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User profile for user: aja_7778
aja_7778 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Battery Swelling and Fire Risk

I have a 15in pro (that I've had for three years) that has a battery swelling and overheating problem. It falls in the date range for the battery swelling recall, though my specific serial number was not included. I've been reading through some of this thread and have noted that some people seem to be making this distinction between a swollen battery and a fire risk, i.e. that just having a swollen battery does not equal fire risk. My understanding has been that swelling lithium batteries are potential fire hazards (not that every battery will catch fire, but does Apple really want to assume the risk of injury to customers if/when that happens?), so I'm curious to understand why all of these swelling batteries are not being classified as such? What exactly makes a swelling lithium polymer battery potentially safe to keep using? And if they aren't safe, why isn't Apple covering the cost of their replacement (which likely is just a drop in the hat for them)?

MacBook Pro

Posted on May 30, 2021 9:37 PM

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,290 points

Posted on May 31, 2021 1:23 PM

The MBPro 15" (2015) model had a battery recall for a safety issue where the battery could possibly spontaneously catch fire due to a manufacturing defect. This safety issue only refers to this one exact Mac model from a very limited specific serial number range.


Lithium-ion Batteries in general are known to swell from time to time especially with older batteries. Apple does not consider swollen batteries a safety issue, but you need to disconnect the charger from the laptop immediately to help minimize further swelling. Make sure you have a good backup and power off the laptop to minimize the chance the battery will continue to swell.


Lithium-ion Batteries are known to catch fire if they have a manufacturing defect, but this should be a very rare occurrence for official OEM batteries. Third party Lithium-ion batteries are much more likely to catch fire because they are made much more cheaply (in both senses of the word) without the same oversight of the OEMs (also because people don't want to pay for quality). Third party Lithium-ion batteries are also much more likely to swell than OEM batteries. Not all OEM swollen batteries are due to a wide range manufacturing defect. Unfortunately Lithium-ion Batteries have a lot of ways they can easily fail.


Apple does offer unofficial unacknowledged free battery replacements as long as the laptop is less than three years old, otherwise Apple feels you have gotten proper use from the battery since a battery is considered a consumable item with a limited lifespan just like you must replace the battery in your car every five or seven years (a Lithium-ion battery is really only expected to last three years with typical usage on average). You need to have Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider examine the laptop to confirm if it qualifies for a free battery repair program. We have had swollen batteries replaced by Apple for free on our laptops that were less than three years old.


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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,290 points

May 31, 2021 1:23 PM in response to aja_7778

The MBPro 15" (2015) model had a battery recall for a safety issue where the battery could possibly spontaneously catch fire due to a manufacturing defect. This safety issue only refers to this one exact Mac model from a very limited specific serial number range.


Lithium-ion Batteries in general are known to swell from time to time especially with older batteries. Apple does not consider swollen batteries a safety issue, but you need to disconnect the charger from the laptop immediately to help minimize further swelling. Make sure you have a good backup and power off the laptop to minimize the chance the battery will continue to swell.


Lithium-ion Batteries are known to catch fire if they have a manufacturing defect, but this should be a very rare occurrence for official OEM batteries. Third party Lithium-ion batteries are much more likely to catch fire because they are made much more cheaply (in both senses of the word) without the same oversight of the OEMs (also because people don't want to pay for quality). Third party Lithium-ion batteries are also much more likely to swell than OEM batteries. Not all OEM swollen batteries are due to a wide range manufacturing defect. Unfortunately Lithium-ion Batteries have a lot of ways they can easily fail.


Apple does offer unofficial unacknowledged free battery replacements as long as the laptop is less than three years old, otherwise Apple feels you have gotten proper use from the battery since a battery is considered a consumable item with a limited lifespan just like you must replace the battery in your car every five or seven years (a Lithium-ion battery is really only expected to last three years with typical usage on average). You need to have Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider examine the laptop to confirm if it qualifies for a free battery repair program. We have had swollen batteries replaced by Apple for free on our laptops that were less than three years old.


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User profile for user: aja_7778
aja_7778 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

May 30, 2021 10:01 PM in response to aja_7778


I also just came across these photos and realized that when I woke up this morning, my computer was completely hot and wouldn't turn on. At first I just worried about all of my work. I had to put a fan on it to cool it off so I could turn it on and back everything up. I'm worried now that my computer might actually post a fire risk.


[Link Edited by Moderator]

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Battery Swelling and Fire Risk

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