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posted @ Friday, November 30, 2007 9:13 AM
<disclaimer>If you don't own a macbook, you probably aren't interested in this!</disclaimer>
I have a 1.5 year old Macbook Pro that I only very occasionally run on battery power. Apparently, this is a big problem. Lack of regular use (and regular re-calibration, and other strange rituals - see below) can really kill your battery. When I would use my battery, it seemed to have extremely limited life (recently I'd be lucky to get 20-30 minutes on it). Looking in my system info (About this Mac > More Info > Power) I saw that my batteries capacity was about 30% of normal, and I only had about 175 recharge cycles on it.
Knowing my 1 year warranty was over, and I didn't have extended Apple Care coverage, I went googling for a deal on a replacement battery. Seeing a couple different models, I went to the Apple forums to see if anyone had recommendations.
Luckily, I stumbled onto this thread about battery issues, which had some success stories about getting replacement batteries, and a link to this
Knowledge Base article that seemed to be saying that battery warranty coverage has been extended to two years due to issues with these batteries:
If, after you have installed the battery update, your battery has any of the symptoms listed below, please make a reservation to bring your computer with its battery to your local Apple Retail Store, or contact an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP), or call your local Apple Support Contact Center. If Apple or an AASP determines that your battery is eligible for replacement, you will receive a new battery, free of charge, even if your MacBook or MacBook Pro is out of warranty.
For MacBook and MacBook Pro systems with Intel Core Duo processors, this program extends repair coverage on the battery for up to two years from the date of purchase of the computer.
I made an appointment, and printed out the above article to bring along for reference.
It took persistence to repeatedly explain to the "genius" at the Genius Bar that this article was really saying what I thought it was saying, and that others had really gotten replacements. He was not quick to believe things I read in the forums, which is understandable, but he also seemed to be saying that that Apple KB article could be erroneous or inapplicable. Another "genius" told him to look up the article, and read the employee-only notes on the article. He did this, and a few minutes later mumbled "I can do this for you." Seriously, he seemed so disappointed that I was right - I had to ask him to repeat himself.
But, I walked out with my brand new battery.
One thing that was interesting that I was told... I asked about best practices for keeping these batteries healthy - I told them I had read that re-calibration was necessary at least once a month, if not once a week, as I had read some places. He suggested that re-calibration is NOT necessary (I think it can't hurt to do it now and again), and the best way to save your battery was
to physically remove it from your MacBook if you are going to be plugged in for extended periods of time. I never read that anywhere - but obviously it would make sense. But what a pain in the butt, and now you have a nice big dust trap on the bottom of your mac where your battery used to be.
Anyway, I hope this helps someone who is about to buy a $100-$130 replacement battery for their out-of-warranty MacBook/Pro.