Senior Advisor "Expect Battery to Bulge"

After about 300 cycles, the battery is expected to fail. However, failure in the sense that their ability to hold a charge will drop off dramatically.

Under no circumstances should the battery bulge, leak, or overheat.

I'd report the employee and the problem to Apple Customer Relations: 1-800-767-2775.

my battery is bulging at 133/300 cycles already. as a general rule, any stories of laptop batteries bulging out of its' casing being normal are a load of crock.

My battery bulged so badly on one side that it has grown a little more than twice it's original width, and no longer stays on the computer. So now of course it only runs when it's plugged in, and if the cord accidentally gets bumped, poof, the computer is off along w/ any work in process. The computer has always been on a cooling pad, as it ran extremely hot from the first day.

Is there any sort of warranty on a battery that is 3 years old?

Sorry if it's a dumb question, thanks!

"Is there any sort of warranty on a battery that is 3 years old?"

Contact Customer Relations. If in the USofA, see Allen Jones post above for the phone # See what they can do for you.





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I have woken up to find my battery on my Macbook pro bulging. Can I still use my computer with the battery in? Or can I use it plugged into the mains. Unfortunately it will be a few weeks until I can take it to an Apple store as am currently in Middle East. Can anyone offer any advice?

I have just phoned Apple Customer Support in the UK who said that the battery has bulged because it has come to the end of its life! They could not see the point that I was trying to get across that whilst I acknowledge that a battery has a life I could not accept that Apple was content to sell equipment that bulged to let you know it was finished and that it must have bulged because it got hot and that that in itself was a fire risk. They just repeated that I had to pay £80 or £90 to buy a new one! I ask myself though do I really want a new one when it is a fire risk? Perhaps I should just get a new laptop from another manufacturer? Has anyone else had this poor service and unconcern about build quality and fire risks? From a very disgruntled Apple user.

While I understand your frustration, batteries do have a limited life. If your has started to deform sometime past that point, it's not likely they would replace it. You have indicated a number of times about "fire risks". Has your machine caught on fire or have you heard of one experiencing this problem catching on fire? The issue of batteries expanding, while not common, certainly isn't rare. I don't believe I have heard of a confirmed case where one of these batteries either ruptured or caught fire as a result.

Do you know how many charge cycles are on your battery? Apple tends to be more forgiving if the machine is still under warranty. If the battery hasn't failed prematurely, it's no more likely that they would replace that than other other component failing out of warranty.

Let me start this off with a disclaimer. I'm the VP of technology for a Canadian/US technology company with over 15 PowerBook's, Mac Book Air, and Mac Mini's in Inventory. I have been a software developer for over 20 years, and have personally owned 2-3 mac products at any given time for the last 10 years. I have also owned over 30 laptops in the last 20 years, from multiple vendors (Sony, IBM, Asus, Dell, HP, Compaq, etc. etc.).

I should also mention that I have a PowerBook 17" that just had its battery bulge in exactly this manner.

The concern is this, a laptop battery that doesn't retain a charge, or has degraded performance is a 'consumed' battery - period - I don't think anyone would argue this point. This is in-fact quite common, and I have many laptops with batteries that have this sort of degraded performance profile.

A laptop that through normal wear-and-tear has a battery physically expand to 2-3 times its volume is not normal - its a design defect. Search the web, and find a single reference in Apple literature to this behavior on "consumed" batteries - you won't find it. Search for another vendor that lists this as "normal" behavior - you won't find one.

Add in the fact that a similar battery on the 15" Powerbook was recalled for similar problems, and it looks like Apple dropped the ball. Maybe the cost-benefit analysis for replacing the defective 17" battery wasn't there - or maybe the larger cell size meant it would only do this after warranty - either way its poor customer service.

I will contact Health and Safety Canada (yes I'm in Canada) next week - and ask them to open a case on this. I attempted to get satisfaction from a Genius appointment this evening, and was informed this was normal. It is my belief that this behavior violates the rules for protections on hazardous materials - and needs to be investigated by the authorities. Lithium in any form is not something to be messed with lightly - its flammable, reacts with oxygen and water - and is generally nasty stuff if not treated carefully or properly.

Wth. Isn't the MBP supposed to get 1,000 cycles without a problem? Well it's expected to get some problem later on, but it says 1,000 cycles...? So I'd expect something close to it.

Maybe this is for the older MacBook, but I'm not sure. If it's for the newer one, then ^ that is my response.

I also had my battery swell significantly on my macbook Pro 17" I purchased this late 2009. It was something that happened rather suddenly (within hours) and I took it out immediately. I never had any charging issues. 156 cycle count. It is almost double in size. I have had to replace batteries on my old titanium laptop. They were well used. No swelling, and I saw it coming.

I had my appt with the "genius' bar. A 2 hr drive to the nearest one. (my iphone 4 needed replacing also). The 'genius' told me it was a 'good thing' that the battery swelled. I was speechless. She forced the battery in. It was one of those moments I had to ask myself if they really just said that and were doing what they were doing. She saw the cycle count and didn't mention a thing about it only being about half of it's life. I still can't comprehend she shoved a battery swollen to twice it's size back into the machine. The "genius" said it was past it's life since I purchased the computer in Sept 2009.

I went ahead and bought a battery. Really didn't feel I had a choice. The power cord comes out too easily. I called Apple. Got the same run around. It was out of warranty etc. They haven't had problems etc. It was normal to swell when the battery was past it's life. "Why didn't you buy Apple Care" Well, because the last time I did, I got the run around when I had issues.

I've have owned and used only Apple since the Mac Classic. I'm so disappointed in the attitude of the company lately. Things do go wrong. It's how you deal with the problem that keeps your customers coming back. I'm lodging my complaints. Not holding my breath for any response. When the time comes, will look at alternative products. It's the attitude that rubs me wrong the most.

i am thinking this BS needs a separate website if just to catalog as many links to discussions and actions as possible. http://www.macbookbatteryproblem.com already exists but seems to have stopped updating in 2009.

I read this thread before visiting an Apple store in London, with a MBP 6 months outside the extended 3 year Applecare. The battery was bulging badly on one side, but could still make contact inside the MBP. System Profiler showed the cycle count as 109, and condition 'normal'. I was lucky & the 'Genius' accepted that the battery was defective & replaced it. She did spend some time reading info off her screen, and commented that, as the warranty had expired, this was an exception.

Seems as though Apple's policy on this is a bit haphazard, but it's worth trying to get a replacement if System Profiler is not reporting problems with the battery.