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fraeone

macrumors regular
Sep 26, 2003
219
9
Seattle, WA
So if you say, I'll pay the $300 please repair it, they say OK and then call you a day or two later? I just checked my 2012 and it turns out the battery is perfectly in the range, and should be repaired anyway.
 

fraeone

macrumors regular
Sep 26, 2003
219
9
Seattle, WA
Me too!

Brand new $2800 machine and several hundred dollars worth of free USB C accessories in exchange for my old 2002 MBP and $200

They originally gave me a refurbed 2015, but I took it back because it didn't have discrete graphics, at which point they provided a new 2017

They made 15" 2015 rMBP without discrete graphics? Did they call you after you paid for the battery? Or did they have the conversation with you right there on the spot?
 

SirithX

macrumors 6502
Feb 21, 2007
434
135
San Francisco
Alright I'm convinced, going to take it in and ask for the repair. Worst comes to worst I pay $300 for a new battery. As they say in Oregon Trail, we're fording the river!
 

fraeone

macrumors regular
Sep 26, 2003
219
9
Seattle, WA
Took mine in. They were straight-forward: wait until the end of September and they would replace the battery and top cover for free, or pay $199+tax and get a refurb unit of equal or better value. They couldn't say how long it would take to get the refurb.

My 15" 2012 2.6/16/512 is turning into a 2.8/16/512 which sure sounds like a 2015 but they were not specific. I took my 2012 home with me today and will do the swap and pay the money when the refurb arrives at the store.
 

imaginex20

macrumors 68000
Jun 17, 2009
1,513
721
Took mine in. They were straight-forward: wait until the end of September and they would replace the battery and top cover for free, or pay $199+tax and get a refurb unit of equal or better value. They couldn't say how long it would take to get the refurb.

My 15" 2012 2.6/16/512 is turning into a 2.8/16/512 which sure sounds like a 2015 but they were not specific. I took my 2012 home with me today and will do the swap and pay the money when the refurb arrives at the store.

Either way, can't complain. There are a bunch of people who are complaining about Apple replacing their 2012 rMBP to a 2015 model instead of a 2016 tbMBP. Glad it worked out for you.
 

fraeone

macrumors regular
Sep 26, 2003
219
9
Seattle, WA
Either way, can't complain. There are a bunch of people who are complaining about Apple replacing their 2012 rMBP to a 2015 model instead of a 2016 tbMBP. Glad it worked out for you.

Haha! Don't get me wrong, I would have loved it if they had showered me with new laptops, but I'm more than happy with the outcome. Apple as always with the great support.
 
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Trey M

macrumors 6502a
Jul 25, 2011
965
342
USA
Either way, can't complain. There are a bunch of people who are complaining about Apple replacing their 2012 rMBP to a 2015 model instead of a 2016 tbMBP. Glad it worked out for you.
Are there additional threads with people seeing similar results on these 2012 MBP replacements at Apple Stores? Not saying I'm skeptical, but I'm just trying to understand how many people have done this already and how widespread it is. I am considering taking mine in STAT tomorrow to an Apple Store. $200 for a 2015 MBP? Or even a 2017? I'm in.

l am at 82 percent however according to coconutBattery...hopefully they will be cool about it.
 
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imaginex20

macrumors 68000
Jun 17, 2009
1,513
721
Are there additional threads with people seeing similar results on these 2012 MBP replacements at Apple Stores? Not saying I'm skeptical, but I'm just trying to understand how many people have done this already and how widespread it is. I am considering taking mine in STAT tomorrow to an Apple Store. $200 for a 2015 MBP? Or even a 2017? I'm in.

l am at 82 percent however according to coconutBattery...hopefully they will be cool about it.

Yep. You should check out Reddit. Threads go back go back about a month now. A lot of people who have brought their laptops in mostly get a new refurbished 2015 model or a 2016 touch bar model. A select few got the 2017.

If I owned the 2012 model, I wouldn't hesisitate to take it in. But you would need the battery to be 80% or below.
 
