Swelling Macbook Pro Battery

Andy: You are getting special treatment, probably because of those 2,000 identical MBPs you've bought. Ordinary end users don't have and can't get the proprietary Notebook Battery and Adapter Diagnostics tool you mention: it's only available to technicians, Geniuses, and apparently to major volume customers. And very few individual end users have ever had a 2.5-year-old battery replaced at Apple's expense.

So you think that all the people all over Mac forums all over the internet lied about getting their battery replaced?

Nope, I don't think any of them did. Why would they? I just think they represent a very, very, very tiny fraction of the many millions of MBP owners. How many separate individuals do you think you've seen post to say that their out-of-warranty batteries were replaced for free — 50? 100? Let's say 300. Now let's suppose that for each of those people there are 20 others who have never posted anywhere, but whose out-of-warranty batteries have been replaced for free. That's 6000 out of many millions — a really tiny minority. Too conservative? Quintuple it to 30,000: it's still much less than 1% of all MBP owners. And personally, I suspect the real number is closer to 1000 than 30,000.

It never hurts to ask, but it's not smart to go in with unreasonable expectations, and expecting a free battery after more than two years is unreasonable. Hope, but don't expect.

I completely disagree...typically people will post disastifaction against a company more times than people will post satisfaction. This happens with all products from all companies...that's just the way people are. Being disastisfied causes people to post, and the usually only a few will post when satisfied. Ask any company that asks for feedback and they will tell you that.

From the multitude of comments I have seen on many different sites the satisfied people who got their battery replaced have out numbered the unsatisfied ones by about 5 to 1

There is an Apple Service center in BKK. Go to the Thailand Apple website click on find a store and it shows the location and phone number

Since it's evident that nothing anyone can say will affect your obstinate certainty, I'll leave you to your ranting and wish you luck.

There was no ranting, just stating what has happened. You have been the only one to say my defective battery should not be replaced...everyone else thinks it should be.

Regardless of what anyone here thinks, it's irrelevant. We're not the one making the decision whether or not your battery gets replaced. A battery can fail just as other components may fail. Your battery has clearly failed prematurely. Apple is following the same guidelines as they would for any other failed component. They did offer an extended warranty for certain batteries, but they can't offer an indeffinate extension. Do you have the extended AppleCare warranty? While batteries are considered consumable items, a replacement of a faulty battery during an extended AppleCare warranty has been more likely.

I haven't said anything about whether I think your battery should be replaced. I've told you how unlikely it is that your battery will be replaced, and I've told you what you should and shouldn't expect, based on many years of reading the posts in these forums, which reflect the experience of a small but probably more or less representative sample of MBP owners.

At a minimum, Apple should at least give me discount on a battery. My battery has 208 cycles on it, and according to the Advisor, I should get at least 300 out of it.

Apple should prorate the battery usage and provide me a discounted battery to show some sign of customer service.

I would be happy with that...

I agree with davidfromburleson. I went to the Apple Retail store in Greenville SC today and they told me the battery replacement program was only for the white plastic MacBooks and it ended 6 months ago. So nobody appears to tell the same story and they just replace batteries on a whim if they feel like it. I have two different models that are experiencing the swollen battery syndrome. One is an original MacBook 13" unibody from November 2008 and the other is an MBP 15" from the same month. I have read on other forums that the techs will say this happens once in a blue moon to these models, but how do they explain that I have two with the exact same problem. I checked my cycles and they are 198 and 201 for the 13" and 15", respectively. Way to early for the end of life excuse that has been used. I wonder how many other people are having the same problem? Perhaps we should establish a concerted effort to get Apple to look into the problem further.

I have the same battery swelling problem with my black macbook that I bought in March 2007. I observed the battery swelling last year but it did not bother me much as I could still use it with no issues. Recently my trackpad was warped and the trackpad buttons wouldn't click and that is when I researched it and found out that it is because of the battery swell. So, I got an appointment at the NYC fifth avenue apple store and took my macbook with me. I showed the rep the obviously swollen battery and he said that it is common for batteries to swell up. I told him that I have never seen this with other batteries and I think it is a safety related issue. He replied that it is not and I can still use it if I would like to as it still holds a charge and nothing will go wrong, however he would recommend buying a new battery so that it does not damage my trackpad. The only thing that I did not like what they said is the battery bulging/swelling not being a safety issue which it clearly is.

I've had 2 macbook pro's.

Booth with swollen batterys.

I think it has something todo with the heat.

My machines render a lot, the fan starts and I can start cooking an egg on the front.

I guess the chemicals in the battery start cooking as well.

I also experienced the trackpad buttons no longer working, glad to read it might be the swollen batterys.

Living in holland means that there is no genius 'cause there are no apple stores here.

And trying to contact apple when buying something on the web is a breeze, but not so if something goes wrong.

I bought new batteries ( yep, almost 10% of costprice of new laptop and 120% of netbooks ) only to find out them bulging again just after warranty ends.

Now I've got the new macbook that will not let me replace the battery, i don't think I will be doing much work on that machine, as using the macbook pro seems to be very bad for its battery... I think that should be a warning on the box.

I'm on to my thrird battery now.

Both previous ones have swollen.

White powder came out of one of them, it doesn't look like nice stuff to have around kids.

This is clearly a defect and a safety issue.

I started having battery trouble last summer (July '11) with rapidly diminishing capacity and the occasional shut off, all happening well under the cycle count lifespan limit. This week I started experiencing the trackpad button issue, found out that the bulging battery could be the culprit and sure enough it was sticking out 1/4" or so. Popped it out and the trackpad button works fine.

So I call Apple Care even tho I'm out of warranty. I wasn't really expecting much at this late stage but thought at least they'd hear about yet another bulging battery. Of course they insist that I just need to buy a new battery. But what erks me is they try to blow it off as something that's designed into the battery. Really?! The best way to let your customers know their battery has reached the end of its life (even well inside its expected lifespan), is to have it puff up, potentially spewing its nasty battery guts or worse - committing self immolation?! Come on! Just admit these battery designs aren't up to the task and replace them. It may cost Apple a lot of money but in the end they might retain more long term customers and not scare away the noobs.

Oh well, at least the techs I talked to were pleasant and professional. That's a lot more than what you get with most companies.

OK, I feel better now.