MacBook Pro Battery has swollen

Yes all batteries will eventually fail, but what you seem to have missed in the op is that the battery malfunctioned and damaged Martibirrich's laptop in the process. This is the salient point. Or do you consider that any battery caused damaged on any portable device acceptable. I know that that would not be acceptable to any users of cordless tools, cameras, or any myriad of other devices, so I don't see why it should be any different for Macbooks.

I have the same problem, but as of yet the swelling is only impinging on my ability to use my trackpad. The apple rep at the Montréal downtown Apple Store informed me that as there was no damage to my laptop that they would not replace my battery free of charge. However, should there bee any damage, the repairs and replacement costs would then be borne by Apple.

All batteries will eventually fail. Some sooner and some later. To a large extent it will be a function of age and the way the battery has been used/abused. Yes, to a certain extent manufacturing defects might also be an element in that equation.

Older batteries can and should be monitored via System Information>Power. You have been misfortunate but any compensation from Apple is very unlikely. Five years of service by a lithium ion battery is a long time just as tires would be on an often driven car. There is every expectation that such items will eventually have to be replaced which is the responsibility of the user/owner.

Ciao.

The battery CAN be replaced https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Early+2011+Battery+Repl acement/5116

Unless you can show that it's an issue affecting many other users, it's unlikely you can get past the out-of-warranty hurdle.

I had the same problem happened to one of my MacBook. I am looking for a good battery made by another company to substitute it. There many been sold on Amazon, etc. Let me know if you could solve your problem.

Check the charge cycles on your battery. Li-ion batteries are rated for 300 to 500 charge cycles.

A swollen battery indicates that the battery is failing physically, from a defect. This can be caused from overheating or overcharging.

When a battery is in this swollen condition, it becomes very dangerous as it can burst and catch of fire. Contact apple as it is their policy to replace these defective batteries even if they are out of warranty as long as the cause is from the batteries being defective.

Again I ask if it is deemed acceptable that an aging battery causes damage? My position is that battery swelling to the point that it causes damage to the enclosing hardware is a defect and should be covered by Apple.

As Lithium batteries swell before they die, it is hardly a secret that you should replace them before they do.

All batteries will eventually die at some point.

Leaving it in your Mac is a very foolish thing to do. But it is your Mac to break.

Batteries are not classed as consumables for fun. Yours is consumed, time for a new one.

Anker and OWC make good batteries, they are not the cheapest but they last and work well. Amazon sell Anker and OWC sell OWC batteries (newer tech is the brandname)

OWC

You can replace it before damage is caused by its aging.