Ive seen many post lately of swollen batteries on the MBA, is this issue more common to the Air as I don't see too much documentation of it in the Pro? What an awful thing this would have to occur!!
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swollen battery - more common on a MBA vs Pro?
- Thread starter kp98077
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If anything, I would say it is the other way round, having personally had a swollen battery on a 2015 MBP. However I think it is more dependent on the model year than whether it is Air or Pro, and whether it is left plugged in to charger all the time. The batteries on MBP and MBA are essentially the same (just shaped differently to fit the cases).
Recent MBPs and MBAs have much better battery management system that this is no longer a major concern. For example now it avoids charging and holding charge above 80%
Do you have links to posts of swollen batteries in recent MBAs?
A swollen battery is not that "awful." Just replace it.
Recent MBPs and MBAs have much better battery management system that this is no longer a major concern. For example now it avoids charging and holding charge above 80%
Do you have links to posts of swollen batteries in recent MBAs?
A swollen battery is not that "awful." Just replace it.
thanks, very helpful - I had just seen some post on reddit on this, just seemed much more so with the MBA. I had this happen before on my older Lenovo too, but didn't think much about it at the tie (it was nearing end anything).
2 swollen batteries on my old 2015 "13 MBP. I always left it charging. That was a no no.
Sales ratio of MBA:MBP is probably 10:1 or 20:1. Of course you'll hear more from MBA users.
Happens to many Mac portables. Much depends on the usage temperature etc. Battery swells time to replace and in fairness this only tends to happen at the end of the batteries life. Older Mac's batteries can be preserved by limiting the charge to 50% as this helps to prevent the battery swelling and extend the notebooks use on mains supply.
Had one Air & one MBP battery swell over the years. Worst was an Early 2008 15" MBP as the battery literally exploded out the base of the notebook. Admittedly it was very old, equally there was no warning. My oldest MBP is rapidly closing on 12 years young, I open the base plate to check the battery's condition every 6 months or so. Since I limited the battery charge level to 50% the battery has remained stable, time to time I'll exercise the battery by 20% as that's enough.
Q-6
Had one Air & one MBP battery swell over the years. Worst was an Early 2008 15" MBP as the battery literally exploded out the base of the notebook. Admittedly it was very old, equally there was no warning. My oldest MBP is rapidly closing on 12 years young, I open the base plate to check the battery's condition every 6 months or so. Since I limited the battery charge level to 50% the battery has remained stable, time to time I'll exercise the battery by 20% as that's enough.
Q-6
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I've had swollen batteries on MacBook Pro 15" 2014 around mid 2020 and MacBook Pro 15" 2017 around end of 2021. Not fun both cases because both batteries were working just fine, one with 87% the other with 93% health and I had to change them which was not cheap 
Thankfully no issues after that, both are still used.
Thankfully no issues after that, both are still used.
We've had it on 2008 MacBook Pro 17, 2010 MacBook Pro 15, 2014 MacBook Pro 15, 2015 MacBook Pro 15. We only have one MacBook Air and it's a 2020 model so we shouldn't see this for another couple of years.
I also had it with an iPhone 6.
I also had it with an iPhone 6.
To challenge the premise of the thread title...
A swollen battery is going to be "more common" on a Mac that's left plugged into the charger all the time -- and not so much related to WHICH Mac it is.
Kudos to the poster who mentioned above that a battery has to be properly "exercised" in order to maintain "health".
That means 3 or 4 times a week, take it OFF CHARGE and let the battery run down to around 45-50%, then re-connect the charger.
I would also UNPLUG the charger from the wall at night. Whether or not you power it off, or just let it "sleep".
I know about the new-fangled utilities that are supposed to preserve battery health.
I wouldn't trust them, and would stick to the physical acts to maintain the battery as outlined above.
That's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it...!
A swollen battery is going to be "more common" on a Mac that's left plugged into the charger all the time -- and not so much related to WHICH Mac it is.
Kudos to the poster who mentioned above that a battery has to be properly "exercised" in order to maintain "health".
That means 3 or 4 times a week, take it OFF CHARGE and let the battery run down to around 45-50%, then re-connect the charger.
I would also UNPLUG the charger from the wall at night. Whether or not you power it off, or just let it "sleep".
I know about the new-fangled utilities that are supposed to preserve battery health.
I wouldn't trust them, and would stick to the physical acts to maintain the battery as outlined above.
That's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it...!
The SW solutions work and definitely help to reduce wear on the battery. Still need to exercise the battery however to lesser extents. Only downside to the SW solution is you need to match the right app to the OS. Older OS such as High Sierra need to use a script, newer OS is good with AlDente which has far more features.
As for working the battery in my experience once or twice a month running down to around 80% of capacity is adequate to maintain battery health. Discharge interval can be greater if using a SW solution. Apple's own solution takes too long to trigger and all too fast to revert to 100% charge.
n.b. for those wanting to try a third party solution, first turn off Apple's own battery saver to avoid any confusion between the OS & app.
Q-6
Huge reason I use AlDente Pro to keep my battery between 75-80%. My MBP is my desktop, and spends most of its time docked to two external monitors and other peripherals. I don't need to bring it along as a laptop too often -- maybe once a month -- so to keep the battery at least somewhat managed and not sitting at 100% for weeks at a time, I use AlDente to help maintain some health. It's not perfect, but it's much better in my case than just leaving the battery at 100% nearly full time. It sits most of the time between 75-80% and I'll click a button to top it off before I disconnect everything and take it with me. Apple's own battery management system can't predict when I'll need to disconnect my laptop, so I manage it manually.
Recently, it happened on my 2017 15" MacBook Pro. Apple declared the 2017 MacBook Pro vintage so they don't have a battery replacement for it anywhere and suggested I buy a replacement laptop.
Other than the battery problems, the laptop is running great. Unfortunately, I can't use it due to the possibility of fire from the lithium battery.
I have a 3rd party battery ordered from OWC and will attempt the replacement myself (lots of repair places nearby by nobody will touch it and Apple will not install a 3rd party battery).
The new laptops from Apple look impressive but I'm refuse to buy another Apple laptop unless they decide to source batteries (consumable part) after they declare a laptop vintage.