Apple Recalls 1.1 Million Laptop Batteries

elzurawka writes "Apple has issued a recall of over 1 million batteries in the U.S.. This comes after Dell recalled over 4 million batteries just last week. It appears to be again an issue with Sony produced batteries. From the article: 'Computer giant Apple is recalling upwards of 1.1m batteries used in its laptop computers in the US. The announcement affects laptop computers sold between October 2003 and August 2006 and impacts the company's latest range of machines ... The recall is said to be the second biggest in consumer electronic history and will come as a blow to Apple after its launch of new MacBook and MacBook Pro machines had been hailed as a huge success for the firm.'"

MacBook renamed

[Duds (100634)]

Henceforth it shall be known as the "MacBoom"

Re:

[Cybrex (156654)]

I get the joke, but actually it's only G4 iBooks and PowerBooks that are affected. None of Apple's current lineup is included.

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[Kelson (129150)]

But hey, you can have an iBoom! A PowerBoom, perhaps?

But I thought...

[Mister Whirly (964219)]

I thought Macs were immune to all types of attacks, even faulty batteries. Are you sure this isn't a PC only problem?

Can you see the new "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" commercial?

PC guy: Hey Mac, you look a little hot.
Mac guy: (smoking) I don't feel so good. (falls to ground and bursts into flames)

CNN causing slashdot effect?

[Danathar (267989)]

If a story on the front page of slashdot causes the "Slashdot effect", what is it called when something from the front page of CNN causes the same thing?

Crap!

[BlackGriffen (521856)]

My battery isn't listed in the recall: https://support.apple.com/ibook_powerbook/batterye xchange/index.html [apple.com]

iBook G4 12-inch battery model: A1061
serial number starts with ranges:
ZZ338-ZZ427
3K429-3K611
6C519-6C552

PowerBook G4 12-inch model: A1079
serial number starts with ranges:
ZZ411 - ZZ427
3K428 - 3K611

PowerBook G4 15-inch model: A1078 and A1148
serial number starts with ranges:
3K425 - 3K601
6N530 - 6N551
6N601

It is, however, down to about 75% of what used to be full capacity at full charge.

I wanted a new battery. :(

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[statusbar (314703)]

Funny thing is, my battery IS in the range listed ( 6N541 prefix which I assume is in the '6N530-6N551' range) but their web app says that my battery's serial # is not valid!!

--jeffk++

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[daninbusiness (815223)]

Just called apple support in China (where I'm located at the moment). In my case, even though I couldn't confirm the serial number online, since it was in the range of affected batteries, I was told just to bring my bad battery in to an official apple care service center in either Guangzhou or Hong Kong and they'd give me a replacement. I'd imagine that should be true as well in other countries.

Part O' the Week

[queenb**ch (446380)]

This is what vendors get for buying the "part o' the week". I'm sure that the poster below who is loosing both his Mac and his PC laptop would appreciate having something working. It's really sad that they charge so much and sell you such cheap crap!

2 cents,

QueenB

Does this mean QANTAS will ban apples too?

[jonwil (467024)]

QANTAS (the national airline here in .au) recently banned using DELL laptops inflight on battery power because of the risks of explosion. Will they ban Apples now too? OR will they ban all laptops?

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[XxtraLarGe (551297)]

Yeah, I don't have any problems with my battery as far as heat goes, but it only holds a charge for about 45 minutes when I run my computer in highest performance mode. A new battery is exactly what I need!

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[objekt (232270)]

Thanks!

I'm here all week!

Try the spaghetti.

Modded Funny?

[conigs (866121)]

Why's this modded as "Funny?" I'm looking forward to this recall for the same reason. I overused my batter and it only holds about a 20-30 minute charge. I get a nice, new, free battery from Apple that will last me until I decide to upgrade!

Of course, I just posted instead of using my mod points.... damn it!

Yes, I realize I typed that before I actually posted and therefor, could have used my mod-points, but shut up!

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[jc42 (318812)]

Damn! I got a 17" Powerbook, and its batteries are also approaching senility. But 17" PB batteries aren't in the recall list.

Guess I'll just have to pay for a new one. (Then they'll recall the old ones. ;-)

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[jc42 (318812)]

Something pointed out in Apples instructions is that the life of their Li-ion batteries is determined mostly by the number of charges, not hours of use. If you keep it plugged in and charging whenever possible, battery life will be greatly extended. What runs it down is a lot of draining and recharging. At least that's what they say; it's probably a bit more complicated than that.

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[damian cosmas (853143)]

I'll top that. I already had my 12" iBook G4 battery replaced last summer [apple.com] in the previous recall. I've owned the computer 20 months, and will now be getting my third battery. I'm starting to like Apple's "battery recall every summer" program, since I haven't even had a chance to use any of my batteries long enough for loss of capacity to be a problem.

