Customer Reviews and Ratings

2.5 out of 5 stars

Based on 150 reviews

  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Too bad, so sad

    • Written by from Portland

    54 of 58 people found this useful

    This battery is horrible! I've had my MacBook for 2 years and the battery is literally fried. Whenever the cord unplugs- even for half a second- the computer shuts down. Why can't Apple make a better battery?

  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Nothing you can do!

    • Written by from bluffton

    72 of 97 people found this useful

    This battery lasted 2 months before it started to go bad. So hear I am buying another battery. There is nothing that I can do so I have to man up and spend $130. Come on Apple your better then this. When did you start to make junk?

  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Short Battery Life

    • Written by from Alexandria

    45 of 45 people found this useful

    I thought I was the only one with the problem and even when I went to the apple store the salesperson I spoke to was surprised at the short battery life. I've had my aluminum Macbook for almost two years and the battery doesn't last at all. Even when it says it's fully charged it shuts down for no reason!

  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    How to get the most out of your Mac Battery

    • Written by from Washington

    48 of 52 people found this useful

    I have also found the battery in my Macbook to be less than great. But that is apparently a known trade-off on Apple's part. Seeing some of the reviews here, it seems clear that some people would benefit from "recalibrating" their batter from time to time. Here's how to do it (from Apple's support site):


    PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD), MacBook (all models), MacBook Pro (all models), and MacBook Pro (17-inch) (all models)

    The battery calibration for the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) and any model of MacBook or MacBook Pro has been updated because of a new battery released with this computer. With these computers, follow these steps to calibrate your battery:

    Plug in the power adapter and fully charge your PowerBook's battery until the light ring or LED on the power adapter plug changes to green and the onscreen meter in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.

    Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for at least two hours. You may use your computer during this time as long as the adapter is plugged in.

    Disconnect the power adapter while the computer still on and start running the computer off battery power. You may use your computer during this time. When your battery gets low, the low battery warning dialog appears on the screen.

    At this point, save your work. Continue to use your computer; when the battery gets very low, the computer will automatically go to sleep.

    Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.

    Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.

    Tip: When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The battery actually keeps back a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, with the safe sleep function introduced in the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) computers, the computer's memory contents have been saved to the hard drive. When power is restored, the computer returns itself to its pre-sleep state using the safe sleep image on the hard drive.

    Was this useful? How to get the most out of your Mac Battery

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Apple Battery is Best to Pathetic...

    • Written by

    50 of 56 people found this useful

    I have been using Macbook for last two years. For first 18 Months, battery life was coming to 3 to 4 hours. I was very satisfied. But Suddenly one day it stopped working. It is absolutely pathectic thing is that my battery was not charging 1%. it started to show 0% always.
    Normal batteries will show some signs of declining life time. But Apple macbook battery work well for some time and suddenly it stops working which clearly shows there is some terrible technical problem in the design of the product.
    If u dont have any option, then go Ahead and buy macbook Battery. It caused lot of inconvenices to me. In this matter, Dell and HP is far better. I would love to hear from other users

    Was this useful? Apple Battery is Best to Pathetic...

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    A complete and unnecessary disappointment, come on Apple.....

    • Written by from Ellenwood

    44 of 45 people found this useful

    I came to this site to check the prices for this battery to replace my current one, and not only was I surprised to find so many negative reviews, but also disappointed as i've had the same experiences, which you would not expect seeing as this was an Apple branded product. Two years is INDEED the magic number, I've had my MacBook since 2008 and it continues to work fine, but the battery itself will only last about 30 - 40 mins on a full charge. If I dim the screen to about 25% (which barely makes you able to see anything depending on the lighting) then you MAY squeeze out more. $129 is honestly laughable for this product.

    Was this useful? A complete and unnecessary disappointment, come on Apple.....

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Swelling after 50 cycles, interferes w/trackpad

    • Written by from Princeton

    50 of 58 people found this useful

    I've had the battery for a few years and it has swelled after only 50 cycles. The battery pushes against the trackpad, making it very hard to use. I use the laptop almost exclusively while powered, so rarely do I use the battery. However now the battery seems dangerous, like there's a lot of built-up pressure causing it to physically swell. Why should anyone spend $130 on a replacement that could do the same thing?

    Here is my battery report:
    Charge Information:
    Charge Remaining (mAh): 3140
    Fully Charged: No
    Charging: Yes
    Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 3172
    Health Information:
    Cycle Count: 50
    Condition: Normal
    Battery Installed: Yes
    Amperage (mA): 282
    Voltage (mV): 12568

    Was this useful? Swelling after 50 cycles, interferes w/trackpad

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    this battery depletes quickly

    • Written by from Minneapolis

    44 of 46 people found this useful

    My laptop is just under two years old. That seems to be the magic number here. I get less than seven minutes of battery life before my computer shuts off (not into safe-sleep, just off without saving anything). I am going with a third-party battery. Yuck!

    Was this useful? this battery depletes quickly

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    poor life.

    • Written by

    48 of 54 people found this useful

    I'm echoing basically the same thing I'm seeing on a lot of recent reviews. Have had the Macbook for 15 months and it now shuts down with about 45 minutes remaining on the battery. Even a full charge only lasts for about an hour. Shame that it has such a short life.

