Macbook Battery is expanding or swollen

Just took my laptop and bulging battery to the Apple store in Los Cerritos, CA. (White MacBook, refurb. through Apple, bought in August '08. Battery has done 97 cycles.) Genius said it was out of warranty, and the best he could do was I could buy a new battery for $99 (it's a little cheaper from the Genius Bar than the store floor). I'm going to buy a third-party one from eBay instead.

Honestly, I'd have felt better if Apple's customer service was more consistent. That may not make sense, but that's how I feel. Also, I felt very disempowered because there was no way to provide any feedback that I was disappointed. It seemed like the Genius would just move on to his next ticket.

One tip from the Apple website, though, is that we're not supposed to use the laptop like a desktop (i.e., always plugged in). I thought that was just a warning about battery life, but apparently it can lead to bulging batteries, which Apple may or may not replace after warranty.

Yes, I went to two Apple Stores and did not get this kind of service. I have a Macbook 2,1 (~3.5 years old). They said I would have to pay $120 for a new battery even though they are only $30 elsewhere online. They said the bulging battery is not a defect and that it happens all the time! I shouldn't've given them my serial number so they couldn't've checked that my MacBook is no longer under warranty nor should've I registered with the Genius Bar people ahead of time; I had to wait an hour anyways just to hear them say I need to pay $120! And at two different Apple Stores!

After two Apple stores telling me I need to pay ~$120 to replace my 3.5 year old MacBook 2,1, I am seriously considering shorting my battery out in the backyard, bringing it in to them, and showing them how dangerous the bulging battery problem really is. Maybe then they'd replace the otherwise useless (it warps my laptop and trackpad when installed) "ticking timebomb."

Hello Søvngjenger

How is the new 3rd party battery working out for you? I am very curious.

You are 100% correct. Apple accessories are a complete rip-off. They are so overpriced it is insulting.

I also have the same bettery problem - 3 years old, swollen, yet still has 3 1/2 hours life per charge.

I am afraid to use it, but I don't want a new one.

I will go to the Apple stor in London next month when I move there and try to get a new batter for free. Otherwise, a 3rd party battery would be perfect... if they are good.

I had this start happening about a week ago, with common symptoms: trackpad began working erratically; I looked it up on the web and saw the battery may be the culprit; removing the battery restored trackpad functionality; sure enough within a few days the battery was visibly bulging.

I brought the bad battery to the Apple Store as suggested. I didn't bring the laptop; however, they wanted to look me up anyway. I was told that the batteries do this when they reach the end of their life. I asked if this is by design, and he basically responded by not answering the question: "they do this, we see this quite a bit." I said, I'm not disputing whether they do this, I am disputing whether they are supposed to do this. He kind of danced around it but then actually said that, yes, they're supposed to do this.

However by now it was obvious that they weren't going to replace it for free. What he did offer was to sell me a new battery for US$99, which is considerably less than the retail price ($129) - albeit with shorter warranty. I felt like a chump but figured that if I was going to have to buy a new battery, I might as well walk out of there with a new battery today, instead of ordering (for not too much less) and then waiting a few more days.

The new battery he showed me had the same gap in the case where mine was now bulging. I said, it looks like this one is already doing the same thing. He replied that it was a brand-new battery. I wasn't disputing that it was brand-new, but whether I was going to end up with the same problem. He went and got another battery to prove that the small gap meant nothing. The second one had an even larger gap in the same place! Maybe they're all like that, but it failed to impress me.

I told him to recycle my old battery (it's not as though I would be doing anything welse with it), said "I'll think about it" and left. If I'm going to put up with another sub-par battery then I might as well pay half-price and get one of the cheap third-party batteries without the smug self-satisfaction that the product is working as designed, and bulging is a feature.

Message was edited by: gyrofrog

Message was edited by: gyrofrog

I've got the bulging battery with my 2.1 Macbook purchased in April 2009. The bulge on the battery is pretty incredible. The battery is HUGE. The top white part (that you see when it's inserted) is literally coming away from the rest of the battery; it's lifted up about 1/2-inch in some spots. If I were to apply slight force to the edges of the top white part, it looks like it would all come off in a second. And obviously this would make it really dangerous, I assume.

So at the moment I'm in Italy. I called Customer Support, got a very efficient sounding guy who cut in right when I started explaining the bulging battery problem, sounding (though not really saying) like he knew that it was a well known problem. He said that this shows the battery is defective (his word) and that it's a manufacturing defect (his words). He then noted that my computer is out of warranty, and that the battery would be covered ONLY IF:

- it was not "easily removed" from the Macbook, or that if it was "stuck" in the Macbook.