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[jx100 (453615)]

I actually managed to get through to them before the slashdotting, and talked with a CSR there. After confirming that I had a 'splodie battery, what were their instructions?

Go to the website to fill out a form.

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[adamjaskie (310474)]

That is my take on it. My battery is getting kinda weak. Not horribly weak, but I am getting noticably shorter run times.

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[mzwaterski (802371)]

Does your battery say that it is made by Sony? How can one tell?

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[Mister Whirly (964219)]

"the form to submit your serial numbers. That's reason enough to use SSL."

Hypothetically, how much damage could someone do with your laptop's serial number? I suppose someone could try to file a false technical support claim, but what advantage would that be to them?

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[LincolnQ (648660)]

I bought a PB17" in 2004, and it's unpleasantly hot when I'm using the processor heavily. One thing that helped a lot was changing the power management setting to "automatic" rather than "maximum" even on AC power -- now I can use it on my lap just fine and it only becomes unpleasant when I'm doing processor intensive work for long periods of time. I don't think that's a battery issue, though.

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[Rimbo (139781)]

- UMD movies

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[minus_273 (174041)]

you forgor
UMD
PSP
PS3

Re:Battery Exchang for MacBook Pro, iBook & Po

[Rimbo (139781)]

Those sites are so slashdotted, it's not even funny.

Re:Battery Exchang for MacBook Pro, iBook & Po

[laffer1 (701823)]

What's worse is that if you manage to get it it will tell you the battery is NOT on the list right now. I verified it was covered with someone i know but he had to get me to do the website form. I've got 2 g4 ibooks sitting here in the range and the site claims they are not covered under the program.

I have concerns now about the batteries and I can't even get ahold of anyone. This sucks. I needed a new battery anyway but my wife's iBook is less than a year old. It might not be wise to run it on a batte

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[owlnation (858981)]

Who? Well in my experience about 50% (or slightly higher) of those doing professional or broadcast video. Sony, despite all the problems with consumer products, remains incredibly strong with pro-video. The only competition of note is Panasonic - and even they collaborate with Sony on some projects.

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[grumpyman (849537)]

Yeah I'm only speaking on their consumer products - I have no experience on their other stuff like pro video.

It has always been, in my dictionary, SONY mean good quality and buy-with-confidence. Now that I remember my first 'wtf' with SONY is when compact flash was out along with MemoryStick - Sony digital cameras were good but heck, I cannot allow myself get stuck with only their product with the memory that's pretty much not compatible with anything else.

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[thatguywhoiam (524290)]

Can things get any worse for Sony??...-PS3 -BlueRay -Battery Scandal

Oh I don't know, I think things could get much worse for them.

For instance, if the general public had any fucking clue as to what you are on about.

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[thatguywhoiam (524290)]

Between the rootkits and the exploding batteries, is it too early to declare SONY a terrorist organization ?

By U.S. rules? Not at all. Invasive surveillance of private computers is a felony at a minimum. Exploding batteries, certain proof of terrorist activities. If they can arrest the dude for trying to light his shoes on fire, or the idiots that thought they could take down the Brooklyn Bridge with torch cutters, then I's say absolutely.

Of course... you used the word 'terrorist'. Which makes me suspic

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[yabos (719499)]

Or your Powerbook catches fire on the airplane and you get arrested for being a terrorist.

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[Tycho (11893)]

The Lithium in these batteries will be recycled; mainly it is easier to recover Lithium from batteries than it is to recover Lithium from its ore. Lithium is rare in the Universe, the conditions for its ore to form are rare, and Lithium is hard to recover from its ore. At any rate, Lithium is mined from the crystals that form at the top of pegamitic granite plutons. (Hah, eat that astronomers!) Pegamatitic granite is essentially granite that is made up of large crystals.

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[c (8461)]

in the meantime the CPSC release gives all the details

Be warned that the CPSC release and the Apple site have, as of a few minutes ago, different serial number ranges for the third group of 12" iBook batteries (6C626 vs 6C552). I'll probably have to wait for the phone lines to clear in order to find out if we need to replace one or two...

c.

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[LifeWithJustin (969206)]

I'm really not trying to start anything. But... who wants to use a product that is limited to usage with 1 or 2 brands when you can use a format that is supported by nearly all companies? Uh... Mac users?

Re:Battery Exchang for MacBook Pro, iBook & Po

[Shawn Parr (712602)]

Did you not read the summary or the article? This exchange program is for the older lithium-ion batteries in the discontinued G4 portables, not the lithium-polymer batteries in the new Intel portables.

Yes, but the GP is referring to the fact that a couple of months ago there was a recall for Macbook Pros as well, due to the swelling problem they had. He was also pointing out the different URLs for those with different machines.

Re:Battery Exchang for MacBook Pro, iBook & Po

[Overly Critical Guy (663429)]

Good point. I stand corrected.

