Batteries.
Seems a creative professionals life runs on batteries. The ability to work on the go, anywhere, any time. My phone, tablet, laptop, cameras all run on batteries.
The Problem with Rechargeable Batteries
Over time, rechargeable batteries wear out and need to be replaced. Im not talking about losing a charge, rather the total number of charges that a battery can hold before its used up. Batteries over time suffer from a few problems.
- Cycles. A battery can only be recharged so many times before it essentially stops being able to hold a charge. This can be a total failure or a greatly diminished capacity. Ive also personally had batteries bloat and expand till the point of nearly rupturing their case.
- Maximum Capacity. Over time batteries become less efficient. They are unable to hold as much charge and you’ll find yourself needing to charge more often.
Disclaimer 1: Before I tell you the following story, let me clarify one thing. Im a cross-platform kind of guy. I use both Mac and HP computers all the time in my professional life. I have preferences for different tasks and performance needs.
Disclaimer 2: These are my experiences, other people’s may be different.
My Machine Says I Need to Service the Battery
Recently I had a very frustrating experience with my MacBook Pro. Its a top of the line machine about a year and a half old. I run the latest operating system and keep it well-maintained.
The other day, a new error popped up that Id never seen before. My Mac told me that my battery was having problems. I got the very generic Service Battery when I clicked on the battery status menu.
A search in the help menu found this description for the weird message.
Service Battery: The battery isn’t functioning normally, and you may or may not notice a change in its behavior or the amount of charge it holds. Take your computer in for service. You can continue to use your battery before its checked without harming your computer.
I was on the road for work,so I wrote the error off for a while. For weeks though my Mac kept telling me the battery needed attention. This struck me as weird, so I made an appointment at the local Apple store to get the machine serviced.
Time to Do Something?
If my computer keeps telling me something is wrong, I figure I better listen. I made an appointment for the weekend when things were less busy for me. Got the first slot on Saturday AM. I loaded up a detailed description into the appointment system, precise notes abut whats wrong, my serial number, etc. Identified exactly what my machine said was wrong and that Id need a new battery.
I thought this would be an easy fix I was very wrong.
When I arrived at the Apple Store the tech checked my machine and the message and said that my battery had failed. To make extra sure he hooked it up and ran a diagnostic report.
The tech verified that “my battery had failed.” He then informed me that the repair would be about $400. I replied that seemed like an awful lot for a battery
When is a Battery Not a Battery?
It turns out, in modern Mac laptops the battery isn’t just a battery. In a quest to make machines thinner, Apple made the batteries unserviceable by the user (as well as removed much of the protective covering). The battery glued to your keyboard which means they have to replace both at the same time (even if your keyboard works just fine).
Next toss in the problem that Apple thought I didn’t have AppleCare on the machine. This is Apples extended warranty. This was despite me showing a receipt that showed that I bought both at the same time. Turns out that if you don’t by the machine from an Apple Store, you have to actually fill out some online form to register your warranty. If you buy at an Apple store, they automatically attach it. Anywhere else, you have to do it yourself.
Should I Spend the Money?
Since Im not one to part with $400 lightly I ask for more details. In what way has my battery failed. After about 6 minutes of back and forth I finally get the tech to clarify that my battery fails to meet Apple standards.
Yes, you heard that right. Battery failure means a failure to meet Apple standards. This warrants telling a user to make a service appointment and shell out nearly $400.
I asked if my machine was at risk for damage nope. The only problem Id experience is that the battery wouldn’t hold a charge as long. Last I checked, thats what happens to all rechargeable batteries as they got older.
Still, I considered the repair my keyboard was a little worn out, I could use a longer lasting battery. The tech said he thought they could get the AppleCare issue worked out.
Start Your Engines?
Okay, I was going to do it. I figured I could pick the machine up at the end of the day (or maybe the next morning). Nope.
How long would it take? About 3 days.