    Full charge capacity (mAh): 2064
    Health Information:
    Cycle count: 505
    Condition: Replace Soon
    Battery Installed: Yes
    Amperage (mA): 1397
    Voltage (mV): 12267

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    4 years and working great

    • Written by from Middleton

    47 of 53 people found this useful

    As I was about to purchase a new battery, and after reading the reviews, I realized how lucky I am. I have been using my 2008 Late Aluminum MacBook unplugged for nearly 2 hours now, and I am at 70%, with 3 hours remaining. I noticed the review that suggested unplugging when fully charged. Although there were times I would leave it plugged in for a day or two, generally, it was left unplugged, so this may well be helpful after all. The price of the battery is rather steep, so I think I might just wait a little longer to order a second batter, just to have one on hand. I realize now that I confused the charge in this MacBook to the one in my IPad. Hey...I'm old, it happens.

  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Weak

    • Written by from Daly City

    47 of 53 people found this useful

    This battery is terrible. It does not last for many hours and after having my Macbook for only a year and 4 months, my battery is completely DEAD. Now when my computer is left unplugged it goes from 100% to 0% in, I kid you not, 5 minutes or less. Really? A dead battery after less than 1.5 years?! (and no, I'm not one of those people who leave the power cord in all day when it is at 100%. I take good care of my batteries.) I love Macs and hate PCs, but my old Dell Inspiron battery lasted me 5-6 years! The only upside to that laptop, of course. Apple, please get better quality batteries, I beg of you. I love my computer to death and it does not deserve such abuse!

  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Horrible Battery

    • Written by from Scarborough

    45 of 51 people found this useful

    Im a big apple fan and I really enjoy all their products, expect this battery! I got the Macbook because of everyones review on how great they are and how they never seem to have any problems, and I never have except for this battery. It lasted me just a year during which time it would only give me about 1.5 hours of cordless use. After the one year period I have used it - it just completely died out on me. Im sorry, I really don't think it is worth spending $130 for another try at this batter.

  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Won't hold a charge

    • Written by from Burns Lake

    41 of 43 people found this useful

    I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks these batteries work (like my vacuum) ...since I'm also being censored!

  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Battery is horrible

    • Written by from indianapolis

    43 of 48 people found this useful

    If I could give it 0 stars, I would. Apple should pay ME to get a new battery. I have been let down by Apple. You would think by the amount of reviews saying this battery blows that Apple would do something about it. The battery lasts 40 minutes and then its dead. Junky battery Apple!

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Don't Underestimate the Value of This Battery!

    • Written by from Guelph

    39 of 41 people found this useful

    This battery was rated for 500cycles, but instead decided to give me 1437 before going to that great big battery field up in the sky. I didn't even practice the "good battery care techniques" that I've only now learned exist.

    As far as I'm concerned, that's great value.

    Was this useful? Don't Underestimate the Value of This Battery!

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Agree with the others - dies fast

    • Written by from MILWAUKEE

    39 of 42 people found this useful

    My battery lasted just over 2yrs, then started dying suddenly before getting down to "reserve power" or below 10%. Was caught off guard. It's unpredictable. The charge lasts noticeably shorter by the day.
    Apple products are usually of high quality and I expected better.

    Was this useful? Agree with the others - dies fast

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Apple you can design better battery

    • Written by from Philadelphia

    38 of 40 people found this useful

    This is my second experience with apple product which died right after my warranty expired. After 1 year, my Macbook's status bar started to show "Service Battery" warning and shut down without any warning. I took it to Apple Genius Bar and they told me that the decrease in my batter performance after 1 year is very normal, I should simply replace the battery (only $125!!!) and should get 1 more year of warranty.
    I dont think this is true even for lame PCs. But if this is really true its shame on apple that they can design aesthetically perfect products which does not last longer than warranty. Or their marketing strategy is to rip you over the battery or extended Apple Care. I was thinking about the iPhone 4 but now I will think a second and and even a third time.

    Was this useful? Apple you can design better battery

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Serious price for serious flaws....

    • Written by from Wondelgem

    38 of 40 people found this useful

    I had my macbook exactly 13 months when its battery died after exactly 142 charge cycles. Of course one month past the warranty period...what was the ad again: 80% of capacity after 300 cycles? Right! It had been going slowly downhill over the last couple of months and 2 days ago it collapsed. When fully charged it lasts 40 minutes now. This is indicative of poor quality control imho and a serious disappointment. I've had pc laptops with el cheapo batteries that lasted WAY longer than this so called quality product for which a premium price is charged. Apple has some very good products and top-notch design but the foundation for business should be quality and the experieces I've had the past 2 years indicate they're slipping in this respect.

    Was this useful? Serious price for serious flaws....

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Not Reliable

    • Written by from Aventura

    37 of 38 people found this useful

    My Macbook battery only held 70% of its original charge after 9 months of use and started failing abruptly at exactly one year. No warning, the laptop just shuts down randomly and the battery meter shows over 40% left. Definitely not an isolated incident, but good luck trying to get a free replacement....

  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Battery Problem

    • Written by from Mission

    43 of 51 people found this useful

    My 2008 Macbook battery has expanded in the centre and distorted the battery cover, It still works and will give about 3 hrs of service. I have removed it and will have to acquire a replacement. It is over 4 years old and probably given good service