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[CRC'99 (96526)]

Hmmm ok - so I'm not the only one with this issue... I get about an hours usage out of my year old G4 powerbook - however it's always been around that mark. Interestingly enough, in System Profiler, I see:

Battery Information:

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 3784
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 3782
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 12488
Cycle Count: 14

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[jc42 (318812)]

Cycle Count: 140

I think a 'cycle count' is more a case of how many times the charger has been plugged in more than fully charge/discharge cycles

I verified that. I had my PB plugged in, the little battery icon said 94%, and the System Info window said the Cycle Count was 664. I unplugged the charger, waited about a minute until the icon dropped to 93%, and plugged it back in. The Cycle Count went to 665. So it's counting times it's plugged in, not charge cycles.

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[Skippy_kangaroo (850507)]

Do that again and see if it goes to 666 (!!!). I expect that it would stay at 665. As such, your experiment hasn't proved anything yet.

You should find that it is actually cycle count rather than the number of times it's been plugged in. I have a brand new MacBook Pro battery that has 1 cycle on it. It has been plugged and unplugged a number of times (>1) but only used for short bursts in those periods so it hasn't yet got to the full discharge to click over the cycle count.

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[jc42 (318812)]

Do that again and see if it goes to 666 (!!!). I expect that it would stay at 665. As such, your experiment hasn't proved anything yet.

I tried it when it was at 99%, and you guessed right. It stayed at 99%. So I unplugged it again, let it sit for a minute or so until it dropped to 98%, plugged it in, hit CMD-R to update the data - and it still said 665.

So I guess I don't know what it's counting. Both times I tried the experiment (unplug, wait for it to drop by 1%, plug in, CMD-R). Both were in the same

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[Skippy_kangaroo (850507)]

A charge cycle is 100% of battery usage - however distributed. It doesn't have to do with the charge displayed in your menubar and a charge cycle can click over at any level of charge.

For example: Use 20% charge down to 80%, recharge, use 10%, recharge, use 70% is one charge cycle
Another example: Use 5% twenty times is one charge cycle.

What I think you demonstrated is that prior to unplugging it the first time you had used 99% of a charge cycle. It should take a further cumulated 100% before you click over

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[GooseKirk (60689)]

I was given an old P3-750 Vaio laptop to use while traveling, and as much as I hate everything about Sony and their products, you can't very well argue with free and lightweight. But this POS has turned out to be an even bigger POS than I imagined it would be. God, I hate Sony.

And great, now I'm just waiting for the keyboard to melt through - it really is just a cheap plastic that lays over the CPU heatsink. That'll be perfect. I've already had to replace the hard drive and the power connector. One of the s

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[E IS mC(Square) (721736)]

So, if Dell recalls, the advice is "Switch to Apple".

If Apple is in the same shit, its "Sony's fault"???

Bravo!!

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[Firehed (942385)]

What? We blamed Sony for the Dell recall too. Apple has been having battery problems just as much as Dell has recently. They just look better when on fire.

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[topham (32406)]

Just a guess, but my bet is that after many people saw the footage of a Dell bursting into flames they are taking battery recalls a lot more seriously, so they called right away when they heard of the recall, instead of over a period of days or weeks.

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[Kelson (129150)]

Plus more people are affected. I don't remember what the numbers were on the LG recall, but certainly the date range was about half the size.

Speaking of people taking the battery recall seriously... My wife read about it on the BBC site this morning, then immediately called me up on my cell phone:

Her: "Do we have to go to the Apple Store tonight?"
Me: "Huh?"
Her: "The battery recall."
Me: (thinking of the MacBook issue from a few months ago) "I didn't think ours was affected."
Her: "It's every G4 PowerBook mad

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[ellem (147712)]

Same sitch.

We're on hold.

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[Achromatic1978 (916097)]

or maybe the contract manufacturer (who is probably Quantas).

I'm not sure if there was some really subtle joke I missed in there, but you do realise QANTAS [qantas.com] is a domestic and international airline, not a supplier of Apple parts, don't you?

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[soft_guy (534437)]

Sorry, I did slightly misspell the name - but only slightly. It is actually "Quanta". They are a taiwanese company that does contract manufacturing of electronics - most notably notebook computers for Apple, Dell, and others.

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[frdmfghtr (603968)]

Yeah apple website says 3-5 days. Apple confirmation e-mail says 4-6 weeks.

It may have changes since you last saw it, but the website also says 4-6 weeks.

From the FAQ:
Q. How long will it take to receive a replacement battery from Apple?

A. It may take up to 4 to 6 weeks for your replacement battery to arrive. Shipping time may vary due to availability of your battery model.

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[frdmfghtr (603968)]

Correct...from http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/08/24/ap2 972235.html [forbes.com]:

Sony said the recalls will cost it between $172 million and $278 million. Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said its recall was not expected to materially affect the company's results. Dell has said the recall would not affect earnings.