battery swollen, metal back is buckled out

Same thing happened to my 17" MB Pro, yesterday. I called Apple Care Support and they said my battery doesn't qualify for recall. Battery is model #A1189 and did exactly the same thing as others under the recall. Not sure why I should pony up the cash to replace it, but I'm continuing my research.

The same thing has happened to me. My 11-month old computer started shutting down without warning even though the battery showed 70% charge. I replaced the battery for $160. Tonight, I noticed the old one sitting on my bookshelf had swollen apart and burst through the metal casing. I've had several Macintosh laptops (going back to the PowerBook 170) and I've never had a battery behave like this.

In the past, I noticed the bottom of the 17-inch was always very hot. That's not the case with the new battery. It also never held a charge for more than an hour. Obviously these 17-inch batteries are defective and should be recalled and replaced. The defective battery's serial number is 6N618761U50A.

I plan to take the battery to the Apple Store and see what they say.

When I went to the Apple store, the reps immediately referred me to the Genius Bar. "I've seen that before" one of the clerks said. The next appointment was four hours later, so I had to come back and stand in line for about 15 minutes before the guy in the black shirt came out of the back.

He started asking me if I had my MacBook Pro's serial number, how long ago I had bought it...then another guy came up and said something quietly in his ear. He immediately started putting in an order for a new battery. When I pressed him, he said the battery was already under recall (which is not true, the 17-inch is not part of the recall) Other than lying about the recall, waiting forever, and having to make a fourth trip to the store I guess I'm lucky to be getting a new battery (of course I had already bought a new one last month) So apparently you have two options: allow them to replace the battery on the spot (if they have one in stock you get it then, otherwise they order it for you to pickup in the store. They won't ship it to you direct) or call Apple. If you already replaced the battery you can apply for reimbursement. You can also get a new one through them.

Add my machine (W8622..) to the list of 17" MacBookPros with battery breaking outta the casing. And like the other reported here, it was sudden. Batter serial is: 6N6218WPUS0A.

Contacted Applecare and they are sending out a new battery. I too am worried about liability of mailing back the old one based on what I read here.

17" MacBook Pro, similar story. New in March 2007.

I observed two parallel anomalies that were warnings:

1) Despite power indicator of 65-75% and about 1:30 of time remaining, system was shutting down without warning. Very annoying when building a big financial analysis spreadsheet.

2) The track pad button no longer "clicked" but felt fully depressed. At first I thought someone in the family (perhaps the cats?) had used the laptop and dropped something on it, breaking the button. Nope, they were innocent.


So I flipped over the Mac, popped out the battery, and it was definitely swollen due to a cell or two near the center. The swelling was pushing upward on the area below the trackpad, and without the battery I had no button problem.

A bit of googling and here I am.

serial 6N6192WLUS0A

thats definitely one of the symptoms: track pad not working

Yes, I just noticed my battery is now doing the same thing. Anyone know if there is a recall on this battery. I'm not too interested in footing the bill myself since this computer is barely a year old!

My battery just 'expanded' and buckled. You can see the inside of it! I'm apparently out of warranty, since my computer is just over 1 year old. Also, the battery isn't on the recall list. Sadly, I've almost never used the battery.

It's a 17" Macbook Pro and the battery is an A1189. Anyone else have this problem? I'm hoping for a recall...

Battery: A1189
Serial: 6N623A5BUS0A

October 9, 2007 - MacBook Pro –Serial # W86180----- Battery model # A1189 Purchased 4/24/06

Found my Battery bulging & swollen late last night as I was about to put in my sleeve& pack it in my case. Even cut my finger in the sharp metal. Tried my computer, and found track pad didn’t click. Located my manual, read instructions & promptly removed battery from Mac Book Pro. Didn’t bring it with me to class today, since I didn’t realize AC power would work without battery. Reached Applecare this afternoon (have policy) got case # and after some waiting they agreed to send out new battery.

I had to give credit card # to guarantee return of swollen battery. They wouldn’t arrange for me to sign a pre-release for it to arrive with no signature. A real pain.

I searched the web for more feed back, since I wasn’t really happy with Apples lack of concern about this problem. No one was too concerned about sharp edges, the danger of fire, etc. My battery looks like the worse of those pictured here and is still continuing to bulge further. I just put it in my kiln, which is made of firebrick with a metal casing, and will store it there until I send it back. +Seems like a poor idea to send these through common carrier without a fireproof wrapping.+

Arrenee

MacBook Pro 17", about 1.5 year old now I think. SN W86222XXXXX

While on battery power the computer all of a sudden shut down. Plugged it back in, didn't think much of it until the next day at work, when the computer wouldn't sit flush to my desk. Noticed the back cover of the battery bulging out.

Called AppleCare's number despite being out of battery, while on hold on the phone I came across this thread (in fact, I'm still on hold). I was shocked at the number of failure, even on Apple's online store, the page for the battery, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of complaint filed about this battery.

Still trying to figure out if they'll replace the battery for free. 😟

I've had the EXACT same problem!!! Exactly. power shut-down without warning. then about 2 weeks later, the trackpad stopped working (2 days ago). today, battery bulged.

an update....

because of the bulging battery, apple replaced my battery for free. they said that they were aware of the problem and were looking into it.

i also have apple care, which may be why they covered it (my service provider said that batteries weren't covered under apple care) but someone on another thread said that apple was aware that this problem was occurring and had extended the warranty. so it's definitely worth checking into.

I just rang apple (uk) they are sending out a replacement. My Battery model no is also A1189 and has expanded in line with my belly!
They say that they are embarking on a replacement program and this is out of warranty but qualifies for the replacement. So try again if you have had no success.

My MBP is now 13 months old but my applecare has run out as i didn't take the 3yr option. Even so i don't expect the battery to have problems within this time period and I don't use the MBP all the time as I work on a G5.

With this amount of use you expect the equipment to be in perfect order especially when you pay over £2000 for a top of the range machine.

I still have to check my serial number but is there a recall going on with these or do i have to bite the bullet and buy another one myself.

D Brand - UK