Reccomendations for MacBook Air replacement battery

[CristyBlairBG]

The battery on my MacBook Air, model - A1466, is in dire need of replacement. I've been trying to do my research to find an efficient and affordable battery but frankly I'm a bit overwhelmed. Especially since I continue to read that many Amazon reviews are inaccurate.

Can someone please recommend a replacement battery brand for the A1466 model?

Ive looked at these brands: Egoway, GHM, IceTek, dynapak, ans NuPower.

Please help me decide!

 

[yngwietiger]

Check out this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/owc-or-apple-replacement-battery.2108502/

It talks about batteries for MacBook Pro, but I think a lot is applicable to the Air.

What I take from it:
1) People have mixed reviews about EBay batteries.
2) Apple won't do anything with your machine if it's "vintage" (more than 5 years old). Otherwise, I'd probably try them at $129.
3) The thread starter had decent success with a NuPower battery.

And I agree about Amazon. The reviews are sketchy. One of the batteries on there had a bunch of positive reviews, all dated 12/4. And one (maybe the same one?) supposedly was thicker than the OEM battery and causes the touch pad to be hard to press, etc.

I too have a MacBook Air A1466 (mid 2012), that I purchased in March 2013. And my battery needs replacement.

Based on that thread above, today I ordered the NuPower battery at B&H (it's also available at OWC):

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=invoice&A=details&Q=&sku=1219802&is=REG

It has good reviews. It's a little pricier than the ones on Amazon, but I guess we'll see. B&H and OWC are supposedly pretty respectable.

BTW, I also ordered a new power cable on OWC the other day. It's supposedly an OEM part, and it's cheaper than buying from Apple. My cable has split several times, and I keep taping it up. I wish they were more durable, but Apple cables are notorious for this.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/MD592LLA/

 

[CristyBlairBG]

Thank you so much for your reply! This is all very helpful. I think I will be ordering the NuPower battery as well. Stay tuned lol

Check out this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/owc-or-apple-replacement-battery.2108502/

It talks about batteries for MacBook Pro, but I think a lot is applicable to the Air.

What I take from it:
1) People have mixed reviews about EBay batteries.
2) Apple won't do anything with your machine if it's "vintage" (more than 5 years old). Otherwise, I'd probably try them at $129.
3) The thread starter had decent success with a NuPower battery.

And I agree about Amazon. The reviews are sketchy. One of the batteries on there had a bunch of positive reviews, all dated 12/4. And one (maybe the same one?) supposedly was thicker than the OEM battery and causes the touch pad to be hard to press, etc.

I too have a MacBook Air A1466 (mid 2012), that I purchased in March 2013. And my battery needs replacement.

Based on that thread above, today I ordered the NuPower battery at B&H (it's also available at OWC):

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=invoice&A=details&Q=&sku=1219802&is=REG

It has good reviews. It's a little pricier than the ones on Amazon, but I guess we'll see. B&H and OWC are supposedly pretty respectable.

BTW, I also ordered a new power cable on OWC the other day. It's supposedly an OEM part, and it's cheaper than buying from Apple. My cable has split several times, and I keep taping it up. I wish they were more durable, but Apple cables are notorious for this.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/MD592LLA/

Thank

Check out this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/owc-or-apple-replacement-battery.2108502/

It talks about batteries for MacBook Pro, but I think a lot is applicable to the Air.

What I take from it:
1) People have mixed reviews about EBay batteries.
2) Apple won't do anything with your machine if it's "vintage" (more than 5 years old). Otherwise, I'd probably try them at $129.
3) The thread starter had decent success with a NuPower battery.

And I agree about Amazon. The reviews are sketchy. One of the batteries on there had a bunch of positive reviews, all dated 12/4. And one (maybe the same one?) supposedly was thicker than the OEM battery and causes the touch pad to be hard to press, etc.

I too have a MacBook Air A1466 (mid 2012), that I purchased in March 2013. And my battery needs replacement.

Based on that thread above, today I ordered the NuPower battery at B&H (it's also available at OWC):

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=invoice&A=details&Q=&sku=1219802&is=REG

It has good reviews. It's a little pricier than the ones on Amazon, but I guess we'll see. B&H and OWC are supposedly pretty respectable.

