OWC or Apple Replacement Battery?

[smirking]

And that said, you get what you pay for. eBay cheap batteries suck.

Check out my posts above. The ones I got didn’t suck. They weren’t super cheap, but they did cost half of what a NuPower would have. Buyer beware of course, but like all things battery, it can be hard to know what you’ll be getting regardless of price.

 

[LarryJoe33]

Check out my posts above. The ones I got didn’t suck. They weren’t super cheap, but they did cost half of what a NuPower would have. Buyer beware of course, but like all things battery, it can be hard to know what you’ll be getting regardless of price.

Yes your mileage may vary, but from my experience and what I have read here, people had very bad experiences with eBay batteries, but yes, I get what your are saying.

 

[smirking]

Yes your mileage may vary, but from my experience and what I have read here, people had very bad experiences with eBay batteries, but yes, I get what your are saying.

I've gotten duds (of non laptop batteries before) so I know what you mean. I guess my takeaway is to buy carefully if you're both a skilled eBayer and you have enough understanding of how batteries work to be better able to sniff out something that's too good to be true from a pretty good deal.

 

[Peter Franks]

What's the deal with all the mAh and the voltage, these after market all quote differently in description, and I've no clue what I should be looking out for? It all means nothing to me. Can someone tell me what voltage and mAh is needed or relevant,

The iFix it says something about being better than the original? unlikely, I'd wager.
What does this even mean? New battery guaranteed at capacity greater than 5510 mAh. says iFixit but after reading this thread, they don't look like a great option?

What is the original capacity, and what should I be looking for?

I too went to get an original in the Apple Store, and said it's 'vintage', and can't help, but can't recommend any 3rd party. Apparently, they'll only swap out a battery if it's under 5 years old. And as it's the early 2011 MBP, that was me out. How many hours is typical from the NewerTech?

 

[LarryJoe33]

What's the deal with all the mAh and the voltage, these after market all quote differently in description, and I've no clue what I should be looking out for? It all means nothing to me. Can someone tell me what voltage and mAh is needed or relevant,

The iFix it says something about being better than the original? unlikely, I'd wager.
What does this even mean? New battery guaranteed at capacity greater than 5510 mAh. says iFixit but after reading this thread, they don't look like a great option?

What is the original capacity, and what should I be looking for?

I too went to get an original in the Apple Store, and said it's 'vintage', and can't help, but can't recommend any 3rd party. Apparently, they'll only swap out a battery if it's under 5 years old. And as it's the early 2011 MBP, that was me out. How many hours is typical from the NewerTech?

Peter,

In theory, the greater the mAh, the great the capacity.I forget what the original battery capacity was, but if you have it installed, coconut battery or running a system report will tell you. It is in the 5's. My Nupower is 6200 I believe. In terms of how many hours you should expect from a new battery, that's a tough question to answer as it depends what you are doing and how much you are taxing the system. A common range is 5-7 hours for general computing (web surfing). I would be happy with 5 hours. I get 3 now with my "healthy" battery.

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks Larry. Would you recommend the OWC. Doesn’t really look like there’s much of a choice to us anymore. If only I’d have had the brain to get one from Apple before the 5 year ‘Vintage’ label. If I’m honest, the battery was never great, but for a 2011, I’m pushing my luck with the original one. My battery health is pretty shameful. I can see 1% go per 1 minute sometimes. Ifixit big theirs up but your experience shows a steer clear. Thanks for that.

Same options here in UK as you have out there, it would appear. Great shame they don’t make the originals but assume they’ve changed so much.

 

[PhilMacbook]

I bought a non-Apple battery a couple of years ago and it's still going strong.

 

[LarryJoe33]

Thanks Larry. Would you recommend the OWC. Doesn’t really look like there’s much of a choice to us anymore. If only I’d have had the brain to get one from Apple before the 5 year ‘Vintage’ label. If I’m honest, the battery was never great, but for a 2011, I’m pushing my luck with the original one. My battery health is pretty shameful. I can see 1% go per 1 minute sometimes. Ifixit big theirs up but your experience shows a steer clear. Thanks for that.

Same options here in UK as you have out there, it would appear. Great shame they don’t make the originals but assume they’ve changed so much.