Yes, three days to swap a battery. Three days to repair something on a Mac laptop that every Mac laptop is supposed to need done before the machine fails. The battery is rated to last less than the machine for most users. Nearly everyone who buys a Mac laptop should need to replace the battery (unless they are programmed to constantly upgrade).
Why? Well it turns out that battery is not just attached to the keyboard, but also the logic board which controls a lot of the computer. A very difficult repair Im told.
So in Apples insane quest to get laptops a few millimeters thinner, a standard repair like a battery swap takes 3 days. Now it turns out that it doesn’t actually take 3 days, its just the line is really long and it does apparently take several hours per machine.
I Thought I Made a Reservation?
But didn’t I make a reservation? I scheduled it 5 days in advance, I submitted all my details including the error message and serial numbers.
Doesnt matter. The tech informs me that they don’t even bother reading those notes until 3 minutes before they call the customers names.
At this point I ask for the store manager. I politely point out that three days time to service a pro laptop with a sticker price of 4,000 seems ludicrous. He informs me that for the Apple stores are really setup for consumers.
If you need professional level service you need to sign up for Apples optional coverage plan for businesses (called Joint Venture) for premium service. Its only $500 to cover 5 machines for one year each (in addition to having Apple care on each machine).
At this point, I just about lost it.
Pro Machines Aren’t Really for Pros
Doesnt matter if you buy a top end machine (or in our case about 5 machines a year for the office). If you want a pro machine to be serviced with one day turnaround you have to pay extra on top of the extra you already paid for the warranty.
At this point I leave the store and contact a local Apple Certified Reseller who has an extensive in-house repair center. Originally they quoted me same day service.
Except it turns out Apple won’t let them do this. Theyre not allowed to keep parts in stock. Apple requires that they run a diagnostic on the machine to verify that there was a problem. I pointed out that Apple just ran that diagnostic test. Didnt matter. The reseller had to run his own before Apple would send him the part. Paying of course for overnight express shipping.
How Long Does it Take to Change the Battery in a Mac Laptop?
So it appears the fastest you can get a Mac laptop battery changed is 2 days. And that you’ll have to make at least two car trips.
So Apple, the environmentally conscious company that it is, has failed.
The red tape and bureaucracy has created a system where a standard part (that has to be replaced on every laptop during its useful life) requires a minimum of two round trip car rides and an express overnight shipment for a single part.
Itll take two-four days without the machine you need to run your business too.
Yeah. that’s crazy.
Perhaps Im just not getting it, but it seems like a simple battery swap shouldn’t involve so much effort.
Service Battery is Likely a Meaningless Warning
And the key take away here, don’t believe your Mac when it says the battery has failed. The truth here is once your battery loses its ability to hold about 80% of its original charge Apple wants your machine. Be prepared to give up $400, 3 or 4 days, or both.
All because its failed to meet Apple standards.
Your thoughts welcome and I encourage you to share this story. Perhaps Apple can figure out a better way to service their customers and not waste so much in gas and fuel charges.
Took the official apple store in Amsterdam 3 hours for a battery swap while my normal reseller quoted 3 days for me.. Think the service is really dependent on the country you live in.
This is one of the things that bother me so much about apple products. PC’s are not perfect, but I can work on them and replace parts without this kind nonsense and expense.
I am surprised that it died in 1-1/2 years. Should last longer than that. Are you the type to recharge frequently, or let the batter go through the full discharge? Frequent unnecessary charging still shortens life.
It didn’t die. That’s my point. It still holds 80% of the original charge but Apple says it needs to be replaced. Bad for the environment and bad for the pocketbook.
Understood and agree!. I like you use both Dell a Apple products. I just last week replaced my Dell battery, something which I did in 2 minutes for under $150. I still love the MacBook Pro, but it scares me if the battery alarm goes off.
