2015 MBP battery replacement

[cakebytheocean]

Hello,

My parents have a mid 2015 mbp 15 inch which was bought in 2016 refurbished directly from apple.

When visiting recently I noticed that the battery may be swelling as three sides of the track pad are raised and that area in general is becoming concave. The battery info states service is recommended and just today it says the battery is not charging.

I can pay to have the battery replaced either at apple or authorized service centre but am I just better getting off getting them a new laptop?

From 2016 to now we are headed into the 7th year of ownership and 8th year since the laptop was released and based on my reading these should easily last 10 years? Is it worth replacing the battery for $200-$300 only to have it crap out with some other issue in a year or two?

Edit: I should mention that there don’t seem to be any other issues with the laptop

Thanks for advice/opinions

 

[smirking]

Am I correct to assume that your parents are seniors who aren't the most tech savvy people around? If so, I'd lean toward replacing the battery. The battery in my mother-in-law's 2011 15" MBP just swelled up and in an ideal situation I'd have bought her a base level MacBookAir that would be a lot lighter and easier for her to handle, but she's used to her 2011 and any change is difficult for her to handle.

Fortunately for me, it's not hard to replace a battery in a 2011. It only ran me around $50 to get a replacement that I changed myself.

 

[cakebytheocean]

Am I correct to assume that your parents are seniors who aren't the most tech savvy people around? If so, I'd lean toward replacing the battery. The battery in my mother-in-law's 2011 15" MBP just swelled up and in an ideal situation I'd have bought her a base level MacBookAir that would be a lot lighter and easier for her to handle, but she's used to her 2011 and any change is difficult for her to handle.

Fortunately for me, it's not hard to replace a battery in a 2011. It only ran me around $50 to get a replacement that I changed myself.

Thanks for your reply. Yes my folks are seniors so not tech savvy at all and the most they do with the laptop is browse, use excel and adobe reader. Reason for the pro was strictly because of screen size.

Unfortunately the battery replacement on a 2015 is rated as difficult by ifixit and despite being tech savvy myself I don’t know if I can pull it off. So I’m left paying apply $260+tax to do it or buying them a new laptop all together.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"When visiting recently I noticed that the battery may be swelling as three sides of the track pad are raised and that area in general is becoming concave. The battery info states service is recommended and just today it says the battery is not charging.
I can pay to have the battery replaced either at apple or authorized service centre but am I just better getting off getting them a new laptop?"

It's DANGEROUS to have the laptop in this condition, with a swollen battery.
It could catch fire or explode.

Make an appt. at the genius bar (brick-n-mortar Apple Store, DO NOT use a "3rd party provider") right away.

Take it in, and show them the problem.

They MIGHT offer to replace the battery free-of-charge, but that's a long shot.

If they won't do it for free, they almost certainly will do it for the standard charge of $199.
For this, you get:
- a new, Apple labeled battery
- installation
- a short warranty.

A pretty good deal, in my opinion.

But again, DON'T WAIT on this.
That battery is a hazard as it is now.

 

[Madhatter32]

The choice is between a $199 battery replacement through Apple or $1,200+ laptop replacement. The 2015 MBP will be OS limited in the near future if not already (i.e. you cannot upgrade) but likely remain in support in terms of security patches for the next two or three years. I replaced the battery on a 2014 MBP last September. It was swelling too. The risk of explosion is really really low -- I would not worry about that. The greater concern is that the swelling expands to damage the logic board. So, it should be addressed.

If your parents do banking and other serious financial things on their computer, it is reasonable to consider a new computer just to keep the OS security support down the road. Otherwise, the battery upgrade seems to make a whole lot of sense. My 2014 MBP got the new battery and is working great. I'll upgrade when necessary and keep the old one as a secondary device or give it away.

 

[tis100]

If you can get a genuine battery replacement, which includes the top-case, and, depending on how functional the rest of the hardware is, you could stretch a Mid 2015 MacBook Pro by at least 3 years if you upgrade to MacOS Ventura using OpenCore Legacy Patcher, in which case the battery replacement is a good deal.

OpenCore Legacy Patcher

Experience macOS just like before

dortania.github.io

If you don't have the capabilities to do that or you can't get a genuine battery replacement, then I see two possible paths.