I have had good luck with my Nupower so far, which can be sourced from OWC. By good luck I mean it still charges to 100% of spec and reads "good health". As I noted, I went with a different US suppliers called B&H Photo because they were cheaper and shipping was quicker.

Sadly, my new Battery drains like yours. I definitely needed a new one, but I was hopeful it would be better than this. I really do think it is a combination of the age of the system and the OS is more demanding than whatever it was running in 2011. If I really want to do some work on it for an extended period, I just plug it in. I could easily go from 100% to 50% in an hour.

I did a ton of upgrades. It is a super fast "vintage" machine. Arguably just as fast as a new one, too bad Apple stopped supporting it with OS upgrades. High Sierra was the last supported, but I forced a Mohave install. Runs like a champ. Also too bad we can't get any meaningful life out of the batteries anymore.

I'm sticking with it though until it dies, does everything I need it to quickly. I'm guessing you did the SSD and added more memory?

 

[Peter Franks]

I bought a non-Apple battery a couple of years ago and it's still going strong.

Which one was it, and how much do you get out of it, with normal use?

I have had good luck with my Nupower so far, which can be sourced from OWC. By good luck I mean it still charges to 100% of spec and reads "good health". As I noted, I went with a different US suppliers called B&H Photo because they were cheaper and shipping was quicker.

Sadly, my new Battery drains like yours. I definitely needed a new one, but I was hopeful it would be better than this. I really do think it is a combination of the age of the system and the OS is more demanding than whatever it was running in 2011. If I really want to do some work on it for an extended period, I just plug it in. I could easily go from 100% to 50% in an hour.

I did a ton of upgrades. It is a super fast "vintage" machine. Arguably just as fast as a new one, too bad Apple stopped supporting it with OS upgrades. High Sierra was the last supported, but I forced a Mohave install. Runs like a champ. Also too bad we can't get any meaningful life out of the batteries anymore.

I'm sticking with it though until it dies, does everything I need it to quickly. I'm guessing you did the SSD and added more memory?

I still love my DVD/CD drive, and the more than one USB, not to mention MAGSAFE!!

The new MBP is a lovely looking machine, but I am struggling business wise at the moment and don't that expense, but after buying the SSD and RAM, I'm sticking with 'vintage', but I just wish mine would let me watch more than an hour of YouTube without dying on it's arse.

I'm on High Sierra, which I only just updated to this weekend, after a couple of months of Sierra. I'm late to the party. I know it's not compatible with Mojave but there are tweaks, but I'm so far from clued up on that score, I wouldn't even go there. High Sierra is OK on this MBP, it's not as fast as Snow Leopard but then what is?! I think I'll order the OWC if nothing else is about, but if it's not more than a couple of hours, then it won't be that different to what I have now really. I wonder how long it will say 'Replace Soon'.

Health: 60%, Cycle Count: 1712, Condition: Replace Soon

 

[LarryJoe33]

Which one was it, and how much do you get out of it, with normal use?



I still love my DVD/CD drive, and the more than one USB, not to mention MAGSAFE!!

The new MBP is a lovely looking machine, but I am struggling business wise at the moment and don't that expense, but after buying the SSD and RAM, I'm sticking with 'vintage', but I just wish mine would let me watch more than an hour of YouTube without dying on it's arse.

I'm on High Sierra, which I only just updated to this weekend, after a couple of months of Sierra. I'm late to the party. I know it's not compatible with Mojave but there are tweaks, but I'm so far from clued up on that score, I wouldn't even go there. High Sierra is OK on this MBP, it's not as fast as Snow Leopard but then what is?! I think I'll order the OWC if nothing else is about, but if it's not more than a couple of hours, then it won't be that different to what I have now really. I wonder how long it will say 'Replace Soon'.

Health: 60%, Cycle Count: 1712, Condition: Replace Soon

Yeah, you should get some improvement for sure given that health of your current battery. I would be curious to see what you think after the upgrade. Be sure to "condition" it after installing. It should come with instructions, but it is supposed to matter. Google it or search here.

I still have my DVD/Burner and I use it every now and then to burn a CD, and yes, the multiple USB's, Firewire Port and that other mutli-function port that I use for HDMI-out all work well. They don't make'm like this anymore.

