werdup wrote:
According to a video on YouTube, you do not have to remove all the internals. This is a precaution given by iFixit to avoid the glue thinner from running into the internal components.
I've seen a lot of stuff posted online that I would never do. And all of the videos & instructions online, including the OWC replacement instruction video makes the task look much easier than it really is.
Before attempting to remove the old battery, you should make sure to drain the battery to under 20% charge (10% is even better just to be safe). You still must be careful not to puncture the battery while it is exposed & very careful handling the battery when removed since it has multiple cells that will flop around & could cause the thin flex cables connecting the cells together to rip.
Even installing the battery is tricky because the adhesive only gives you one chance to position the battery correctly.
However, having said that, what is the correct battery then, and where do I get it? (I live in Canada) I'm assuming it has to come from a third party.
As I mentioned in my previous post there is only one battery for the MBPro 15" (Late 2013) model regardless of the models specifications. OWC and iFixIt are the only two vendors I would trust for a replacement battery, but even they will have bad batteries from time to time. I know OWC has authorized resellers for other regions, not sure about iFixIt. Keep in mind OWC actually recommends having a professional install the battery.
I would also recommend finding a professional to perform the battery replacement. Even someone who is used to working on Apple laptops will find replacing a battery in this manner to be difficult. I'm usually all for people to attempt certain repairs on older devices, but some repairs do require someone with a lot more technical skills. With Lithium Batteries people need to be extremely careful not to puncture the battery as it could cause a fire and/or leak toxic chemicals.
In addition, these third party Lithium Batteries need to be properly exercised (some call it calibration). And the average user won't know how to tell if their new battery is actually good & healthy. There is much more to a healthy battery than having a Battery Condition in macOS listed as "Normal", or passing the Apple Diagnostics. In fact some third party batteries may not even pass the Apple Diagnostics.....either because they are not communication as the diagnostics expect, or they may actually have a hardware issue. Most Apple battery failures don't even cause an error in the Apple Diagnostics (or show a problem in macOS Battery Condition).
If I had not developed my own special methods for examining & testing the Apple batteries, I would never have known some of the third party batteries I had installed were bad from the start...or that some Apple OEM batteries had a hardware failure (Apple Diagnostics & macOS reported no battery issues). While most techs probably don't do what I do, some may still be able to notice some issues that would get past an average user.
