Reviews for Rechargeable Battery - 15-inch MacBook Pro (aluminum)

Only now my battery isn't working, well it does work, but it exploded beyond its normal size and does not completely fit anymore - first expense on this computer in four years ownership. It still retains 6 hours of charge -

Overall the computer has been mostly great and reliable - had a video card issue in the very beginning, but apple picked it up, repaired it, returned by Fed Ex overnight - had the computer back the next day - no charge.

51 of 54 people found this useful

My battery has gone through EXACTLY 4081 full load cycles, and it is 132 months old. It is running at 5% capacity, with 329mAh out of 5500 mAh.

Im not sure what Apple receomends to maximize your battery, but the ones that dont know about the battery technology:

Batteries for sot advanced laptops are Lithium-ion, which is fairly new in this feild because of their instability issues. Ofcourse this is fixed with stronger casings and proper charging protocols.

Anyhow, this battery type is extremely sensitive to how you charge it. For the iphone (same battery type), Apple suggests keeping it plugged in as much as possible. This is because, once a Li-Ion battery dies 100%, it stays dead. And when it dies near 100% it is very bad for the battery. The reason I mention this is because its much different than the more well known lead acid batteries, which are not only longer lasting, but last longer if you completely discharge them, and recharge them.

For a better way of knowing your batteries life and capacity, download coconutbattery

52 of 70 people found this useful

Once upon a time i believe I heard that these batteries can hold a charge longer than the original ones in 2008, which is my main reason for ordering one. I never got much time out of my battery but i also used my mbp constantly and intensively on high performance mode. i got about a two hours the first month then i never got more than an 1:30. just these past couple months my battery would only last for about 30 minutes. my battery got power cycled at least 3 times a week just from use, never on purpose, and usually more than once in a day. 830 cycles... id say i got good use out my 4 years, especially with how much i used it. never had any swelling either.

i think that most people probably leave their macbook charged all the time. thats not how batteries are supposed to be used. at least let them drain to 20% before you charge them again. if you leave your macbook plugged up all the time, what's the point of a battery? if you aren't using you macbook, dont charge it... keeping the battery charged with minimal use could definitely cause swelling... if i don't need it for a week, i don't charge it until i need it again. don't get me wrong, i leave mine plugged up sometimes for extended sessions but thats it.

i would like it to hold a charge for longer but thats the case with any battery. time to see if this battery is actually different.

28 of 33 people found this useful

I use my macbookpro daily. Plug in numerous times a day plus have extended times without plug in. This battery has lasted 38 months. It's now dead. Only had reduced time on the battery in the last 6 months. Pretty darn good for a rechargeable and FAR better than anything I ever had with all my HP laptops over 15 year period. Glad I switched.

19 of 22 people found this useful

I have been reading all these bad reviews for the MBP battery pack and honestly I couldn't disagree more. Beside the fact that it is a bit costly (130dollars? com'on! I would say 90dollars would be reasonable), the battery did well all these years. I am sure people have different experience, although on my previous PowerBook I had also a good battery experience; I changed the battery once on the fourth year, half a year before I got my MBP.
I bought my MBP on Oct 2008, just a few days after the redesign model launched. So since the beginning of Nov 2008 I have been using my computer every single day, mainly as a desktop replacement. Just for you to get an idea, the iStatNano widget (I really don't know how accurate it is) shows 1232 cycles and 74% health. I have to say that the health was around 90-95% all these years and has been falling the last month noticeably.
I have been unplugging my Mac everytime it reached 100% (or 99%, sometimes it never got to 100) and plugging it in after the "battery running low" notification (it is extremely easy to do so with the magsafe). Other than that I didn't take any extra care.

Will I buy a new battery? Well, my MBP is kind of old, a friend of mine has the 2010 model and it really goes superfast (i5/7 chip vs the core 2 duo.. huge difference).

I will probably get a third party battery till the (much anticipated) new MBPs are launched end of 2012 or early 2013. Apple is definitely losing some clients with that kind of pricing.

PS I am really curious of how much it costs to all these people who own the "non-user replaceable" MBPs to get a new battery pack..

12 of 13 people found this useful

I had the same issue with my iphones and the dumb batteries. That is priceless...

13 of 19 people found this useful

I'm not sure how different people are using there battery, frequent partial drains, incomplete full charges or what. I'm not a super-concientious user but I do try to keep my machine plugged in when possible and am very impressed with the consistency of the battery life (relative to past Dell's) and endurance. CoconutBattery 2.6.6 application says that my battery is at 97% of it's original capacity after 11 months of use and 94 load-cycles. Not bad in my opinion.

11 of 18 people found this useful