 

[PhilMacbook]

On average I would guess I get between 4 and 5 hours. Obviously lighter usage will mean it lasts longer than that but my usage is probably a fairly consistent medium load.

I bought it on eBay for £59 where it was listed as genuine Apple but who knows. It was always a bit of a gamble but so far it's doing well.

 

[Peter Franks]

Yeah, you should get some improvement for sure given that health of your current battery. I would be curious to see what you think after the upgrade. Be sure to "condition" it after installing. It should come with instructions, but it is supposed to matter. Google it or search here.

I still have my DVD/Burner and I use it every now and then to burn a CD, and yes, the multiple USB's, Firewire Port and that other mutli-function port that I use for HDMI-out all work well. They don't make'm like this anymore.

Yeh, so true, but WHY don't they make them like that anymore. They look pretty, but with an SSD and higher RAM in the oldies, they can't be that much faster than these. I just don't want to bother if it's a 3 hour job, because it's not enough difference to warrant battery change. Gotta get 4 or 5.

On average I would guess I get between 4 and 5 hours. Obviously lighter usage will mean it lasts longer than that but my usage is probably a fairly consistent medium load.

I bought it on eBay for £59 where it was listed as genuine Apple but who knows. It was always a bit of a gamble but so far it's doing well.

Well at £59 on Ebay, judging by this thread, it probably is the real deal. I think you've got to be lucky as many have said. My new iPhone 8 health after after only 2 months to the day is 'Battery Health' 96%, and people who have had theirs since launch day tell me their's is still at 100%. Luck of the draw.

I think Chrome Google Helper is a real battery killer, Don't get on with Firefox and Safari is disappointing. YouTube, Emails are big usage for me, and Word, bit of Photoshop, loads of Browser. That's about it.

 

[LarryJoe33]

Yeh, so true, but WHY don't they make them like that anymore. They look pretty, but with an SSD and higher RAM in the oldies, they can't be that much faster than these. I just don't want to bother if it's a 3 hour job, because it's not enough difference to warrant battery change. Gotta get 4 or 5.



Well at £59 on Ebay, judging by this thread, it probably is the real deal. I think you've got to be lucky as many have said. My new iPhone 8 health after after only 2 months to the day is 'Battery Health' 96%, and people who have had theirs since launch day tell me their's is still at 100%. Luck of the draw.

I think Chrome Google Helper is a real battery killer, Don't get on with Firefox and Safari is disappointing. YouTube, Emails are big usage for me, and Word, bit of Photoshop, loads of Browser. That's about it.

I have a genuine eBay Apple battery that is over three years old. I think I chronicled it in this thread. Didn’t even install it when I saw the age. You can have it if you pay shipping.

 

[Peter Franks]

That's really good of you to offer. But you may regret it sooner or later and want to use it. Did you not see the year of it when you purchased it, or was it written on the battery when you received it?

Do you think your 16GB RAM has made a big difference or did you install at the same time as the SSD? I put the SSD in and only went from 4 to 8GB RAM, My early 2011 is 1333 Mhz tho, not the same as your later model

 

[prisstratton]

I thought you might find this useful, it is a report of my use of a NuPower battery:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/battery-for-2011-macbook-pro.2065562/#post-26578392

Since I performed the reset and recalibration of the battery (mentioned in the Edit), overall performance seems to be improved over what I was seeing previously. Extrapolating my usage time out to 100 % battery consumed would seem to suggest a total usage now of approximately 5.5 hours.

 

[Peter Franks]

I thought you might find this useful, it is a report of my use of a NuPower battery:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/battery-for-2011-macbook-pro.2065562/#post-26578392

Since I performed the reset and recalibration of the battery (mentioned in the Edit), overall performance seems to be improved over what I was seeing previously. Extrapolating my usage time out to 100 % battery consumed would seem to suggest a total usage now of approximately 5.5 hours.

Thanks. Is the calibration a necessary on all these new install? and the PRAM NVRAM. Mixed opinions on here.
It's strange that choice is pretty limited these days between that and the iFixIt bearing in mind how many of us are after a decent replacement

 

[LarryJoe33]

That's really good of you to offer. But you may regret it sooner or later and want to use it. Did you not see the year of it when you purchased it, or was it written on the battery when you received it?

