without warning when the battery indicator shows that it is only half full. Its pretty goddamn inconvenient. It just started happening recently. I hope you guys figure out whats going on. Posted by: shawn Zier on June 9, 2006 06:34 PM
My battery never charge, and it was paintful to get a it returned. I just got my new MacBook less than a week ago, and initially noticed that the battery always stays at 65%, but it was plugged in all the time. Then I tried to use it on the battery two days ago, the battery went doen to 0% and can never go up. It was so paintful to go through Apple's customer service, I used a whole afternoon to explain the problem, but they still made it sounded like I made it up. Maybe I should just stay in the Windows world - I am returning it for sure. Posted by: Jing on June 11, 2006 03:08 AM
Well, after reading your post, I got really pissed at Apple. But after reading your comments, I realized that you're a jackass. The point other people were trying to make was that Apple said they would have covered it IF they had AppleCare. The point they were making was not that the people didn't cover it, it was that he said it wouldn't be covered normally. Because the one-year warranty would have covered it WHETHER THE SALESMAN KNEW OR NOT. Thanks for being a jerk. :) Posted by: Jesus on June 11, 2006 03:51 PM
Whoa. I just found something pretty scary. Today, I noticed that my MacBook Pro wouldn't sit flat on my desk. So I looked underneath to see the problem-- theres a bubble in the battery and its actually seperating the aluminum cover thats glued onto the battery from the battery itself. Uh- Im taking it to the apple store today before it explodes and causes a lithium fire. Posted by: shawn zier on June 13, 2006 12:50 PM
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