Seeking Advice on Mid 2015 MacBook Pro Battery Replacement

If the battery has been replaced, then the Battery Recall no longer pertains to you since you no longer have the original battery. The Battery Recall only pertains to the original Apple battery which shipped with your laptop from the factory.

The Battery Recall program for the MBPro 15" (2015) model is for a fire safety issue, not for a battery swelling issue. These two things are completely different. In fact Apple does not consider a swollen battery a safety issue and never has.

A swollen battery is caused by the chemicals within the battery producing gas. I've encountered lots of swollen batteries while supporting thousands of my organization's laptops. A few of those batteries were so swollen I was afraid to handle them because it seemed like it was about to pop like a balloon since it can be very hard to physically remove a swollen battery from some laptops. I've never had a problem even with the very extremely swollen batteries. You do want to have the battery replaced since the swelling will damage the laptop usually by popping the Trackpad out the top of the laptop.

Here is a post I made in 2019 regarding this same question where I compare the two different Apple repair programs (notice one is a "Recall", while the other is not....a "Recall" is a severe issue, also notice there is no expiration date in the "Recall" program although it will expire once the part is no longer available since this 2015 laptop is now considered "Vintage" with limited repair options now):

Why our affected MacBook Pro is not "eli… - Apple Community

FYI, the link to the Apple article for the free Battery Repair Program for a 13" MBPro within that post no longer resolves since that free repair program expired, so here is a working link from the Internet Archive which has a copy of the original Apple article:

https://web.archive.org/web/20210224191902/https://support.apple.com/13inch-macbookpro-battery-replacement

Here is another post I made in 2021 where I provided some links to third party sites which provide some explanations & difference for swollen Lithium batteries and Lithium batteries which spontaneously combust:

Double standard for repairs (famous battery issue for 2015 MacBook Pro - Apple Community

Dell doesn't consider a swollen battery a safety issue:

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000128491/swollen-battery-information-and-guidance

And the same with HP:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/ish_4158581-4158704-16

I hope this helps you to understand the situation. I know it can be confusing at first glance since it all seems to be the same, but trust me there is a difference. Unfortunately Apple does not always do a good job of explaining things, plus many Apple techs have no real clue to the real details which further complicates things for users.

seo240 wrote:

Go the same problem here, but i live in Thailand so i could find some dude who had a battery i bought it and went to a shop. apple was charging me away too much for this

Cheers.

Be very careful with third party Lithium batteries. The quality of third party Lithium batteries is extremely poor even when purchased from a reputable vendor. The best option is always to have an original OEM battery if possible. Since the 2015 model is now "Vintage", an official Apple battery replacement may not be possible for much longer.

Also, make sure to calibrate the battery immediately after it is installed. This involves charging the battery to 100% and letting it sit at 100% for several hours, then disconnect the charger and use the laptop until the laptop powers off when the battery reaches 0%. Reconnect the power adapter and let the battery charge to 100% again and let it sit at 100% again for a couple of hours. Then you should be able to use the laptop normally. The fact that this calibration process is not necessary for the official Apple OEM battery is very telling that there is a significant difference between them.

Personally I will always choose an OEM battery over a third party Lithium battery when ever possible. When an OEM battery is not available, then I will make sure to only use a battery from a respected vendor & hope for the best.

I do agree the Apple price is way too expensive, but that is because the battery is glued to the underside of the palmrest & trackpad so Apple replaces the entire Top Case Assembly when replacing the battery (now $200+ US). I can get OEM batteries for other laptop brands for as little as $50 - $100 US depending on the capacity of the battery (can also be replaced much more quickly since they actually allow people to replace them easily).

Nobody has to pay Apple's prices. But if you elect not to use Apple's services, you accept the fact you are buying lesser quality almost 100% of the time. And there's nothing inherently wrong with that.

There are many in the world who think Apple's computers are overpriced. That depends on many factors. But if you buy into the Apple system with a MacBook purchase and then expect to continue to have Apple level success by buying services and peripherals as cheaply as possible, you're accepting lesser quality and service all around.

Go the same problem here, but i live in Thailand so i could find some dude who had a battery i bought it and went to a shop. apple was charging me away too much for this

Cheers.