OWC or Apple Replacement Battery?

[LarryJoe33]

Thank you for your reply! I was bored today so I decided to put the battery in anyways; I followed OWC's guide on Youtube. I'm charging it back to full now after draining the battery and letting it sit overnight. CoconutBattery says that my battery was made in very late 2019, so hopefully I got a good one! So far my MPB is running about 20 degrees cooler. We'll have to see how it goes...

I planning on rarely using my MPB on battery power, so as long as I get 2 more years without swelling, I'll be a very happy camper.

That’s good news. I’m sure it will perform well for a year and then maybe in year two you will notice a faster drain. I am on my fourth battery counting the original. I just want to be able to sit on the couch for a few hours wire free. So far, my current eBay Apple OEM battery is the best yet, but the funny part is coconut tells me it’s failing or something like that. It’s got like 10 cycles on it.

 

[mikebjammin]

With my OEM Apple battery it used to show the status when I would click this; I assume not showing it is normal for 3rd party batteries?

 

[Cheffy Dave]

My new (1.5 years old) replacement battery from Amazon is coming up as service battery. It really is discharging quickly and I just attributed it to these machines not managing power well.

So maybe I got what I paid for. I got it off Amazon from one of the many options. Not the cheapest in go the options but not the most. I remember laboring over the choice and reading reviews. I thought I made a good choice.

So maybe it's time to try the OWC NuPower battery for $104 that is often recommended here? That said, I believe Apple will replace it for $129. I can surely handle it, but why not go with Apple for $25 more. Does Apple "condition" it the way OWC reccomends?

Been there,done that,go with Apple power

 

[LarryJoe33]

Been there,done that,go with Apple power

Dude, you quote the first post from over two years ago of a 228 post thread? Take the time to read more or try to add value. “Been there done that”. Ya, so have the rest of us. Read up, you might learn something.

 

[vince22]

took a chance and purchase a brand new battery from OWC NewerTech for my 2012 13"MBP non-retina, i will follow up after 1 year as far as draining trend activity, calibration done, its only been over 1 hr after fully charged.

 

[LarryJoe33]

took a chance and purchase a brand new battery from OWC NewerTech for my 2012 13"MBP non-retina, i will follow up after 1 year as far as draining trend activity, calibration done, its only been over 1 hr after fully charged.
View attachment 923573

Good luck!

 

[MacUSER64]

@LarryJoe33 Hi! I need to replace my Macbook air Late 2010 battery. Is there a site you would recommend? Apple no longer replaces my laptop battery because it's vintage now. BTW I appreciate this!

 

[mikebjammin]

@LarryJoe33 Hi! I need to replace my Macbook air Late 2010 battery. Is there a site you would recommend? Apple no longer replaces my laptop battery because it's vintage now. BTW I appreciate this!

They are all a crapshoot but OWC seems to be the most reliable. They also offer a 1 year warranty.

 

[LarryJoe33]

@LarryJoe33 Hi! I need to replace my Macbook air Late 2010 battery. Is there a site you would recommend? Apple no longer replaces my laptop battery because it's vintage now. BTW I appreciate this!

Hi, this is pretty much the content of this thread. Which non Apple battery to go with is the million dollar question. It seems to be hit or miss, but the NuPower batteries from OWC or B&H Photo (if they still carry them) seem to be a popular choice. My NuPower lasted a few years and replaced a replacement Amazon cheapo that lasted a year or so.

Part of me thinks, just get an Amazon $35 battery once a year. The battery I have now if the best performer yet. It is an Apple OEM that I got off ebay and put in the closet for two years. When the NuPower began acting up, I threw it in and so far, it's been a champ.

 

[MacUSER64]

Hi, this is pretty much the content of this thread. Which non Apple battery to go with is the million dollar question. It seems to be hit or miss, but the NuPower batteries from OWC or B&H Photo (if they still carry them) seem to be a popular choice. My NuPower lasted a few years and replaced a replacement Amazon cheapo that lasted a year or so.

Part of me thinks, just get an Amazon $35 battery once a year. The battery I have now if the best performer yet. It is an Apple OEM that I got off ebay and put in the closet for two years. When the NuPower began acting up, I threw it in and so far, it's been a champ.

Thanks! ok, I will look into ebay or amazon.

 

[vince22]

Good luck!