Yeah, I’d take a few millimeters thicker to have a machine better for environment and easier to maintain b
Well, the new “pro” is again a few milli meters thinner … they really anally retentive, what I would have hope for is at minimum better battery life, keep magsafe and SD and one USB A port, loose the headphone jack instead of making it thinner. Come on Tim and Ive get real.
If it’s Li-Ion it’s actually the opposite, it’s actuall full discharge that is shortening the battery life.
I’ve been contemplating a Macbook Air to replace my PC laptop for some time. It’s stories such as this that slap me in the face and make me ask why. Their products are beautiful, as I already have an iPhone and iPad, but my workflow is fine on a PC desktop that is more powerful and less expensive that I can modify as I choose.
Actually the air’s Battery’s aren’t glued in like the Pros, just screwed in. Even the newest models like mine (2017). You can replace it yourself I did and it was easy, battery was $80.
thanks for the info on the Mac Air battery. this is my first Mac, after 14 months i haven’t noticed a much decline at all, it seems “like new”. Impress with the battery life i figured i’d see what others have to say. I’ve had pc’s needing to be plugged in one hundered percent of the time around the 14th month. I do not use my machine for work so im not on it all day. however, once i’m home it’s working hard enough to notice serious wear on my last 4 pc’s. if only i made the switch ealier… Read more »
An amazing story! This story needs to go viral, so that Apple formally responds. Poor product-maintenance design, is an example of Apple ‘s business model of disposable technology. Shame on Apple!!!
joeKilanowski
>
When my old MBP came up with the Service Battery warning, I ignored it because I kept the machine plugged in most of the time anyway. Mine was an older style, user replaceable, battery and I just did not need it. But, I never looked at it, and that was a mistake. The battery was very swollen and basically a hazard. I finally noticed it when I was getting the machine ready to sell, and I’m lucky it never caused any other issues. I’ve also been an HP influencer partner for years, and I have to point out that HP… Read more »
All good points. But there is a different warning that’s specific to replace battery. Service battery just means reduced performance.
Sounds like you have a retina MacBook Pro. Those batteries are rated for 1000 cycles before they hit 80 percent capacity. Meaning, you can cycle it almost every day for 3 years before hitting the limit. Even then the batteries don’t say they need service unless the computer can detect something wrong, which in your case it did. Most people won’t hit the 1000 cycle mark until they’ve had the machine for closer to 5 years. The fact that you got this message now means that there is something wrong with your battery…it could be something innocuous but it could… Read more »
That’s not what tech said. Only error is capacity. There’s a specific error for replacing battery.
They aside the whole process and turnaround time is ridiculous.
Ouch, sorry to hear of your bad experience! The way the new MBP’s are is one of the reasons I’m hanging onto my unibody for as long as possible! I do have to say though, I’ve had really good experiences with Apple to where my AppleCare actually got me a brand new Mac one year when they couldn’t fix my problem. The downtime was resolved by getting a loaner Mac from the authorized repair shop and just swapping the drives until mine was ready. I think the reseller who sold you the AppleCare should have informed you how it works… Read more »
I did go back to them. See the part about Apple not allowing then to keep parts in stock.
Had a MacBook Pro for a couple of years that I sold a few months ago.
Was thinking of replacing with a Retina but a 15-inch model could easily go up to $2500. Stories like this makes you think twice though.
Plus I always avoided AppleCare, which isn’t cheap for laptops, because my credit card company gives me a second year of coverage, so it didn’t seem like a third year from AppleCare was worth few hundred dollars additional.
If that expensive AppleCare doesn’t cover an expensive battery replacement …
It does cover the replacement. BUT you have to manually register and it takes 3-4 days. If you want faster service you have to pay more b
I hava a similar configuration , same age. No problem so far, however I have migrated all my images from Aperture to Lightroom in case one day I have to say adios apple.
I can’t be the only one on this planet that thinks like this, and apple ,with its poor Aperture upgrades and your type of experience must be losing customers who spend considerable amounts of money with them on a regular basis.
