MacBook Air 2015 (13") replacement battery? Anyone done one lately?

[JonLa]

my 2015 Air (13", 8gb, 128Gb) actually sat in a warehouse for three years before I picked it up in Oct 2018 "as new" (the story was they'd been bought by local govt for a project that never happened). I knew it was a risk but actually it's lasted really well into Jan 2023.

The battery cycle count is 787 and service is recommended, and I can still get an official battery through Apple for this model at the moment (I suspect not for much longer) but is it worth it? It's fine on mains power, but will cut out after an hour or two without warning, and when the batteries still notionally about half full.

I'm wondering what the original battery life/life with Monterey was for this model if anyone remembers? I can't justify a new MacBook just yet but maybe the £129 for a battery is a false economy.

(also, I've been down the "replace it yourself" route with my old 2010 model but the replacement battery, even though it was from a reputable source (ifixit), did not help as much as I'd hoped it would.

 

[chrfr]

The battery cycle count is 787 and service is recommended, and I can still get an official battery through Apple for this model at the moment (I suspect not for much longer) but is it worth it? It's fine on mains power, but will cut out after an hour or two without warning, and when the batteries still notionally about half full.

If the computer shuts down unexpectedly, and you expect to continue using the computer for another year or two, I‘d definitely get a new battery from Apple. You’d likely see quite an improvement in battery performance.
The unexpected shutdowns can lead to disk corruption and data loss, so that’s not something I’d tolerate for very long.

 

[xboxbml]

my 2015 Air (13", 8gb, 128Gb) actually sat in a warehouse for three years before I picked it up in Oct 2018 "as new" (the story was they'd been bought by local govt for a project that never happened). I knew it was a risk but actually it's lasted really well into Jan 2023.

The battery cycle count is 787 and service is recommended, and I can still get an official battery through Apple for this model at the moment (I suspect not for much longer) but is it worth it? It's fine on mains power, but will cut out after an hour or two without warning, and when the batteries still notionally about half full.

I'm wondering what the original battery life/life with Monterey was for this model if anyone remembers? I can't justify a new MacBook just yet but maybe the £129 for a battery is a false economy.

(also, I've been down the "replace it yourself" route with my old 2010 model but the replacement battery, even though it was from a reputable source (ifixit), did not help as much as I'd hoped it would.

Really? Apple still selling them for this? I didn't know. I went ahead and did an iFixit battery on mine before. Unfortunately I spilled wine in it and fried it a few months after I replaced it so I didn't get a good test on it, but it was working well. I bought another 2015 the next day and this one is at 344 cycles and still doing well on original battery.

 

[jtkc]

OWC sells a larger than oem replacement battery kit for around or about half the listed appple brand battery price
there is another company i know if that you might look to for an option of replaceent battery as well

ANKER - they were the goto company that was the unofficial but official outside(3rd party?) company that mader apple laptop replacemment batteries, at half the price of apple branded batteries
i had to buy one for my 15in macbook pro 2,1
and bought another for my 17 same era mbpro
wghich were 65 a piece vs apples 130

ill be purchasing a replacement battery for my early 2015 13in airbook, the first week march 2023, and will most likely going with the OWC's replacement battery, for a cost under 80 $usd and IIRC its larger total capactiy than the orignal and better quality

hope this helps

 

[JonLa]

Thanks @jktc!

With my 2010 Air I replaced the battery with an OWC kit. Easy to do, but the battery wasn't particularly great. Could just have been the age of the machine, but it was a while ago now so I can't remember. Given the price of the kits in the UK, and the possibility that I get another dud, I bit the bullet and paid the extra to have Apple do it.

 

[Aoligei]

Thanks @jktc!

With my 2010 Air I replaced the battery with an OWC kit. Easy to do, but the battery wasn't particularly great. Could just have been the age of the machine, but it was a while ago now so I can't remember. Given the price of the kits in the UK, and the possibility that I get another dud, I bit the bullet and paid the extra to have Apple do it.

I don't find paying Apple for battery replacement for this old Mac is appealing at all. But that just about me. I have the 11 inch version of 2015 MacBook Air and battery was essentially dead (like it shut off within 5 minutes after unplug).

I just went to Amazon for $40 dollar battery kits. Came with all the necessary screw drivers. The battery will last me about 4 hours after full charges and I found this is more than acceptable for this old laptop.

Second reason is I only brought this 11 inch MacBook Air for fun. I have never owned 11 inch MacBook Air and I found this one for little under $150 dollars. Therefore, I am not willing to paying good money for Apple.

Most folks will say that Amazon battery will die after 1 years of use, which maybe true. But I can just buy other one for $40 and it will last me for other year.

 

[rx7dude]

I have the 2012 MBA and replaced the battery last summer. At first I ordered one from Amazon but it was DOA. I returned and got the OWC kit. Took less than 15 minutes and the battery life is enough for my daughter to use all day without a charger. (She's in high school). Her classmates were shocked when she told them her laptop is 11 years old.

 

[Yebubbleman]

my 2015 Air (13", 8gb, 128Gb) actually sat in a warehouse for three years before I picked it up in Oct 2018 "as new" (the story was they'd been bought by local govt for a project that never happened). I knew it was a risk but actually it's lasted really well into Jan 2023.

The battery cycle count is 787 and service is recommended, and I can still get an official battery through Apple for this model at the moment (I suspect not for much longer) but is it worth it? It's fine on mains power, but will cut out after an hour or two without warning, and when the batteries still notionally about half full.

I'm wondering what the original battery life/life with Monterey was for this model if anyone remembers? I can't justify a new MacBook just yet but maybe the £129 for a battery is a false economy.

(also, I've been down the "replace it yourself" route with my old 2010 model but the replacement battery, even though it was from a reputable source (ifixit), did not help as much as I'd hoped it would.

The 2010-2017 MacBook Air is a pretty easy Mac generation to do the battery replacement on, yourself. All you need is the correct screwdrivers. There's no glue or stretch-adhesive or anything like that. Quite easy, actually.

The question of whether or not it's worth it is an entirely different matter. I'd say that if (a) you have sentimental attachment to this machine or (b) you are using this machine for some legacy compatibility reason (i.e. running macOS Mojave so that you can run 32-bit Intel apps, needing a Mac with USB-A and, etc.), then sure. It makes sense. If you are generally not needing to stay on an earlier macOS release, I'd say it's not worth it. You can get an M1 MacBook Air for reasonably cheap these days. A battery replacement would be a sizable fraction of the cost of one of those.

 

[Knightimer]

I replaced mine on my 2015 air. It's pretty straightforward. I also updated the hard drive to a bigger SSD. I had it open. So, why not?

 

[xboxbml]

I replaced mine on my 2015 air. It's pretty straightforward. I also updated the hard drive to a bigger SSD. I had it open. So, why not?

Yeah, I put a new battery and 2TB SSD in mine.. works great.

 

[kiranmk2]

I did this for my 2014 MBA last month. Didn't fancy paying Apple £149 (the price went up in March) so I bought an OEM battery off eBay (had been pulled from a broken laptop). It was sold as being <30 cycles but when I installed it I found it only had 2 cycles and 100% health! Only cost £28 too. To top it off someone actually paid me £10 for my old battery that was 73% health with the service warning...