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imaginex20

macrumors 68000
Jun 17, 2009
1,513
721
Yes, act dumb and stupid. Don't say "well, I heard someone got a 2017 model.." if you act like you're entitled to a new laptop just forget about it
 

lockerc18

macrumors 6502a
May 17, 2012
553
209
I have a mid-2012 15-inch Retina MBP, and it started telling me a month or so ago about this "service battery" warning. I looked around the web to see what this was about, and found a number of sites, including Apple's, that said there was a way to fix this. The theory is that the battery has electonics which need to be recalibrated every so often, and once you do that, this warning goes away. I tried out what they recommended, and sure enough, my battery is "normal" now.

The fix was to plug your system in, charge the battery to 100 %, then unplug it and drain the battery until the system shuts itself off. Then let it sit like that for at least 5 hours. After that, plug it in and run the battery up to full again, and the warning status will have disappeared.

I did this last week and the battery status is still normal. I have no idea how long this will last, or if the battery is really on borrowed time here. It had about 500 cycles on it, and the battery is supposed to live for 1,000.

Cheaper than a battery replacement. For now, at least.
 
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mayakukla

macrumors regular
Jun 14, 2010
166
2
The one they gave me did not, hence why I was able to get them to upgrade me to a 2017 tbMBP
[doublepost=1497882014][/doublepost]

Nope, the constrained top case is specific to that 2012 retina MBP
[doublepost=1497882269][/doublepost]

If you do take it, here is my advice.

ACT DUMB

Don't go in talking about any of this, just have the genius test the battery. If they find it deficient they will offer you to do it now for $200 or wait for September for a free repair. If you want to wind up with an updated machine then accept their $200 offer. A couple of days later they will contact you to talk about the constrained part and offer you a refurbished 2015 machine. Accept it. When you go in then do to do the swap check to see if the 2015 refurb has the discreet graphics, if it does not tell them you do 3D work and must have it. You will probably wind up with a brand new 2016 or 2017 machine.

Don't go in there citing forum posts or anything like that, you will probably not get the best result.

Damn it, 86% battery. I wish I could do something to bring it down, do they just run a hardware test on it?
 

TonyK

macrumors 65816
May 24, 2009
1,032
148
Guys, while I do understand the desire to get a cheap upgrade to a newer model, I feel that people are close to abusing it.

If Apple's goodwill is abused, they'll stop helping genuine customers. Please be careful.

Thanks.

Fully agree. Apple is being kind and generous here so we don't want to abuse that. If the system is borked, then yes, take it in and ask about the replacement program for the battery. If they say keep the unit until September for a free service, then you can decide to roll the dice for an upgrade or wait for a free repair.

But we don't want them to become like other companies and just shoo us away.
 

wlossw

macrumors 65816
May 9, 2012
1,127
1,183
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
In my case my battery really is performing poorly:
Screenshot 2017-06-19 15.04.30.png
I'm lucky to get an hour of moderate usage...
 
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Its Alec

macrumors newbie
Jun 19, 2017
1
0
The one they gave me did not, hence why I was able to get them to upgrade me to a 2017 tbMBP
[doublepost=1497882014][/doublepost]

Nope, the constrained top case is specific to that 2012 retina MBP
[doublepost=1497882269][/doublepost]

If you do take it, here is my advice.

ACT DUMB

Don't go in talking about any of this, just have the genius test the battery. If they find it deficient they will offer you to do it now for $200 or wait for September for a free repair. If you want to wind up with an updated machine then accept their $200 offer. A couple of days later they will contact you to talk about the constrained part and offer you a refurbished 2015 machine. Accept it. When you go in then do to do the swap check to see if the 2015 refurb has the discreet graphics, if it does not tell them you do 3D work and must have it. You will probably wind up with a brand new 2016 or 2017 machine.

Don't go in there citing forum posts or anything like that, you will probably not get the best result.

I took my mid 2012 rMBP in today and this first part is exactly what happened. So I guess I'll wait to see what happens next.
I wouldn't mind a 2015 machine but I do want a dedicated GPU in my machine.
 
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