I spent $A4500 on my Mac – a PC configured the same way would have cost much less
Here’s what Apple says about battery replacement:
http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=servicefaq&geo=United_States&product=Macnotebooks
The listed price is $199+tax for a MacBookPro with Retina display ($129 for a non-retina MBP), and the Apple Store should replace it same-day. When I had a similar problem, I had the store order the battery, and then went back to have to replaced while I waited.
Yes, I agree it should cost that and it should take one day. Neither matches what I was quoted or told.
Wow, maybe they were trying to gouge or were unaware of that page.
$199 sounds more reasonable. Still a lot of money but the 15-inch Retinas start at $2000 so it’s 10% instead of 20% ($400).
Sadly, the guy you spoke to was very wrong. There are 2 part numbers for the same part depending on why it is being replaced. If the top case is damaged, or failed out of warranty, it’s 399. If it is a failed (out of warranty) or consumed battery, it is as stated above, $199, and 24 hours to replace. For validating your AppleCare, drop the machine for repair, go home, call AppleCare, email a copy of your receipt/proof of purchase, by the time you pick up the repair, you are golden. This is done nearly daily at every store… Read more »
Changing batteries used to be so simple. This is a case of form over function.
Nightmare it is.. Didnt realized the battery was that cumbersome to replace. Connected to keyboard, logic board etc.? This is ridiculous.
Guess I am justified in my dislike of Apple – just one more reason I refuse to own an I-anything :-)
LiPo (and lithium ion) batteries has a very small margin of useful capacity. If it discharges too much it will become useless, same if you overcharge. You don’t want to push a LiPo battery beyond its life and physical limit or it will expand or even worse cause a fire. It has nothing to do with Apple or any other manufacture trying to make money off new batteries. The last thing you want to do is throw a old LiPo battery in the trash then have something crack it or puncture it while in the trash, very bad things will… Read more »
Not sure where you determined that the battery held 80% of its charge. The diagnostic screen you showed us says the “Percent Battery FCC:” was 79.51% and that it’s seen 652 Full Charge Cycles. If you’ve only owned it for approximately 540 days, that means you’ve taken it off-power-cord for the equivalent of EVERY DAY down to system shutdown, plus 112 nights down to system shutdown. With due respect, that’s an absolute beating on the battery and the charging system. I’ve seen my MBP go from 20 minutes runtime remaining to dead in the blink of an eye, and upon… Read more »
Umm 79.51% vs. 80% …. ever hear of rounding? And yes… I’m a road warrior. Fly an air plane and your machine will go through a bunch of charges. I also frequently need to move from floor to floor in the office. How I run my machines and how hard I push them is part of my job and none of your business. My complaints have NOTHING to do with having to replace a battery because I wore it out… Zip … Nada. As demanding as my workflow is, I expect it. It’s that it takes 3-4 days and $400… Read more »
I have 13-inch MacBook Pro and today my battery told that it needs to be replaced soon and my not sure if I’m freaking out for no reason. However adding to my panic, lately my orange/green light of my charger as been acting up, sometimes going out when connected to my laptop and I would have to disconnect and reconnect for it to come back on properly. I checked the cord and there doesn’t seem to be any damage to it; and I’ve had this charger for about a year and a half, due to accidental cord damage that happened… Read more »
I have a pretty similar problem to you, except I got the “service battery” warning and nothing about replacing it. I’ve had this before, and I ignored it and it went away . . . and I never had any problems with the charge. This was probably a few years ago. In the past few weeks I have noticed that I plug in my charger and the light does not come up, even if I’ve turned it on at the wall. I have to take it out of the laptop and put it back in for the green light to… Read more »
At 5 years, I would expect to have to service the battery. Reaching 100% just means its fully charged, not that’s its holding a full charge.Look up Battery Health uyiliyy from FIBLAB
I bought an used Macbook Pro two years ago. It had that message but I have ignored it since then because the battery works fine. It last 4-5 hours which is enough for me. It doesn’t worry me.