He said that if this was the case, as confirmed by an authorized Apple repair shop, then they would:

a) replace the battery free of charge

b) repair any damage the defective battery may have caused to the Macbook

So at this point, the huge, bulging battery that, if inserted, pushes extremely hard and puts a lot of pressure on the battery compartment sides and the top case from below, while also being a possible fire and/or explosion risk, which in turn could prove to be a serious risk of causing physical injury to anyone using the Macbook with the battery, is not that big of a concern to Apple.

In short, to get an Apple tech to look at it, and diagnose the problem as real, I would have to REINSERT the huge, bulging, risky battery into my Macbook and, to be honest, "hope" that it BULGES EVEN MORE, to the point that it is so huge that it gets stuck inside the battery compartment.

Kind of a backward policy, to say the least. Not having a good battery is not the end of the world, and there are cheap 3rd-party ones on eBay at a decent price, but official Apple policy being that the bulging battery is a "known manufacturing defect", and (the Apple guy agreed) poses a "risk of physical damage or injury", will be replaced by Apple ONLY IF the battery "cannot be easily removed" from the Macbook, with no precise definition of "easily".

My only option is to reinsert the battery (probably by force) and take it to an authorized Apple tech, the closest one being about an hour's drive away. With no assurances that they'll replace it.

Oddly, if one wants to be stubborn about it, I guess you could just reinsert the battery and WAIT till it bulges even more, perhaps getting stuck inside the compartment, and perhaps even CAUSING DAMAGE to the Macbook, knowing that if/when this happens, Apple will not only replace the battery for free, but also repair any other damage the battery may cause to the Macbook - which at this point in the Macbook's useful life, would probably mean that they might (it being more cost efficient) replace the entire Macbook with a new one. Odd policy indeed.

Message was edited by: moonshot61

I had this happen about 2 years ago. The computer was past warrenty, but Apple told me that it was a defect and so replaced it free of charge. Now this has happened again with the replacement battery. However, this time when I called and told them of the battery bulging I was told, "Oh, this is a safety feature." I answered, "Safety feature? Are you sure?" His answer, "Oh, yes, they are designed to do this so you can't use them anymore once they need replacing". Yes, it is getting more and more so that Apple customer service is like most call-centres that receive bonuses based on how quick they can get you off the phone, regardless of what they tell you to make this happen. I'm astounded.

SuperNeechi, same thing just happened to me. Have a 2007 MacBook Pro which had a bulging battery that Apple replaced at no charge Feb 2010. Now THAT battery is bulging - and Apple is now claiming that it's supposed to do that when at the end of its lifecycle. I don't buy it. I tried taking my mac to the Genius Bar, then tried customer relations, no luck either way. I am truly disappointed in Apple, especially after replacing the battery the first time. This time around, the battery didn't even last as long as the first. Oh, and they claim "policies can change." I am not plunking down $99 for a battery for a computer that I am considering replacing soon - and even at that, I do need to keep this computer around to run my older software that I don't feel like spending the money to upgrade..but why should I spend $99 when they had replaced it for the same defect at no charge?? I am really frustrated and unhappy with Apple.

Apple has a new excuse/explanation for swollen batteries. Went to an Apple store in NY and had a Genius appointment. Now they claim, that the battery swells because the laptop is often connected to the charger. I told her that I had several other laptops but the Macbook is the first and only one with swelling issues (2009 white macbook).

Seems their batteries are designed to last 3 years at max and are self destructed after that 🙂

Count me as another. Have an aluminum unibody Macbook. Noticed the swollen battery recently and made a Genius appointment (in NYC). They didn't offer any explanation for the swollen battery, just told me they could not replace it for free because my Macbook was out of warranty. They offered me a $99 refurbished replacement battery that would only have a 90-day warranty. No thanks. But I was told the battery is not dangerous. So maybe Apple discovered eventually that these swollen batteries pose no danger to customers and don't replace them out of warranty anymore. So I'm just going to keep using it. Still holds a good charge. Trackpad is affected but I mostly use an external mouse anyway. All told, pretty disappointed by my experience. For whatever reason, thought Apple would go above and beyond here. Silly me.

I totally agree. I went to the service centre at Somerset 313 B3 and even brought the battery pack with me. Without even blinking her eye, the customer service lady told me that if the warranty is over, I'll just have to buy one. Apple will not entertain the defect. If it's a manufacturing defect, whether the warranty is valid or not, shouldn't Apple honour the rectification? Is this battery pack expansion unique only to Apple?