17" MBP battery swelling

I'm not entirely sure how the phone service works.

My hope and understanding is that if you have a Warranty Issue, you call them and they replace your warranty product (since your computer falls within the 1 year warranty)... and if you are calling for technical support, like you are having software issues, they will charge you for it. That's how it works with other companies I'm not sure apple.

Since you mention the Apple Care phone support ending, I assume that you are not anywhere near an apple store.

If you brought your computer to an apple store they will diagnose your problem quickly and get you a new battery.

Call up AppleCare and tell them you have a swelling battery problem and they will immediately ship you a new battery. 1-800-APL-CARE

Just to append for those looking for 17" MBP battery swelling, my battery also exhibited swelling and is in the process of being replaced by Apple.

I started three weeks ago with sudden shutdowns when battery powered.

The MBP didn't send the "Low battery" warning or slept at all, it just shut down.

Today it was impressively swollen at the point that it was no possible to push down the track button.

I took the battery for replacement.

This is México, so they told me it will take 8 weeks to get another one.

Nevertheless I'm afraid there could be a catch: The battery Serial Number is NOT reported in the "black list" of problematic batteries to be replaced, so mine is some kind of novelty...

I'll wait for the replacement.

Just to add to the list of swelling battery users, mine too is swelling. I got my computer back at the beginning of june, so the battery has gone ~6 months and yesterday started swelling. OVERNIGHT, it's gotten worse, MUCH worse. Only one side of the metal glued backing was popping up, but now a second side is, and lastly the inside, the part that touches the trackpad bottom, is now bulging. I immediately went to my local apple store and they're sending for a replacement. My battery too is not listed on the "black list," but it seems that there's a growing problem with these batteries. My brother's powerbook has avoided all the battery recalls, and it's had no problems, yet mine doesn't last much more than 6 months.

-Brian

Just to say I have a 15" MBP, similar problems to others - couldn't use the trackpad button. Phone Apple, problem quickly diagnosed, appointment made at local Apple Centre for within the hour, battery swapped out, up and running again very quickly.
Should the battery been more resilient - yes of course, but the measure of the company is how quickly and efficiently they deal with problems when they arrive - I could not have expected a better service that I received.

Yes, if your laptop is less than one year old, AppleCare will help you out. Just call them up to replace the battery. It's just that if you had a technical issue (e.g., I can't print!) they won't help you over the phone if it's over 30 (or is it 90?) days if you didn't buy the extended AppleCare warranty.

Well, I bought my 17" MacBook Pro in May 06 and its battery swelled/quite working as well. I live in Florida so I can't get Applecare. (At least the last time that I tried, Apple told me that I had to be a business in Florida for them to provide Applecare! 😟 ) Anyway, a battery should last at least two years not 10 months! This is not my first apple laptop (it is my fifth) and probably my twenty fifth laptop since I first started buying them. This IS the first to not have a battery that lasted at least two years.

Also, I have noticed that when the cpu's heat up on my 17" that they are also heating up the battery since they seem to be very close to one another. I am running an application which runs the duo cores at 100% and causes the bottom of the computer to be much hotter than my G4 powerbook. I wonder if there is any relationship between the two?

Mine just started doing it too. Took the battery into one of the the Apple stores here and they said they didn't have a "parts" replacement battery to replace it with, so they could order one for me or I could call Apple Care. Its actually kinda cool how it keeps growing, just glad I have a spare battery.

Late last week my 17" battery started swelling as well. Today the computer would no longer sit flat on the desk, and while the trackpad worked - I no longer had the tactile click feedback. I am still under the 1yr warranty (and have applecare). A new battery is being shipped w/o issue.

Bob,

Regardless of how long the battery has been in use, swelling of the battery in -never- normal. New batteries don't swell. Old batteries don't swell. I purchased my 17" MPB in May and it too is exhibiting a swelling battery (and Apple has shipped me a new one, just waiting for it to arrive). It seems that there is a growing problem with first-generation 17" MPB batteries, there have been an oddly high number of battery swelling cases suddenly pop up all at once.

I wouldn't necessarily blame this one on Apple, 2006 is going to hold a pretty good record as worst battery-manufacturing year ever.

EDIT: If your battery is swelling, remove it immediately and call Apple. It's inconvenient, but your laptop will still run just fine without the battery inside when on AC power.

I just had this happen to one of my users. Swollen battery and now his 17" MacBook Pro has issues. Lines thru his display (unresponsive) and keyboard doesn't work as well. Luckily he has both an external keyboard and monitor attached that work.

Hello All,

My battery swelled up on me on the worse time! Not only did it swell up, but the battery stopped working. Last month, I noticed my battery was dying. I asked a "Genius" about this and he said it was normal. Some how with all his tech talk, he still didn't convince me. The battery was still expanding. But hey, he's a genius right? So I listened to him, and went on my merry way to my vacation in the Philippines.

I went to a small island in Cebu. Ever since high school, my dream was to program, swim, sit on the beach, and look at beautiful women. However, thanks to the battery dying, all I could settle for was the beach and beautiful women!


Anyway, there were hints that my battery was starting to die..

Signs of Trouble:

1.) When the battery meter says you still have 30%-50% juice left, but the laptop dies on you anyway.

When this first happened, I was upset! I felt OS X was lying to me. But there wasn't much I could do. Anyway,
the Apple manual recommends the user should drain the battery at least once a month. As I was draining the battery, my laptop died on me at 50%.

I found out by looking at the battery, it looks like the battery is divided into two pieces. On one side, the lithium battery was normal and flat. On the other side, it was bulging. Luckily, it was one side that was bulging and not the other.

2.) If your trackpad becomes too sensitive And/Or the mouse button is getting hard to click on.

I thought it was my bad typing habits creeping back up. I thought my thumb or finger would hit the track pad, but when I investigated further I noticed it was something else. The one button mouse is an even bigger indicator that your battery is expanding because the battery pushes against the buttons.

3.) I had to put the laptop on my lap. Yikes! Something Apple doesn't recommend doing because of the heat the CPU generates. By doing this, the laptop was working normally again.

4.) Eventually, the laptop battery will not work and the AC Adapter light will just be green.

It's green because the energy is being fed directly to the computer and not to the battery. Right now, I'm using my laptop purely on the AC Adapter. Today, I'm going to the Apple Store to lay the smack down on those "Geniuses." I want my battery and my dream of programming on an island **** it!

Here are some pics of my warped battery and one picture of paradise:

http://theluke.slide.com/?mode=ph

MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.9) 17'', 1st Gen Duo

MacBook Pro 17'', 1st Gen Duo