I had a “Service Battery” message and ran the extensive diagnostics test and that solved the problem.
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731
I’ve had a similar issue with explosive frustration about a diminished battery. Called AppleCare and they said it will be fixed under warranty but I only had 6 days left and I couldn’t get it done at the Apple Store because there’s no Genius Bar appointments for over a week. AppleCare guy said I’d have to go to a authorised repairer, or mail it in, instead. So dropped it in at a local Apple authorised repairer who said if I want it back in less than a week I’d have to pay AU$160 extra which would guarantee it would be… Read more »
I think that you didn’t have to replace the battery. Mine was about a year showing this error message, and when it dropped to 90 minutes of work I’ve changed it. But I have a MBA Mid 2012, so I’ve bought the battery for about 80$ and replaced it by myself (buying also two screwdrivers for less than 10$ total).
I just replaced my Mid 2012 battery too for $138. Do you mean 2012 and 2013 or newer model have different battery setting inside?
Mie is a 2014
I had to replace my battery because the power board connected to the battery failed. I could not get just the board I needed replaced. Apple wanted to do the entire top case replacement at a cost of $500 Canadian. I ordered a battery from Amazon and replaced it myself in a couple of hours. The longest part was separating the original batteries from the case (which work just fine) using an old credit card to cut through the glue.
Very good article. Let me continue the saga of poor in my opinion Apple store care. At least in Canada. I have had the service battery warning now on my MacBook Pro early 2009 model for about a year and a half and figured what the heck I would talk to them at the store and see what they could do and about how much it would cost to get a new battery. After all the machine is 7 years old and still on original battery although still seems to get over 3 hours of battery life. Also I remembered… Read more »
Wow.. that’s quite frustrating (and ridiculous). I could understand not stocking parts… but they should still be able to fix things.
Apple’s after-sales service is exceptionally poor in India too, particularly when compared to Dell. In my case Apple’s service center damaged the screen of my macbook air and Apple simply shrugged off their responsibility blaming it on the service center. All this while the macbook was under company warranty. Seems a classic case of a company becoming too big to care about its customers.
I have a mid-2012 macbook pro 15″ (first generation) retina model. Just a few days ago, it piped up “Service Battery”. Thankfully I read this article so I knew what to expect. The downside? I went to the apple store, explained I was a student and needed my laptop 5 days of the week, they confirmed that yes I needed a new battery, that it would cost $$$ (in Canadian), and it would take 3-5 business days. I again said, I’m a student, and need my laptop for school in class. Every day. Maybe you’ll get it at Christmas. They… Read more »
just go to a shop and buy a used mac about 2011 model,you can change the battery put more memory in yourself and an ssd,done the same to mine a 2010 model and 6 years later on the first battery running like a dream,not had one problem.