Do you think your 16GB RAM has made a big difference or did you install at the same time as the SSD? I put the SSD in and only went from 4 to 8GB RAM, My early 2011 is 1333 Mhz tho, not the same as your later model

When I was going through my battery research and tribulations for the bad ifixit battery. Someone posted a link to an eBay battery that was OEM and it was pretty cheap, like $30 bucks. It had the correct part or serial number on the listing. He ordered one and I figured it couldn't hurt to try it even though my nupower was on the way. When he installed his, it read as a manufacture date of March-2015 but did have zero cycles on it. Makes sense as they don't make these batteries anymore. I didn't want to put a battery that was sitting on a shelf for three years in my machine over the nupower which was a few months old from manufacture date.

After I installed High Sierra, my machine was crawling. I had not done any upgrades to this point. It was actually my college son's hand me down when he begged me for a new MBP because this one was slow and couldn't hold a charge. It was and is my first Mac. I had 4GB in it and upgraded to 16GB. I am sure it would have been fine with 8GB but it was short money. It then handled High Sierra fine, but when I bought the 16GB from Crucial, they spammed me with SSD upgrades. So I got one about a month after the RAM and WOW, what an upgrade. It became almost instant on and apps launched in half seconds. I subsequently replaced the Crucial 1333mhz RAM with overclocked 2133mhz RAM. It doubled in memory speed according to benchmarks.

 

[prisstratton]

Thanks. Is the calibration a necessary on all these new install? and the PRAM NVRAM. Mixed opinions on here.
It's strange that choice is pretty limited these days between that and the iFixIt bearing in mind how many of us are after a decent replacement

In this instance the system reset’s plus the calibration have worked very well for me. I do believe that the calibration is most definitely required and that, plus the SMC reset seem’s to make very good sense, especially as the SMC looks after things like power and charging.

I started looking for my battery replacement almost a year prior to finally buying and the one thing I found was a complete lack of good information and reviews on third party batteries.

Of course, you do not get much help on this board when people just chime in with “buy an Apple battery”. This would of course be the preferred action we would all like to take if we were not cut off by Apple themselves.

Establishing a section on this forum dedicated to the discussion of batteries would be a good step in the right direction, there is no consistent information available anywhere.

……….and I have been dying to say this, “you should ride in the front Mr. Franks”.

 

[Peter Franks]

When I was going through my battery research and tribulations for the bad ifixit battery. Someone posted a link to an eBay battery that was OEM and it was pretty cheap, like $30 bucks. It had the correct part or serial number on the listing. He ordered one and I figured it couldn't hurt to try it even though my nupower was on the way. When he installed his, it read as a manufacture date of March-2015 but did have zero cycles on it. Makes sense as they don't make these batteries anymore. I didn't want to put a battery that was sitting on a shelf for three years in my machine over the nupower which was a few months old from manufacture date.

After I installed High Sierra, my machine was crawling. I had not done any upgrades to this point. It was actually my college son's hand me down when he begged me for a new MBP because this one was slow and couldn't hold a charge. It was and is my first Mac. I had 4GB in it and upgraded to 16GB. I am sure it would have been fine with 8GB but it was short money. It then handled High Sierra fine, but when I bought the 16GB from Crucial, they spammed me with SSD upgrades. So I got one about a month after the RAM and WOW, what an upgrade. It became almost instant on and apps launched in half seconds. I subsequently replaced the Crucial 1333mhz RAM with overclocked 2133mhz RAM. It doubled in memory speed according to benchmarks.

I've done the RAM and SSD, and at a push, the battery looks straight forward enough and is essential too. As for the mhz.... not a clue.

I wonder if it would have just been enough to see the 16GB RAM with the HDD. Too late now, but would have been interesting. It's not bad, it's good enough, although when Snow Leopard was in, it was like lightning. And it's not quite that good with subsequent El Cap/Sierra/High Sierra. I get a lot of lag on Chrome, and sometimes Mail is painful. But for the age of it, that's good enough at the moment. And as discussed, the options on new don't excite me as much as they should, other than aesthetically, because there is more on what I have, options wise, and USB wise. I've lost the use of Photoshop with HS, and Word 11 is showing different fonts and acting weird, despite compatibility being ticked on roaring apps.

