Swollen battery has wrecked my MacBook pro

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Swollen battery has wrecked my MacBook pro

I have a 2011 MacBook Pro. The battery gave no errors on the desktop indicating it needed replacing. It is likely well under the 1000 charge cycles limit. It expanded and split the case and trackpad. Apple state they won't cover any of the damage because the laptop is over 3 years old and they consider the battery a consumable. But my laptop isn't a consumable. Their stance on having a blanket policy of 3 years seems contrary to UK consumer rights legislation. The fact this charge cycle info was given to me today by support is the first time I've heard of this. I've had my machine in to an authorised apple service centre over the years and not long ago had a 500GB solid state hard drive put in. Nothing came up on diagnostics to indicate the battery needed replacing. I would argue that a battery housed within a sealed laptop unit that an owner isn't able to take out themselves should give some warnings before it swells and wrecks an expensive machine.

So, about this Apple 3 year policy?

MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011)

Posted on Oct 7, 2015 12:51 PM

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Answer 1

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Kappy

Level 10

361,709 points

Oct 7, 2015 1:06 PM in response to Pointergirl

Please make an appointment at the Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar and take it in for service. If you are not in the USA or cannot set up an appointment this way, then contact your local Apple Store directly. We have nothing to do with any of Apple's warranty policies. Unless you purchased Apple Care within your first year of ownership, then you have no 3 year warranty. Since your computer is more than 3 years old you would have no warranty in effect even had you purchased AppleCare.

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Answer 2

Pointergirl Author

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Oct 7, 2015 1:07 PM in response to Kappy

Hi Kappy,

I'm in the UK. Here, consumer rights are above and beyond a warranty. Is this not the right forum for a UK consumer to post on? My battery didn't give me an indication it would self destruct my machine.

Thanks

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,709 points

Oct 7, 2015 3:09 PM in response to Pointergirl

You're welcome to post here, but as I stated we are just users like yourself. We cannot fix your problem nor replace your battery. We cannot resolve warranty issues either with Apple or in the UK. Take it in for service. That is all we can do to help because you are dealing with hardware.

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Answer 4

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Oct 7, 2015 1:36 PM in response to Pointergirl

Pointergirl wrote:

I would argue that a battery housed within a sealed laptop unit that an owner isn't able to take out themselves should give some warnings before it swells and wrecks an expensive machine.

That really is not the case. Should you read the owners manual, you will find instructions for taking off the bottom plate and accessing the HDD and the RAM. The battery adjoins both of these items.

Ciao.

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