That ia accurate. Certified apple resellers are vastly limited on what they can fix as it makes people less likely to uograde their old tech. I am an Unauthorized Apple technician By day and a PC enthusiast by night. I can without a doubt tell you that at my job we csn get all apple repairs done within a day(sans data transfers sometimes) but those superdrive-less pros, retinas, and airs do cost considerably more to repair and take quite a long time. The older mbp however takes 5 minutes. Battery costs us $70, we charge $100
My wife bought me a 17″ mbp in 2010 put more memory in and an ssd end of 2016 and it still runs like a dream,I would touch a new mac now as they have made them hard to fix,I will be looking for a 2011 13″ to take on my holidays while taking some photographs as that is my hobby,
While I don’t dispute the experience you had, I can say that that experience isn’t typical at my local Apple Store– and it makes me sad that it’s like that out in your locale. I know this is an older article, but it showed up recently in my feed. Just thought I’d address this. Servicing the battery does not require removal of the keyboard, and the battery is only connected to the logic board by a connector.. The answer that was given to you, in my opinion, sounds like you may have had an in experienced tech without the humility… Read more »
Great discussion of the implications of using a MacBook as your one and only work computer. I have a home office where my most important computer is a 2014 MacBook Pro that is plugged into AC all the time and rarely opened or shutdown, as I use it with an external monitor and keyboard. From this discussion, it seems inevitable that I will need to have the MBP battery replaced, even though I haven’t needed to, and probably won’t need to, run it without AC. Am I getting this right? Is there a better practice for my battery than full… Read more »
“From this discussion, it seems inevitable that I will need to have the MBP battery replaced, even though I haven’t needed to, and probably won’t need to, run it without AC. Am I getting this right? Is there a better practice for my battery than full time on AC?” You’re better off running on a combination of both – the battery will die sooner left on constant charge. “Standard Maintenance For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An… Read more »
I replaced my MacBook Retina 13″ Late 2012 battery myself, after I was similarly quoted $300-$400 and a 5 day turnaround time. The battery was about $80 and I spent another $20 on tools. It was a nerve-wracking 3 hour process involving tweezers, lots of little screws, and an excessive amount of prying to get the old battery unglued from the case. I’m glad I did it, but boy am I not happy at Apple. Replacing the battery is something most people will end up doing at some point. The fact that it takes more than 5 minutes is absurd.… Read more »
I too am facing the same problem as the author. I had to change my logic board once for which it took me three trips. To diagnose, to order the part and then to collect the machine. Now my MacBook shuts off at 20 or 30 %. I am to replace the battery along with the top case. Only good thing is that Apple is changing my screen for free as it has acquired smudges. Four years ago I made home an Apple ecosystem. But has turned out to be pretty expensive affair. My PC and Android devices are cheap,… Read more »
The best I think would be just to keep your Macbook Pro charged as and when it is possible to not wear down the battery in the first place. It is a myth that plugging in the charger all the time will diminish your Mac’s battery life. When the power is full, the Mac draws power from the Magsafe charger. In any case, you can always go for battery replacements at independent Mac repair centres which are a lot cheaper than Apple stores. I don’t bother with Apple Service Centres that much as in Singapore, they take 5 days for… Read more »
I live in India, and I got the Service Battery warning within 3 years (that is a lot) (approx 270 cycles). We don’t have any Apple Stores here in India, and the nearest reseller quoted in rupees approx equal to $300 and told it’d take a minimum of 1 week. Actually, I am planning a trip to Europe this year, and maybe I’ll replace it there, where it is marginally cheaper, and they take (apparently) less than 4 hours to replace.
Three days. Good for you. I was quoted FOURTEEN DAYS… then was offered a FIVE DAY by taking it to a less busy Apple Store. It took FIVE days. Crazy.
It’s funny that when I put my Mac Pro serial number in Apple’s battery service site, it said: “Our records show that your battery has already been replaced. “
But actually not!
After I received a 2013 MacBook Air battery for just about $30 on Amazon (I admit to getting free shipping without Prime so I had to wait for about a week), I rode my bike 10 minutes to the nearest local computer store and in 2 hours they replaced it for $40 (that was a price they gave me for doing the same for my more difficult Pro and so I could have bargained it down but the guy was so nice I decided not to do so). Of course, there is a possibility that either the battery or service… Read more »
I’ve had a similar issue with explosive frustration about a diminished battery. Called AppleCare and they said it will be fixed under warranty but I only had 6 days left and I couldn’t get it done at the Apple Store because there’s no Genius Bar appointments for over a week. AppleCare guy said I’d have to go to a authorised repairer, or mail it in, instead. So dropped it in at a local Apple authorised repairer who said if I want it back in less than a week I’d have to pay AU$160 extra which would guarantee it would be… Read more »
I had to replace my battery because the power board connected to the battery failed. I could not get just the board I needed replaced. Apple wanted to do the entire top case replacement at a cost of $500 Canadian. I ordered a battery from Amazon and replaced it myself in a couple of hours. The longest part was separating the original batteries from the case (which work just fine) using an old credit card to cut through the glue.