BTW, I also ordered a new power cable on OWC the other day. It's supposedly an OEM part, and it's cheaper than buying from Apple. My cable has split several times, and I keep taping it up. I wish they were more durable, but Apple cables are notorious for this.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/MD592LLA/

t

 

[Tozovac]

Check out this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/owc-or-apple-replacement-battery.2108502/

It talks about batteries for MacBook Pro, but I think a lot is applicable to the Air.

What I take from it:
1) People have mixed reviews about EBay batteries.
2) Apple won't do anything with your machine if it's "vintage" (more than 5 years old). Otherwise, I'd probably try them at $129.
3) The thread starter had decent success with a NuPower battery.

And I agree about Amazon. The reviews are sketchy. One of the batteries on there had a bunch of positive reviews, all dated 12/4. And one (maybe the same one?) supposedly was thicker than the OEM battery and causes the touch pad to be hard to press, etc.

I too have a MacBook Air A1466 (mid 2012), that I purchased in March 2013. And my battery needs replacement.

Based on that thread above, today I ordered the NuPower battery at B&H (it's also available at OWC):

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=invoice&A=details&Q=&sku=1219802&is=REG

It has good reviews. It's a little pricier than the ones on Amazon, but I guess we'll see. B&H and OWC are supposedly pretty respectable.

BTW, I also ordered a new power cable on OWC the other day. It's supposedly an OEM part, and it's cheaper than buying from Apple. My cable has split several times, and I keep taping it up. I wish they were more durable, but Apple cables are notorious for this.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/MD592LLA/

Thanks for your reply/posts. I too ordered a 45w adapter, I noticed that this weekend and pulled the trigger tonight.

Just to park these here, I did notice links to NuPower's guidance to properly calibrate a new battery:

Also I found this curious: NewerTech's battery charger/reconditioner, seemingly for only 15" unibody MacBooks. Since MacBook batteries are, as far as I know, a PITA to remove/install, I don't get the usefulness of this tool, if I'm understanding its intent correctly. Why is this device needed? I could see its usefulness if MB batteries were easy to hot-swap. Someone please solve the mystery? Perhaps for large companies using MB's where batteries are replaced often, I could see the point. Just curious...

 

[yngwietiger]

@Tozovac Yeah, I agree on the reconditioner. Seems it would only make sense for a large IT department.

 

[Tozovac]

@Tozovac Yeah, I agree on the reconditioner. Seems it would only make sense for a large IT department.

For which, I know know of NO large/medium-sized company buying Macs! Does anyone??

 

[yngwietiger]

@CristyBlairBG

If you're interested, I've received and installed the new battery. I've posted some updates here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...battery-how-good-is-it.2160313/#post-26934359

 

[yansun]

How is the new battery holding out @yngwietiger and @CristyBlairBG?

 

[Tozovac]

I went with a nupower one.

I honestly can’t see a significant increase over my five-year-old OEM original battery. And this one has more capacity. The main thing I notice is that I can use my trackpad again, it clicks again instead of bottoming out on the battery like started to happen around 6 months ago. I definitely don’t sense an overwhelming increase, but that is just my sense of things and nothing scientific.

 

[yansun]

Thanks for the answer. Hm, maybe I should just go with the original one from Apple, although its a bit more expensive... I only get 2-3 hours out of the current one and this morning it died at 18%. CoconutBattery says the capacity is still at 80% though.

 

[Tozovac]

Thanks for the answer. Hm, maybe I should just go with the original one from Apple, although its a bit more expensive... I only get 2-3 hours out of the current one and this morning it died at 18%. CoconutBattery says the capacity is still at 80% though.

I would. I'm very disappointed with my Nupower "higher capacity" battery for my MBA. I swear the battery life is even less than the replaced original battery, which I'm glad I kept because I'm going to put it back in and check if my impressions are real.

 

[Simple714]

If you can, always go with Apple’s battery. If apple cant help you out due to “vintage” status then an Apple reseller may be able to.

 

[speculative]

I'm also looking to replace an MBA battery. Out of curiosity – did you follow the OWC battery calibration instructions?

 

[StoneJack]

The best option is Apple's replacement battery, no doubt.