Last week I noticed a problem with my macbook battery. My macbook shut down immediately and suddenly when I accidentally hit on the power supply loose. Yeah…it can be tripped OFF so easily. Then only I realize my battery is not working at all. When the power was plugged off, the macbook shut down immediately (power off). After some checking, confirmed no power from the battery.
With the convenience of internet, no panic, just do a search (google of course) for “macbook battery problem”. Within seconds, I found the answer.
There was a design problem with macbook battery (macbook pro also). You can read more at:
http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/
Identifying an affected battery
Affected batteries will have one or more of the following symptoms:
- Battery is not recognized causing an “X” to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.
- Battery will not charge when computer is plugged into AC power.
- Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.
- Battery pack is visibly deformed.
I did the battery update and still can’t get my battery detected or charged. So, the next step would be to call up Apple support in Japan. Since it was late at night, so I made a phone call the following day. I think it was on Friday morning that I made the phone call.
Going through the phone call assistance, assuring the supporter person that I have done all the necessary steps to check my battery, gave them my apple serial number and battery serial number, done. By the way, there is an English phone support from Apple Japan, in case you (or I) can’t speak Japanese well. Macbook already out of warranty? No worry, Apple stated in their website that the service and exchange is valid even if your macbook is already out of warranty (my already expired the warranty period).
Today, Tuesday, I got my new replacement battery. No, I do not have to send them the faulty battery, the postman came and collect the old battery while delivering me the new battery (my wife took the delivery). Since I will be going to Taiwan next week, so the battery came right on time before my trip. I can’t imagine using a notebook without battery.
Well done, Apple Japan! 🙂
Update:
This is the battery that I received! 😀
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I had a similar problem with my MacBook, bought in Summer 2006 online and sent to Ennis, TX. In early 2008 we noticed that only when running on battery power, sometimes the computer would just shut off without warning, regardless of % power left. Then we noticed that the battery life was going down fast. We made a reservation at a local Apple Store with a Genius Desk, and within 15 min, they replaced the battery for free right there! And they said this was true even though the warranty on the computer itself is expired. We were VERY satisfied!
oh my, im having the same problem with my macbook too. i only read about this update thingy recently, and i am definitely going to contact the apple store on monday!!!!
I’m having similar problem, but in my country, Apple ASP refused to replace my battery because my macbook is Core 2 Duo version (M700). Poor me…
same happened to my today, my local apple store refused the exchange so I called apple support and they refused it too, It sucks because it’s actually a malfunctioning battery, mine has 200 cycles and runnning only 900 mah, way less than the 80% percent expected at 300 cycles…very disappointed at apple
i got the same result. APPLE didn’t replace my dead pathetic battery. They said only a specific macbooks are qualified for the free replacement. Why don’t APPLE admit that their BATTERIES sucks!! and let all the affected macbook owners have the same benefits of having their dead battery replace for free.
If the problem is your battery, then Apple should have no excuse not to replace it.
Is your notebook serial number under their problematic batch?
I did the battery update and still can’t get my battery detected or charged. So, the next step would be to call up Apple support in Japan. Since it was late at night, so I made a phone call the following day. I think it was on Friday morning that I made the phone call.