I’ve tried EBay 2x reputable seller too, end up returning them, it drains pretty quickly just for normal browsing / YouTube viewing, with new OWC Newtech lasted 8.5hrs yesterday same browsing / YouTube but well check for how long this would hold.

 

[Hackintosh1800]

Hey guys, I am gonna revive this thread to help EVERYONE out going through this insane BS ( thanks apple). There are NO NEW REPLACEMENT UNIBODY 13 OEM BATTERIES ANYWHERE FOR SALE. PERIOD

Before everyone jumps in...

Apple will NOT sell you one, and their service will NOT install the 2012 batt either if you have a mid 2010 or 2011 or 2009 etc because your machine is considered "vintage"

I recently fell for the new "oem" battery crap too. I bought a $70 "OEM" battery just like Hallux and LarryJoe33. It is NOT OEM.

It certainly LOOKS the part, and is a 1:1 match to apple, BUT there is a dead give away: The serial number sticker.

The fakes ALWAYS have a stretch font for this little detail and it looks fake.

I tore a dead OEM battery apart and my new "Oem" battery which lasted a little over a year and swelled. The guts tell the full story. The fake? rainbow colored wires! capton tape on the controller board which is green, not black.

Well, check out the pics. Pretty self explanatory. The FAKE DOESN'T HAVE A BMS!!!!

The barcode with the white dropbox is OEM. The other is fake.

If your barcode sticker doesn't have a white dropbox and a nice crisp font, its NOT OEM. Used or OWC is the only way to go.

I threw my money in the trash but thankfully caught the swelling before it ruined the MINT NEW palmrest, and bottom lid on my beloved mbp 13.

I should of bought the OWC in the firstplace. At least it doesn't swell.

Oh, my new "OEM" battery lasted....9 charge cycles before swelling....

I sincerely regret selling my 10 year old USED battery that at the very least held over an hour of charge and didn't swell...10 years later

 

[LarryJoe33]

Hey guys, I am gonna revive this thread to help EVERYONE out going through this insane BS ( thanks apple). There are NO NEW REPLACEMENT UNIBODY 13 OEM BATTERIES ANYWHERE FOR SALE. PERIOD

Before everyone jumps in...

Apple will NOT sell you one, and their service will NOT install the 2012 batt either if you have a mid 2010 or 2011 or 2009 etc because your machine is considered "vintage"

I recently fell for the new "oem" battery crap too. I bought a $70 "OEM" battery just like Hallux and LarryJoe33. It is NOT OEM.

It certainly LOOKS the part, and is a 1:1 match to apple, BUT there is a dead give away: The serial number sticker.

The fakes ALWAYS have a stretch font for this little detail and it looks fake.

I tore a dead OEM battery apart and my new "Oem" battery which lasted a little over a year and swelled. The guts tell the full story. The fake? rainbow colored wires! capton tape on the controller board which is green, not black.

Well, check out the pics. Pretty self explanatory. The FAKE DOESN'T HAVE A BMS!!!!

The barcode with the white dropbox is OEM. The other is fake.

If your barcode sticker doesn't have a white dropbox and a nice crisp font, its NOT OEM. Used or OWC is the only way to go.

I threw my money in the trash but thankfully caught the swelling before it ruined the MINT NEW palmrest, and bottom lid on my beloved mbp 13.

I should of bought the OWC in the firstplace. At least it doesn't swell.

Oh, my new "OEM" battery lasted....9 charge cycles before swelling....

I sincerely regret selling my 10 year old USED battery that at the very least held over an hour of charge and didn't swell...10 years later

Thank for your perspective. Yeah, I never fully had confidence the “OEM” battery I bought off eBay was genuine, but I think it was $15 bucks so I put it in a closet and used the OWC for a few years until it started to drain quickly. I swapped in the eBay battery for ***** and it’s performed well for me, although it say “replace” on system report, it last longer than any battery I’ve tried.

As I’ve said, there is no right or wrong answer. It’s roulette trying eBay, OWC or one of the many Amazon options. This thread and all the experiences kind of prove that.

Personally I’ve done a 180. Spend $80 buck on OWC or one of the $$20-$40 options? I’m starting to lean towards the Amazon option and swap out once a year if necessary while I breath life into this old machine.

Swelling is a different story and I agree, stay clear of batteries with a track record of this. Read reviews.