One thing I didn't do, and don't know if it was a mistake, was not to set up TRIM,

In this instance the system reset’s plus the calibration have worked very well for me. I do believe that the calibration is most definitely required and that, plus the SMC reset seem’s to make very good sense, especially as the SMC looks after things like power and charging.

I started looking for my battery replacement almost a year prior to finally buying and the one thing I found was a complete lack of good information and reviews on third party batteries.

Of course, you do not get much help on this board when people just chime in with “buy an Apple battery”. This would of course be the preferred action we would all like to take if we were not cut off by Apple themselves.

Establishing a section on this forum dedicated to the discussion of batteries would be a good step in the right direction, there is no consistent information available anywhere.

……….and I have been dying to say this, “you should ride in the front Mr. Franks”.

Your 'buy Apple' comment made me laugh, but yeh, if we could get an OEM new, most of us probably definitely would. Safer bet. And chances of it being like the original fitted are high. If most of these replacements don't come close to original, what is it they're doing at Apple, that they can't do 3rd party. The people that made them for Apple, must be out there somewhere?

Is it because it's a lot 'smooder' ride in the front? Top film, Did you ask me this question before? One person mentioned that to me before on here a few years back. I told them that I used to see him and met him several times for dinner back in the 90s. He died last year, I think it was.

 

[LarryJoe33]

I've done the RAM and SSD, and at a push, the battery looks straight forward enough and is essential too. As for the mhz.... not a clue.

I wonder if it would have just been enough to see the 16GB RAM with the HDD. Too late now, but would have been interesting. It's not bad, it's good enough, although when Snow Leopard was in, it was like lightning. And it's not quite that good with subsequent El Cap/Sierra/High Sierra. I get a lot of lag on Chrome, and sometimes Mail is painful. But for the age of it, that's good enough at the moment. And as discussed, the options on new don't excite me as much as they should, other than aesthetically, because there is more on what I have, options wise, and USB wise. I've lost the use of Photoshop with HS, and Word 11 is showing different fonts and acting weird, despite compatibility being ticked on roaring apps.

One thing I didn't do, and don't know if it was a mistake, was not to set up TRIM,

.

Trust me, the upgrade from HDD to SSD is the most dramatic increase in performance you could do. I don't think going from 8GB ot 16GB would have been noticeable and that HDD spinner would have been holding you back. Not to mention, IF on a rare occasion you needed more than 8GB, the SDD would be there to support a fast swap file whereas the HDD would have been a dog.

 

[Peter Franks]

Trust me, the upgrade from HDD to SSD is the most dramatic increase in performance you could do. I don't think going from 8GB ot 16GB would have been noticeable and that HDD spinner would have been holding you back. Not to mention, IF on a rare occasion you needed more than 8GB, the SDD would be there to support a fast swap file whereas the HDD would have been a dog.

What's your view on TRIM, Should the Evo 860 be doing it's own thing and not needed, or ... is it too late to do on it several months later

 

[hallux]

When I was going through my battery research and tribulations for the bad ifixit battery. Someone posted a link to an eBay battery that was OEM and it was pretty cheap, like $30 bucks. It had the correct part or serial number on the listing. He ordered one and I figured it couldn't hurt to try it even though my nupower was on the way. When he installed his, it read as a manufacture date of March-2015 but did have zero cycles on it. Makes sense as they don't make these batteries anymore. I didn't want to put a battery that was sitting on a shelf for three years in my machine over the nupower which was a few months old from manufacture date.

That was me. Still showing 100% life to this day. It won't drop soon, Cocont Battery is reporting the max charge capacity is 7512 mAh while the design capacity is 6900 (remember, I have a 15"). 95 cycles on it now.

 

[LarryJoe33]

That was me. Still showing 100% life to this day. It won't drop soon, Cocont Battery is reporting the max charge capacity is 7512 mAh while the design capacity is 6900 (remember, I have a 15"). 95 cycles on it now.

Cool. Good to know my back up battery might be good.

 

[LarryJoe33]

What's your view on TRIM, Should the Evo 860 be doing it's own thing and not needed, or ... is it too late to do on it several months later

Enable it for sure. All data says it’s good for the drive.

 

[Peter Franks]

Even when well and truly used. Updated to HS only Sunday, but is it not risky when 400GB used of 500? Can't mess things up can it