battery swollen, metal back is buckled out

Apple employees do not regularly post on these message boards - in fact, it rarely ever happens. From what I understand (and has been reported in the media), only some batteries are affected and it's definitely a hardware problem with the battery itself. Therefore, a new battery will solve the issue and no usage restrictions are advised for the MBP.

Your assessment is entirely correct and is the reason why I have been holding off on ever upgrading my now dated PowerBook G4. In fact, I have no intention of ever upgrading to Apple hardware again. I've been sitting and watching from the sidelines and I don't like what I see.

The entire MacBook line (including the Pro) machines are plagued with issues from discoloration to gobs of thermal grease and now this. Apple's QA has gone deeper into the crapper since the purchase of my PowerBook G4 which happened to be one of the countless Rev. As plagued with the white spots. The machine is on its third display from the Rev. B models and no problems since.

Of course, these MacBooks are all Rev. As, but that is no valid excuse when customers drop $1000-2000 for one of these and expect a fully functioning and mostly problem-free system.

I cannot in good conscience ever recommend a Mac laptop at this time to friends looking to migrate from old PC hardware or Windows. I have many other issues with Apple at this time besides the hardware quality but they are irrelevant with this discussion at hand. In the mean time I have turned my older Macs into Ubuntu Linux machines and made my PowerBook into a dual booter.

That's simply balderdash. 🙂

The "thermal grease issue" is and always was nonsense.

I've got a perfect week 12 MacBook Pro. It's fast, stable, quiet and is comfortable to use for many hours a day. Fit and finish are perfect. Screen is perfect. WiFi and network connectivity is fast and stable.

In short, it's the best value for the dollar of any notebook I've ever owned. It has worked hard every day since 30 March without a stumble. My UB database and Web 'bot software runs as fast as it does on my dual core PowerMac. That's much better than I had expected, and puts the MBP a couple of leagues above the PowerBook G4 class.

I saw an article on MacFixIt regarding the swollen battery issue. I felt under my laptop and sure enough it was bulged out. I have an appointment at the Genius Bar tonight. Maybe we can knock out the whine issue too 😉.

My MBP had been shutting down frequently on battery power, but I didn't know the cause. Just yesterday I did a search and noticed this thread. I looked at my battery, and sure enough it the Aluminum was starting to separate from the battery. I took out the battery overnight, made an appointment with the Genius Bar. This morning I put the battery back in because overnight it looked better then when I removed it.

When I got to the Apple store and explained the issue, I turned my MBP over and the battery had really started to bulge out all over. It even scraped the counter because it was lower than the feet on the computer.

They replaced it right away, and now I have a new one. I hope maybe the battery was generating the exessive heat, and it might cool things a bit with the new one.

This is also a problem with my MBP. Early model serial numer (W8607) and battery (6N606)

See photos here: http://cnet.com.au/laptops/laptops/0,39035649,40063900,00.htm

In at the local Apple repair centre -- due back in two weeks. Hopefully they'll fix the whine and dead pixels up too!

MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Do not use a battery that is bulging even the slightlest, they can explode. Look at this video to see the force a little battery can put out. Apple better fix these quick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ0SNESIkWk&search=battery%20explode

Guys, I think the problem is in the processor: I've always been amazed by how much Intel laptops gets hot when working. This is due to the size of the circuitry in the chipset (65 nm for the Core Duo) and the material they are made of, aluminium.

Old G4's where made out of copper, which is less resistive than aluminium, thus they were heating up MUCH less.

That is just a supposition, but it's probably true. Try to touch any of the Intel-based Windows laptops, if you get a chance.

Cheers

I'm not sure my 5 monthes old MBP run hotter than my old TiBook 550 mhz use to…

Hi Bill,

When the computer is asleep the hard disks don't stop
spinning they just spin slower
( http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25801)
, even is one turns on "put the hard disk(s) to sleep
when possible" you cannot be sure that the hard
disk(s) will not turn on and spin while asleep. So a
computer can still make heat while in sleep. Also
since having any portable computer on a soft computer
reduces/restricts ventilation I would not want to
have my MBP in my bag while it is on, even when
asleep.

IMHOP

According to the Doc you cite:

"What happens when the computer goes to sleep (not just into idle mode or display sleep)?

On all computers:

Apple-supplied hard disks spin down"


I've owned many Apple laptops. I rarely shut them down completely, and have never had any problem with them in sleep and being in a bag.

Do not use a battery that is bulging even the slightlest, they can explode.

Or catch fire mid-presentation

The term spin down means that the drive stops
spinning.

Spin down does not mean it stops spinning. If it stopped spinning, it would have said "The Hard Drive heads are Parked" or the "Drive stopes spinnig" or "The drive Shuts down".

It would seem in this case that the hard drive simply goes into a "low power state" and but does not fully shut off. This may be due to the fact that the Motherboard and OS logic would assume the hard drive was disconnected if it did completely shut off.

MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6)

My MBPro started shutting off randomly about a month ago, when it would not wake from sleep after a few hours of not being used. This happened two or three times before I called apple to ask them what I should do.

They reset my power management unit in my MBPro and I was asked to continue using it to see if the problem persists. It wasn't more than a week later that I had to call back with the exact same issue, but this time I had another problem to report.

At this point, my MBPro was shutting off while I was using it on battery. I would check the battery meter and it would indicate a 20-40% change still remained. After a few minutes I was able to turn it back on. But moments later, it would clunk-out again. They indicated that I may have a battery problem, and I provided the agent with the serial number. W8608 would indicate (according to the posts) a week 8 battery.

No problem, they sent me a new battery. No hassle no fuss. I, to this point, have never had any problem with Apple Care... Just with shipping taking two weeks, but that's not their fault! Further I didn't notice a battery bulging problem till today. It is a slight bulge (I wouldn't let it get worse), about 1mm underneath the battery where the metal is coming away from the plastic.

I also notice that my laptop it’s cool as ice when the battery is not in! This, I feel would indicate a logic problem with the charging device. Either it doesn't realize that the battery doesn't need to be continually charged and should not produce more heating. Or, the battery sits between AC-power and the rest of the computer and is always being charged/used when plugged in. I wouldn't mind using my MBPro without the battery, just that the mag-safe is easily disconnected (as per spec).

I've used Laptop for 15 years, and my MBPro this one of the best when it comes to heating up the least. But I also keep it at "Better Energy Saving" 'cause a Dual-Processor is more than fast enough, and I spend my time waiting on the HDD.


MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6) 1.86 - 512 - OSX 10.4.7

I had the same problem. I called Apple and in less then 3 days I had an UPS van delivering my new battery.
The new battery has a better capacity: 5570 vs 4074.

🙂

I'm having the same problem with my mpb turning off unexpectedly. So if i go to the Apple store and tell them my story will they replace my battery at that moment without charge??? or Should i have to call Apple first?

Thanks!