I have a mid-2012 macbook pro 15″ (first generation) retina model. Just a few days ago, it piped up “Service Battery”. Thankfully I read this article so I knew what to expect. The downside? I went to the apple store, explained I was a student and needed my laptop 5 days of the week, they confirmed that yes I needed a new battery, that it would cost $$$ (in Canadian), and it would take 3-5 business days. I again said, I’m a student, and need my laptop for school in class. Every day. Maybe you’ll get it at Christmas. They… Read more »
just go to a shop and buy a used mac about 2011 model,you can change the battery put more memory in yourself and an ssd,done the same to mine a 2010 model and 6 years later on the first battery running like a dream,not had one problem.
My wife bought me a 17″ mbp in 2010 put more memory in and an ssd end of 2016 and it still runs like a dream,I would touch a new mac now as they have made them hard to fix,I will be looking for a 2011 13″ to take on my holidays while taking some photographs as that is my hobby,
That ia accurate. Certified apple resellers are vastly limited on what they can fix as it makes people less likely to uograde their old tech. I am an Unauthorized Apple technician By day and a PC enthusiast by night. I can without a doubt tell you that at my job we csn get all apple repairs done within a day(sans data transfers sometimes) but those superdrive-less pros, retinas, and airs do cost considerably more to repair and take quite a long time. The older mbp however takes 5 minutes. Battery costs us $70, we charge $100
Very good article. Let me continue the saga of poor in my opinion Apple store care. At least in Canada. I have had the service battery warning now on my MacBook Pro early 2009 model for about a year and a half and figured what the heck I would talk to them at the store and see what they could do and about how much it would cost to get a new battery. After all the machine is 7 years old and still on original battery although still seems to get over 3 hours of battery life. Also I remembered… Read more »
Wow.. that’s quite frustrating (and ridiculous). I could understand not stocking parts… but they should still be able to fix things.
Apple’s after-sales service is exceptionally poor in India too, particularly when compared to Dell. In my case Apple’s service center damaged the screen of my macbook air and Apple simply shrugged off their responsibility blaming it on the service center. All this while the macbook was under company warranty. Seems a classic case of a company becoming too big to care about its customers.
I live in India, and I got the Service Battery warning within 3 years (that is a lot) (approx 270 cycles). We don’t have any Apple Stores here in India, and the nearest reseller quoted in rupees approx equal to $300 and told it’d take a minimum of 1 week. Actually, I am planning a trip to Europe this year, and maybe I’ll replace it there, where it is marginally cheaper, and they take (apparently) less than 4 hours to replace.
Great discussion of the implications of using a MacBook as your one and only work computer. I have a home office where my most important computer is a 2014 MacBook Pro that is plugged into AC all the time and rarely opened or shutdown, as I use it with an external monitor and keyboard. From this discussion, it seems inevitable that I will need to have the MBP battery replaced, even though I haven’t needed to, and probably won’t need to, run it without AC. Am I getting this right? Is there a better practice for my battery than full… Read more »
“From this discussion, it seems inevitable that I will need to have the MBP battery replaced, even though I haven’t needed to, and probably won’t need to, run it without AC. Am I getting this right? Is there a better practice for my battery than full time on AC?” You’re better off running on a combination of both – the battery will die sooner left on constant charge. “Standard Maintenance For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An… Read more »
While I don’t dispute the experience you had, I can say that that experience isn’t typical at my local Apple Store– and it makes me sad that it’s like that out in your locale. I know this is an older article, but it showed up recently in my feed. Just thought I’d address this. Servicing the battery does not require removal of the keyboard, and the battery is only connected to the logic board by a connector.. The answer that was given to you, in my opinion, sounds like you may have had an in experienced tech without the humility… Read more »