
2015 MacBook Pro recall: batteries overheating - codesuki
https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/20/apple-issues-voluntary-recall-of-2015-macbook-pro-batteries-due-to-overheating-concern/
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bluedino
Dupe:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20235259](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20235259)

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la_barba
"Customer safety is always Apple's top priority, and we have voluntarily
decided to replace affected batteries, free of charge."

I know its just a marketing blurb by Apple, but if safety is actually their
top priority, they should be contacting all customers directly. How is the end
user supposed to even know that their laptop could catch fire?

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protomyth
I would have expected an e-mail or call from our educational rep, but it’s
silence. They know exactly what we bought, so I’m a bit confused about their
top priority.

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davidandgoliath
Profit.

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2000andlate
Seriously. It boggles my mind why this is still a question. We don’t even have
to get into the morality of it, but it’s simply not profitable to care this
much, so why would Apple?

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protomyth
If you have premium brand and do not provide proper customer service, then
people will start buying from others. Might not be immediate, but nothing
rides on good feelings forever.

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simmons
For whatever it's worth, it looks like not all "MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch,
Mid 2015)" MacBooks are affected by this. I have one, entered my serial
number, and it said that mine was not in the affected range of serial numbers.

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Implicated
Says that for mine too... while it's sitting here rocking around on my desk
because it's spherical due to an inflated battery.

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mdesq
Mine was like that. So badly swollen the touchpad was almost impossible to
press. I replaced the battery myself and it really wasn't bad at all. Less
than an hour roundtrip using the "string method" (I saw it on a YouTube video)
to slice through the tape they use to glue the battery down. The worst part
was trying to clean off the old adhesive before putting in the new battery.
This method is really non-invasive because you don't have to pull off a bunch
of other parts.

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fredthomsen
1 to 2 weeks turn around? Incredibly ridiculous as many rely on this as theit
primary dev machine and Apple is telling people to stop using it...

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apple4ever
Indeed. I don't understand why they think that's a good idea. Just replace the
parts in store.

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stefanfisk
It's because the glued the damn batteries to the top case, which is also the
part which everything else is screwed onto. So replacing the battery either
requires replacing the whole top case (A LOT of manual work, and more costly
in parts), or engaging in the potential fire hazard of removing the glued
battery.

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dvhh
The "overheating issue" is putting it mildly, if related to this
[https://twitter.com/whitepanda/status/1133847982317723648](https://twitter.com/whitepanda/status/1133847982317723648)

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adanto6840
I have a refurbished "Mid 2015" MBP that I purchased in late 2017. I entered
the serial number and was shown that I'm not eligible because both:

-It's not in the affected serial number range.

-Our records show that your device has already been serviced as part of this Program.

Was my serial number originally part of the recall, and they already knew
about the issue and fixed it for refurbs going out? Is it incorrectly stating
that my device is unaffected? Am I truly in the clear with this serial?

To be clear, I have never taken this MBP in for service since purchase -- and
it was purchased as a refurb directly from Apple.

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mharroun
I have a mid 2015 MBP... still will take an exploding battery over the new
keyboard and stupid touchpad.

~~~
garren
I can understand the keyboard (although I've got a late 2018 MB Air and I love
the keyboard _fingers crossed_ ), but I've always considered Mac touchpad to
be an order of magnitude better than anything else out there. What don't you
like about the new touchpad?

~~~
amiga-workbench
I imagine they may be talking about the touchbar, the touchpad has never
really changed in design apart from being larger.

I could understand a ThinkPad user griping about the new silly flappy
trackpads they have, but not a Macbook user.

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rcthompson
Edit: Never mind, I misread the article. This recall is for some 2015-model
MBPs that were _sold_ in 2017, not the 2017 model. I guess I still don't know
which recall my battery was part of.

Edit 2: It's probably this recall from 1 year ago:
[https://www.apple.com/support/13inch-macbookpro-battery-
repl...](https://www.apple.com/support/13inch-macbookpro-battery-replacement/)

Wow, I think I may have had my battery replaced under this recall 2 weeks ago
(i.e. a 2 weeks _before_ this announcement). Last year, I had the "service
battery" warning, and took my 2017 MBP in to have them look at it, and they
confirmed my battery needed replacing (and were going to charge me for it).
The battery life was still more or less adequate at the time, and at the time
I couldn't afford to part with it for a week, so I said I'd bring it back some
other time once it got _really_ bad. That some other time was 2 weeks ago, and
this time they confirmed the battery needed replacing, and as I was getting my
credit card out to pay for it, they informed me that it was covered under some
recall. The store representative didn't have any further details, just
"apparently it's covered". I assumed it was some previously-announced recall
that I just hadn't heard about, but apparently it was this recall, which they
only announced today, a week after I got my MBP back with a new free battery.