1. Immediately replace their laptop with a refurbished M1/M2 MacBook Air 13.3" for about $850/$1100.
2. Or, replace the battery for $200-$300 now and wait until the end of the year for the rumored M3 MacBook Air 15" if your parents need the bigger screen.

For reference, the Late 2020 MacBook Air M1 is double the speed of your parent's Mid 2015 MacBook Pro 15".

The reason I make a distinction between genuine and non-genuine battery replacements is that the non-genuine battery replacements don't last nearly as along as the genuine battery replacements.

I replaced the battery of one of my MacBook Pros with a non-genuine battery and it only lasted 8 months. The reviews of the 3rd party batteries tend to reflect on their poor performance compared to the Apple genuine replacement.

 

[cakebytheocean]

Thank you all for your responses and advice. After reading through I was convinced of the battery replacement route made an appointment at the local Genius Bar and started getting the laptop ready.
I took the case off and only then saw the true extent of the swelling (picture attached). It seems the lid is left open quite a bit because of the swelling and the bottom cover has popped out in one corner.
Again everything seems to be in working order at the present time but I’m unsure what kind of damage has been caused thus far and if replacing the battery is now still the right course of action. Thoughts?

For anyone who replaced their battery was your case this bad?

 

[Madhatter32]

Probably makes sense to take it to the Apple store and they will evaluate it for you. If something is damaged they will tell you. They will run a full diagnostic before the accepting the laptop. I think if they encounter a problem during the battery replacement they will not complete the battery repair and return laptop to you -- I think that is how it was explained to me. So I do not think you have anything to lose by seeing what they say. Be sure to back up your data in any event.

If they say you need a new screen or logic board, etc., I would just take the laptop back and research Plan B on a new purchase. I would not put any further money into it other than the battery service if it was my laptop.

 

[smirking]

For anyone who replaced their battery was your case this bad?

The 2011 I fixed was similar, but the bottom lid didn't pop out. The trackpad had been pushed out of the case from below and was preventing the lid from closing. I had seen mildly swollen batteries before, but this one was severely swollen. It looked like for sure either the case was deformed or there would be mechanical damage. To my surprise, everything popped right back in place (with a little encouragement) once I removed the swollen battery.

I know you're dealing with an rMBP with the scalloped battery so removing the battery isn't an option, but you could remove the bottom lid, disconnect the battery, and plug the laptop into a power source and see how it's running. It should run just fine without a battery (but it must be disconnected).

 

[smirking]

If they say you need a new screen or logic board, etc., I would just take the laptop back and research Plan B on a new purchase. I would not put any further money into it other than the battery service if it was my laptop.

Yeah concur here. The main reason I'm favoring a battery replacement is because I incur so much pain in time lost and frustrated phone calls if I change anything that one of my tech challenged parents are used to, but that's assuming there's no damage to the machine. If the machine's damaged then I probably won't be able to avoid that day when I have to ask them to try something different so I might as well bite the bullet and do it when I have some semblance of control over the situation.

 

[wilberforce]

It's DANGEROUS to have the laptop in this condition, with a swollen battery.
It could catch fire or explode.

This is pretty much an internet myth that has been repeated so many times that it has become "true."

(btw, a link to a video of someone stabbing a battery with a knife is not proof, other than proving that if you stab a battery with a knife it could indeed short circuit.)

 

[Madhatter32]

This is pretty much an internet myth that has been repeated so many times that it has become "true."

(btw, a link to a video of someone stabbing a battery with a knife is not proof, other than proving that if you stab a battery with a knife it could indeed short circuit.)

Indeed, the Apple technician told me that the batteries are designed to swell for safety purposes. The bottom of my laptop was slightly bent and the trackpad was not functioning optimally when I brought my computer in -- due to the swelling. When I got the laptop back it showed no signs of this wear.

 

[kschendel]

I replaced a battery in a late 2013 rMBP that was at least as bad. I don't know what the 2015 procedure is; I can tell you that about 80% of the delicate disassembly that iFixit suggests for the late 2013 is unnecessary. Some careful work with dental floss and judicious use of the adhesive dissolver did the trick for me, took about an hour all told.

BTW the late 2013 will run without a battery, but performance is horrible. Apparently the CPU turbo function is effectively disabled without the battery. I found this out when my replacement battery died (mostly my fault, the replacement adhesive didn't stick well and flexing broke a connection; for the second replacement I ensured that the cells couldn't move, using bits of foam). I suspect that the 2015 might be similar.