 

[Hackintosh1800]

Thank for your perspective. Yeah, I never fully had confidence the “OEM” battery I bought off eBay was genuine, but I think it was $15 bucks so I put it in a closet and used the OWC for a few years until it started to drain quickly. I swapped in the eBay battery for ***** and it’s performed well for me, although it say “replace” on system report, it last longer than any battery I’ve tried.

As I’ve said, there is no right or wrong answer. It’s roulette trying eBay, OWC or one of the many Amazon options. This thread and all the experiences kind of prove that.

Personally I’ve done a 180. Spend $80 buck on OWC or one of the $$20-$40 options? I’m starting to lean towards the Amazon option and swap out once a year if necessary while I breath life into this old machine.

Swelling is a different story and I agree, stay clear of batteries with a track record of this. Read reviews.

That was the biggest thing for me: Swelling. I don't wanna mess the computer up. Body panels (new) are also unobtainable now. I wanted something that wasn't gonna mess the computer up and that's exactly what I got. The lack of a BMS in a lipo battery is scary!!!!!

 

[Hackintosh1800]

I ended up buying a USED OEM battery with under 200 cycles. It definitely looks the part in pics (correct serial sticker).

This is ridiculous! Not being able to find a replacement batt that isn't OEM but is quality, and not being able to buy a new OEM battery. Forced obsolescence

 

[MacDaddyAir]

I found this thread because of the same reason we're all here. OWC, go to the Apple store, Amazon, eBay...I couldn't figure out how and where to get one. But I did need one, very badly as mine with 600ish cycles stopped charging and no one wants to sit plugged into a charger all day. Not to mention having to reboot every time the charger came out of the wall.

So I had an idea, I would go to eBay to buy a used battery since where else would you go? The issue was navigating all the fake ones proclaiming to be genuine, here was my idea: check the position of the lettering on the back of the battery. There are 5 lines of text and they are aligned straight on the right and left sides. Check out this image of a not genuine Apple battery. The left side is aligned but the right side is not. One a genuine Apple battery, both sides are aligned like this image here at least for my mac air. The image is not my battery but just an example of how the text area should look. On mine, there were 5 lines of text and again the text was aligned, so that helped me to eliminate all the tabs of pretender batteries. The placement of the symbols should also match too.

The replacement was $25 with shipping. It works great. 334 cycles. I also followed this calibration guide as well.

TLDR;
Make sure the text and the symbols on a replacement battery match exactly if you have a genuine Apple battery.

 

[LarryJoe33]

I found this thread because of the same reason we're all here. OWC, go to the Apple store, Amazon, eBay...I couldn't figure out how and where to get one. But I did need one, very badly as mine with 600ish cycles stopped charging and no one wants to sit plugged into a charger all day. Not to mention having to reboot every time the charger came out of the wall.

So I had an idea, I would go to eBay to buy a used battery since where else would you go? The issue was navigating all the fake ones proclaiming to be genuine, here was my idea: check the position of the lettering on the back of the battery. There are 5 lines of text and they are aligned straight on the right and left sides. Check out this image of a not genuine Apple battery. The left side is aligned but the right side is not. One a genuine Apple battery, both sides are aligned like this image here at least for my mac air. The image is not my battery but just an example of how the text area should look. On mine, there were 5 lines of text and again the text was aligned, so that helped me to eliminate all the tabs of pretender batteries. The placement of the symbols should also match too.

The replacement was $25 with shipping. It works great. 334 cycles. I also followed this calibration guide as well.

TLDR;
Make sure the text and the symbols on a replacement battery match exactly if you have a genuine Apple battery.

Very helpful, thanks. I am puzzled though that their are even “pretenders” out there for such a low cost item. What’s to gain by saying it’s OEM when it’s not for $25 bucks. That’s also what I paid for my real OEM Apple battery with zero cycles on it delivered. Not to mention, it’s highly debatable which route is best when replacing the battery in terms of which brand or site to buy from. Results are all over the place in this thread.

I’m fine throwing $25-50 bucks at my old machine every few years to breathe life into it while we count down the days.

