Battle of the (battery) bulge

TUAW reader Evan Hindra went to sleep one night with his MacBook Pro playing music. The next morning, it wouldn't sit properly on the kitchen counter top. When he flipped over the laptop, he found that his battery had begun to bulge. He called up AppleCare and they're sending him a battery. (He continues to wonder whether the battery problems date back before the bulge to a series of unexpected shut downs.) On the bright side, his MacBook Pro didn't explode, burst into flames or start playing random Barry Manilow tracks, all of which could cause permanent and irreversible harm. If your MacBook Pro starts displaying odd symptoms, you might want to take a good look at your battery and make sure it's not going all Alien on you, as in the original version with the icky chest bursting scene.

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Source: http://www.apple.com/macbook/

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Portables Bugs/Recalls Troubleshooting Macbook Pro

TUAW reader Evan Hindra went to sleep one night with his MacBook Pro playing music. The next morning, it wouldn't sit properly on the...

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Robert Franssen

Weighing in with one more swollen battery with exact same symptoms and results. Waiting for replacement but not liking the suggestion that I purchase Applecare before my year is up... Are the replacements improved? My Powerbook soldiers on to date after many years with the two original batteries I purchased with it!

March 19 2007 at 4:42 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Robert Scroggs

Same thing with my MacBook Pro 17". Random shut-downs when running on battery power for a week or two. Then one day noticing that the laptop would not lie flat. When I flipped it over, I saw the battery growing out of the bottom of my laptop. I'm going in to swap out batteries this afternoon.

http://two-rules.com/battery.jpg

March 02 2007 at 8:38 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Dave

Ok so this really going to show my ignorance...This post really had me concerned over my battery and I found out that my battery qualifies for the whole recall thing that happened not too long ago. I am hoping this is the solution for all the random freezes I've been experiencing. Do you guys think that the battery is to blame for those?

December 30 2006 at 12:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Matt

My battery did the same last week. I phoned apple and they rushed a battery to me within 1 day. I was told it would take 10 days to get to me, so I'm super happy with the service. Not so happy that my battery was about to go boom.

December 28 2006 at 10:14 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Velvet Nightmare

Did this on my 1.83 MBP. Reason? It's a Sony battery - ironic huh? My new battery is waiting at the Apple Store, but I've yet to use it. I've been walled plugged since May.

December 28 2006 at 2:27 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

lotech

This isn't just a 15 inch issue - my 17 just started bulging a few days ago. No service centres open in NZ till next year... stink.

December 27 2006 at 7:00 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

alan

Yeah, this happened to my MacBook Pro too... luckily the battery time dropped down to a few seconds and didn't play Barry Manilow... sorry, not a fan. He needs to do something with his hair... seriously.

December 27 2006 at 2:01 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Renzo

This is mine macbook pro 17"
bigger than any of the other "bulges" ive seen
(no pun intended)
Phoning apple first thing to get a replacement macbook pro
after a failed repair
wish me luck

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4764/2612062126lt8.jpg

December 26 2006 at 10:32 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Colin Chapman

Same things happened to my friends MacBook Pro, hope this doesn't happen to mine as i usually have it on over night.

Friends -> http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4764/2612062126lt8.jpg

December 26 2006 at 10:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jeem

"permanent and irreversible harm"? Dude, I'm slappin' you back to the Department of Redundancy Department!

Same goes for #4. "Exact same"? Puh-leez!

December 26 2006 at 8:43 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply