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Apple Powerbook and iBook Battery Recall 364

Posted by Zonk from the my-pants-are-melting dept.
doubleacr writes "The Register is reporting that Apple is recalling batteries in 12 and 15 inch Powerbook and 12 inch iBooks sold between October 2004 and May 2005. Apple has set up a page with info on model number and serial numbers of batteries affected, and also how to get a replacement."
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Apple Powerbook and iBook Battery Recall More

Apple Powerbook and iBook Battery Recall

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  • affected (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:40PM (#12592334)
    affected, not effected

  • Nah (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:40PM (#12592335)
    I rather like my exploding iBattery, thanks.

  • From the FAQ (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:41PM (#12592348)
    Q. Can I use my iBook or PowerBook without the battery in it?

    A. Yes, once you've removed the affected battery, just plug in the AC adapter to power the computer.

    And I thought only Windows users were dumb. How silly of me!

    • Re:From the FAQ (Score:5, Informative)

      by trampel ( 464001 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:47PM (#12592425) Homepage
      It's not quite that dumb. There are/were notebooks that won't run without a battery installed, maybe due to the design of their power circuitry.

      I remember the Powerbook 180, for instance.

      • Re:From the FAQ (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        I remember the Powerbook 180

        That was only true if the motherboard fuse was blown (which wasn't all that hard to do, considering). With the fuse gone you needed the battery in place in order to power up on the wall adapter. Otherwise you could power up with no battery in place.

        Having replaced those surface mount fuses several times, I learned this.

    • Re:From the FAQ (Score:5, Funny)

      by tehshen ( 794722 ) <tehshen@gmail.com> on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:56PM (#12592555)
      Yes, but Mac users are faster, better, and look prettier when they're being stupid ;)

      Reminded me of this [apple.com].
    • 'Cause it sure isn't "frequently asked questions" any more -- not unless the people asking the questions are the audience panel they use for scoring responses on "The Family Feud."

      I feel kind of bad for the poor tech writers who make a living going over stuff like this. It's like they get told to pretend they're morons.

      "What happens if I put my tongue across the contacts? Will it feel like a nine-volt?"

    • And I thought only Windows users were dumb. How silly of me!

      Apple's claim to fame was selling turn key technology the likes of which you just turn on and use without thinking about. In the mid 90s for example they had a good commercial where average Joe was trying to get his PC to use his CD-rom drive, quoting the manual "In autoexec dot bat mscdex /d driver where driver is defined in your config dot sys" gets fed up, phones his friend and asks if he can use his mac.

      It's in good form to explain these de

    • Re:From the FAQ (Score:3, Insightful)

      by antifoidulus ( 807088 )
      Heh, though really Apple should send you a battery if you call them and then have you send the defective one back when you receive the replacement. That is what they did when my AC adaptor broke(a week before the warranty ran out). Apple rushed me a new AC adaptor and had me send my defective one back(they paid the shipping). I think the only reason they had me send mine back was to ensure that I wasn't just getting a free power supply. I see no reason they shouldn't do the same for the batteries.

      • Re:From the FAQ (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Baricom ( 763970 )
        I think the only reason they had me send mine back was to ensure that I wasn't just getting a free power supply.

        That's one possibility. Another is that Apple wants it so they can have their engineers do a post-mortem to figure out what went wrong. A relative called the toll-free number on a well-known brand of kitchen sponge and they asked her to send the defective one back postage-paid, which probably cost them more than the sponge did.

        palmOne is also rumored to have been asking Tungsten C owners with
    • This is not really a dumb question. It can depend on how the system is wired. The laptop could get all its power from the battery all the time and the AC addapter just keeps the battery charged. Yes that is an unlikly setup but it is possible. And a lot of people are unwilling to test it out.

  • Explains a lot. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:41PM (#12592349)
    So that's why it keeps smoking! I'm so used to overclocked systems I thought that was normal.

  • Nuts, Not My Battery (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dr. Transparent ( 77005 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:41PM (#12592350) Homepage Journal
    And here I was hoping for a new battery. I missed it by a few production runs it appears.

    Maybe if I scratch the serial number up...

  • From TFA (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:41PM (#12592353)
    "...the components could overheat and catch figure."

    Get hot and strike a pose.

  • Before anyone goes off... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This is not a danger. it is a precaution. It may not even be an ISSUE but apple have still found parts out of spec in certain areas of battery production.

    In other words like with the 5300 powerbooks, no consumer batteries have ever caught fire, and almost certainly none ever will.

