Safety Alert/Fire Hazard from certain MacBook/MacBook Pro batteries
Photo credit: store.apple.com
If your MacBook Pro has a removeable Li-ion battery that looks like the one at right, please read this page!
MacBook and MacBook Pro models made between roughly 2006 and 2008 have the possibility of failing in a way such that the battery bulges significantly, bending the metal cover of the battery.
It turns out that Apple did have a recall in June 2006 (which ended in 2008 apparently)
[
news story 1 |
news story 2]. But at this point, if you have such a laptop (even if it is in a
drawer somewhere unused) you need to visually check its battery condition.
One failure mode we saw last summer (2011) was a 17" MacBook Pro whose trackpad could not click. It turned out that the battery was bulging sufficiently that it was pressing up against the trackpad from the underside, preventing movement and the click action. As soon as we removed the battery, the trackpad was fine. That battery is shown in the first photo, below.
The second and third photos, below, are of the battery removed from a different user's laptop in April 2012. The fourth photo is a battery from a 13" black MacBook in May 2012.
The ASD System Team has, to date, seen five of these batteries fail in this way. It is a matter of safety that you check your battery to ensure that it is OK.
Apple battery model numbers:
A1175 (15" MacBook Pros) and A1189 (17"
MacBook Pros)
A1185 (13" MacBook)
These batteries were in MacBook and MacBook Pro, Core Duo and Core 2 Duo models
with a removeable battery and a
battery strength button on the battery itself.
The battery model number is printed on the battery, visible when you remove the
battery from the computer.
Buying a replacement battery
Disposing of your battery
Please contact the ASD System Help Desk if you have such a bad battery. We can help you dispose of it properly and this allows us to track the extent of the problem across ASD.
Other discussions on this issue
- thread on discussions.apple.com (Dec 2011, includes more photos)
Check all your old Mac laptops
Make sure to check your cabinets and desk drawers for old laptops to see whether they are afflicted with this issue. It can occur even if the laptop is not in use.
Photo credit: Epson flatbed scan by David Friedlander, August 2011
Photo credit: Android phone photo by James Bubeck, April 2012
Photo credit: Android phone photo by James Bubeck, April 2012
Photo credit: photo by David Friedlander, May 2012
Three views of perhaps the most impressive one we've yet seen:
Photo credit: iPad photos by David Friedlander, May 2013
This MacBook Air2,1 had one cell of its battery expanding so much that the the keyboard bulged on the right side (and the bottom rocked (not flat) ).
Photo credit: iPhone 5 photos by David Friedlander, February 2015
This MacBook Pro6,2 (mid-2010 model, manufactured January 2011) had a battery that expanded so much that the trackpad was seriously bent and bulging.
Photo credit: iPhone 5 photos by David Friedlander, April 2015
David Friedlander
17 May 2012 (original), 14 April 2020