 

[voraciousvegan]

So my MBA 11" mid-2015 needed a new battery. I just got an OWC battery in the mail today, and before installing it inspected the operation and depression of the trackpad with the original battery. The MBA trackpad has a feature where you can minimally depress it without actually "clicking down" yet -- it's basically a tactile feedback. The OWC battery seems to be a tad bit too thick, so you lose out on this feature, it's either full click or none. Once it's calibrated I'll decide if I care enough to return it and take it in for an Apple battery. I wanna stretch this MBA another 5 years.

 

[robvas]

It should be criminal to sell those crappy replacements on Amazon or eBay

 

[LarryJoe33]

So my MBA 11" mid-2015 needed a new battery. I just got an OWC battery in the mail today, and before installing it inspected the operation and depression of the trackpad with the original battery. The MBA trackpad has a feature where you can minimally depress it without actually "clicking down" yet -- it's basically a tactile feedback. The OWC battery seems to be a tad bit too thick, so you lose out on this feature, it's either full click or none. Once it's calibrated I'll decide if I care enough to return it and take it in for an Apple battery. I wanna stretch this MBA another 5 years.

Hmmm....not familiar with the MBA, but do you have a feature under trackpad setting to "tap" the pad vs. click to select? Maybe this is what you are talking about but it sounds like it's a light depression the way you described. On my MBP, I never actually click or depress the pad. I enabled the feature to lightly tap to select.
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It should be criminal to sell those crappy replacements on Amazon or eBay

yeah, good input.

 

[voraciousvegan]

Hmmm....not familiar with the MBA, but do you have a feature under trackpad setting to "tap" the pad vs. click to select? Maybe this is what you are talking about but it sounds like it's a light depression the way you described. On my MBP, I never actually click or depress the pad. I enabled the feature to lightly tap to select.
[automerge]1603108507[/automerge]

yeah, good input.

I do have that feature, but sometimes I prefer the tactile response of clicking.

So I tested out the NewerTech battery and am getting about 4 hrs of use with Firefox open with multiple tabs/windows. Do you know if this sounds about right or is it too low? Would an original Apple battery give me more battery life? I don't know why I'm just extra skeptical about 4 hrs...

 

[LarryJoe33]

I do have that feature, but sometimes I prefer the tactile response of clicking.

So I tested out the NewerTech battery and am getting about 4 hrs of use with Firefox open with multiple tabs/windows. Do you know if this sounds about right or is it too low? Would an original Apple battery give me more battery life? I don't know why I'm just extra skeptical about 4 hrs...

It's really hard to tell what a new aftermarket battery should yield vs. a third party battery. My gut tells me it's the same. It really depends on what OS you are running and what is running in the background. Apple has built in so many icloud sync processes since you bought you MBA, in addition, even Firefox is more demanding now vs. the early simple clean code. But to answer your question, I would be happy with 4 hours for what I do. I can't imagine getting more than 5 hours.

 

[Killbynumbers]

I bought an iFixit battery for my 2012 13" MBP last September and although I don't use the computer on battery power often, it has 21 cycles and the capacity is still at 100% today. The only problem is the kit included the wrong screw driver so I simply used a knife since the screws weren't very tight at all.

Edit: The computer also doesn't automatically power down when the battery gets low enough so you do have to watch that.

 

[panjandrum]

In my experience the only good batteries are the Apple batteries and the NewerTech (sold mostly through OWC) batteries. I've tried quite a few others, and not a one of them has been any good. The NewerTech batteries have been great, easily as good as Apple's batteries overall, but I have seen a few "calibration" issues with them, where they will eventually lose proper calibration with the battery monitoring and you'll have to go through that entire annoying (and lengthy) calibration process again.

 

[LarryJoe33]

Yeah the results and opinions in this long thread are all over the place including my own in which I have changed opinions after the NewerTech didn't last very long. In terms of "Apple" batteries, this is the problem, there aren't any, they don't make them any more. I scored one on EBay for cheap but the manufacture date was pretty old which is to be expected as they don't make them.

My advice and approach is to just pop in Amazon's latest and greatest cheapo with good reviews and call it a day. Then repeat as necessary. These machines are pretty old so breathing some new life into them for $30 bucks is appealing. $75-$100 for the same results makes it more of a financial decision where I'll just get a new MBP. That said, as much as I want a new one, this bugger keeps humming along with a new SSD and overclocked memory and a hacked Catalina, so it's tough to justify a new one that isn't really any faster, albeit much lighter and slimmer.