By SteveJack
On Monday, I returned after lunch to find my 17-inch MacBook Pro sitting oddly on my desk. Thinking I’d gotten a cable or maybe the Apple Remote stuck underneath, I tilted the base of the MacBook Pro up and looked underneath. Nothing to be seen. After checking again, I noticed the battery had popped its case.
Yes, I’d been struck by the MacBook Pro expanding battery issue!
One of the MacBook Pro’s battery latches had unlatched due to the pressure, but there was nothing wrong with the MacBook Pro’s chassis. The battery, of course, was kaput.
What to do?
I called 1-800-SOS-APPLE and I took notes from here on out:
After answering a couple perfunctory questions via the automated system, an Apple representative answered. I did not mention MacDailyNews; the Apple rep had no idea that this would be reported on MacDailyNews regardless of how the process went. I explained that the battery had expanded out of its case, gave the woman my MacBook Pro’s serial number, confirmed my name and address, and she – no questions asked – said she would send out a new battery immediately and I was to return the bad battery in a pre-addressed, postage-paid box. Total time spent from dialing the number to hanging up the phone: 6 minutes and 22 seconds.
I have another battery, so I popped that one into the MacBook Pro in case I wanted to roam in the meantime. And, no, we did not purchase AppleCare for this particular MacBook Pro which we bought on May 6, 2006.
21 hours and 17 minutes after I hung up the phone, the new battery arrived. I popped it into the MacBook Pro and it began charging. I placed the old battery in the box provided, peeled off my address label to reveal the address Apple wanted the battery sent, and called the DHL pickup number Apple had provided and placed the box outside for pickup.
That’s it. Done. The whole thing took less than 10 minutes of my time. Try accomplishing something as effortless and smooth with Dell or any other PC maker.
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
Nick Holla:
Are you serious? That is pretty amazing. Makes me love Apple even more.
“21 hours and 17 minutes after I hung up the phone, the new battery arrived. “
That sure beats a tech being on your doorstep in less than 4hrs from hanging up the phone. NOT.
I suspect Steve Jack would be less accommodating if he had a deadline and didn’t have another spare battery just sitting there.
From the survey:
“26 percent had a problem of some kind that put them out of commission for at least a day.”
Really? 1/4 of all Macs fail. That’s hardy good, no matter how fast they fix them.
My MacBookPro battery EXPLODED in my face today.
I called Apple, within 24 hours they had my face AND the battery replaced.
Thumbs up!
Apple Doesn’t rule, there friggin battery expands! Just because their customer service is trying to make up for a dodgy product doesn’t mean that Apple are better. My mates macbook pro just did the same thing.
If I had the money I’d get one, but that’s irrelevant.
This issue just happened to me, and I called the SOS number and after looking up some info the technician told me that I have to buy my own replacement battery since it is 6 months over warranty.
To me that is total BS. If the battery can’t charge or hold the charge, then I would define that as the battery wearing out. If the battery works, and the only issue is the thing busting out of its own casing, I would say that is a material defect.
So far, I am not satisfy with the response from tech support, and we will see if the actual person at the Genius Bar will reach the same conclusion or not.
Made an appointment to see the folks at a local Apple Genius Bar, and after briefly explaining my reason for the visit and showing them my battery (swelled to more than 2x the normal thinkness of a non-defective battery) the resolution was to give me a replacement battery.
I asked what the issue is, but was told that he has seen this kind of issue before and it could be the Las Vegas heat or that I just got a lemon when I bought my MacBook Pro. So from what I have gathered there is no mass recall, and defective batteries can be replaced if you just bring the issue to the attention of an Apple representative at a retail outlet (even if the laptop is pass the warrenty date).
Apple sucks, my battery did the same crap and Apple wouldn’t touch it outside of the coverage plan. In fact, they claim they haven’t had any reports about such failures, another Bad Apple if you ask me! Good luck to the rest of ya!
Just got off the phone with Apple guy. They would NOT replace the battery for my 17″ MacBookPro. This is the 2nd time it has “expanded.” IMO they simply replaced a bad battery with another bad battery. This time they want me to pay for a new one. I was told it was a function of the Lithium Ion Battery, NOT the MacBook Pro. If that is the case, why didn’t I have the same problems with my 15″ MBP?