FWIW, my turnaround time was 6 days, IIRC. Friday of one week to Thursday of
the next. On the other hand, I presumably got in before the rush that will
follow this announcement.

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george_perez
This is for 2015 MBPs only, so no. Apple does replace some batteries if they
are well-documented to have failed because of manufacturer issues though. Also
for swelling.

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rcthompson
Oh, I misread the article. It says "sold between September 2015 and February
2017", but it's only talking about 2015 models.

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robertlf
Maybe they should add the 2015 MBP 13"ers too as mine battery is bulging.

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scottharveyco
I had the same issue and Apple fix it for free about 1 year ago.

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docker_up
Dammit! I had a 2015 15" Macbook from work that I upgraded from 2 months ago
because the battery life sucked (less than 1 hour). I had to upgrade to this
terrible 2018 Macbook Pro with the absolutely disastrous Touchbar which I
hate. The _only_ reason why I upgraded was because of the battery life. I
could have gotten a new one for with this recall, dammit!

~~~
mkasu
Isn't a battery replacement just $199, anyway? Might have been the cheaper
alternative even without the recall.

I had a similar decision a few weeks ago (contemplating whether to go from a
2014 15" MacBook to a 2019 model because of a faulty battery and touchpad.)

I went to the Genius Bar, they replaced the top-case including the battery, a
new keyboard, and a new touchpad, for $199. They also replaced the display for
free while they were at it (relating to coating issues,) so I virtually got a
new MacBook (from the outside) for $199.

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rglover
Just had my entire battery, keyboard, and trackpad replaced because of this
but my serial isn't in the batch :/

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evanslify
I had an mid-2015 which battery did swollen after 8 months of usage. It bulged
the trackpad towards the screen and making a dent. Apple does count that as
part of in-warranty repair though.

A very expansive battery repair for Apple.

By the way, their repair would take longer than an entire week, which is worse
than most laptops vendors.

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jcalabro
Written by Brian Heater haha

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brigandish
My Mac's battery actually exploded (more of a <<<pop!>>> than me running away
and diving to the floor with a huge fireball in the background) but it did
take out my laptop with the skill of a high level assassin. Apple repaired it
all free of charge but it was still very inconvenient.

If your serial number is on the list, I'd say get it done asap.

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mullingitover
Every single Macbook I've ever owned (five to date) has had a defective
battery. My 2015 13" MBP had a swollen battery, but no recall for that
apparently.

I wonder if they're only offering a 90-day warranty on the replacement. In
2006 I had an MBP with two battery recalls. The third one only had a 90 day
warranty (it failed, too, at the four month mark).

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whynotminot
Every single device I've ever owned has had a defective battery eventually.

It Is the Nature of Things

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mullingitover
Sure, but I don't think lithium batteries are normally supposed to have a
failure mode where they swell. All my Macbooks, save my precious 2008 (imho
when Macbook design just about peaked) swelled.

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whynotminot
It's pretty normal for Lithium Ion batteries to swell. You see it constantly
with smartphones especially, where it's very obvious given the tight
tolerances in modern devices. I say this as someone who's worked with racks
and racks of smartphones used for testing. Eventually they pretty much all
swell.

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tigershark
Mmm...my iphone 4 didn’t swell after it was used for 7 years.

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whynotminot
I will take your one phone as disproving all of my experience. Thanks!

In all seriousness, I have an iPhone 4S whose battery is in tatters but also
hasn’t swollen (that I can tell, anyway). It doesn’t happen to every single
battery. It does happen to a significant portion of them over time.

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hackerbabz
I typed my serial number in and got

> The serial number you entered may be eligible for this program. Please
> choose one of the service options below.

What does "may be" mean? Servicing my laptop requires me traveling to
Singapore, so I kind of need to know if I am eligible or not.

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winrid
And to think the Mid 2015 MBP was perfect. Was still using the same work
machine from 2015 because I liked the older keyboard.

Maybe it's Thinkpad Time...

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buf
I have a permanent yellow band on the bottom of my 2016 MBP from the battery's
heat warping the screen.

Using it right now to type this message.

I should consider upgrading.

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chenster
Thank God, mine is mid 2014

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mjcohen
That means that your may overheat but won't be covered.

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tomxor
Yes, that is exactly my experience from older models previous recalls.