  • Whatever you do.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by PopeAlien ( 164869 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:42PM (#12592359) Homepage Journal
    DO NOT put them in a washing machine and puncture them with a screwdriver!

  • Sony battery warrenty (Score:3, Informative)

    by SamSeaborn ( 724276 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:42PM (#12592370)
    A friend of mine works at the Sony store and he told me about this interesting Sony Store policy. If any customer comes back with any complaint about a handycam battery within the camera's warrenty period, the customer is given a new battery right off the shelf, no questions asked.

    The cool thing is, the battery that comes with most cameras holds a 60 min charge, but the ones they stock in store are 120 mins.

    All you have to do is go in with your original battery and say, "this battery isn't holding a full charge". Bingo, free new better battery.

    Sam

  • They can have my battery... (Score:4, Funny)

    by nathan s ( 719490 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:43PM (#12592379) Homepage
    ..when they pry it from my cold, dead fing-

    Oh wait, this is a good thing. Nevermind. :-)

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:44PM (#12592387)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Sounds like Good Business to Me (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Delilah Jones ( 852061 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:45PM (#12592400)
    From the article:

    "Apple said the risk of combustion was very small. The recall comes after the US Consumer Product Safety Commission received six reports of batteries overheating, two from the US and the rest from around the globe."

    Six, man. SIX! And only TWO in the US!

    And they're taking what must be a pretty big loss just for the sake of having good business integrity.

    I dunno, man. Sounds pretty cool to me.

    • OTOH, if they know about the problem and don't issue a recall and even one more person gets hurt, they could be sued for quite a bit more than it would cost to issue the recall.

      In the US, lawsuits are the enforcers of business integrity.

    • Or fear of liability (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Thu25245 ( 801369 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:54PM (#12592532)
      On the flip side, if they didn't decide on a recall, and someone were to get injured, they'd face a serious liability suit. "You already had six reports of failure, and yet your company did nothing. Your negligence is directly responsible for my disfiguring burns." Not a pretty idea.

      Good business practices and fear of lawsuits often yield the same results. Which motivation you choose to ascribe depends mostly on how cynical you are.
      • "You already had six reports of failure, and yet your company did nothing. Your negligence is directly responsible for my disfiguring burns."

        That was the exact reasoning behind the several hundred thousand dollar judgement against McDonalds after that old woman spilled her coffee. McDonalds had several hundred complaints about people getting third degree burns from the coffee due to flimsy cup/lids.

    • Re:Sounds like Good Business to Me (Score:5, Interesting)

      by grahams ( 5366 ) * on Friday May 20, 2005 @03:00PM (#12592612) Homepage
      And they're taking what must be a pretty big loss just for the sake of having good business integrity.
      A big loss for the battery company, probably not that big of a deal for Apple...
    • Actually, it's probably more an issue of liability. If Apple is made aware of a potential problem that could cause injury or death, and doesn't act on it, if another person is injured by the product, they are negligent and open to lawsuit. If they know it happened six times, and they know that same configuration occured more than six times, then they know it can happen again.

      And if they didn't recall, groups like Consumer Report and Action News would be all over them about it.

    • Auto companies often recall their cars based on problems in less than 10 cars. And a lot of times it is questionable if it was even a problem in the part or damage after manufacturing.


      Its amazing there aren't more recalls considering how little is necessary to actually trigger one.

    • Re:Sounds like Good Business to Me (Score:5, Interesting)

      by FlopEJoe ( 784551 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @03:12PM (#12592745)
      "Six, man. SIX! And only TWO in the US!"

      That's a lot better company support than Fight Club math:

      If a new car built by my company leaves Chicago traveling west at 60 miles per hour, and the rear differential locks up, and the car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside, does my company initiate a recall?

      You take the population of vehicles in the field (A) and multiply it by the probable rate of failure (B), then multiply the result by the average cost of an out-of-court settlement (C).

      A times B times C equals X. This is what it will cost if we don't initiate a recall.

      If X is greater than the cost of a recall, we recall the cars and no one gets hurt.

      If X is less than the cost of a recall, then we don't recall.

    • If one of those batteries burned down someone's house and killed a couple people. The lawsuit would easily overshadow the costs of the recall. Especially when its was reported to the US consumer product safety commission, punitive damages would be astounding since it would show apple had prior knowlege to the fault.
    • US Consumer Product Safety Commission received six reports

      Yes only 6 reports to the product safety comission. How many people didnt report it.

    • Re:Sounds like Good Business to Me (Score:5, Informative)

      by Colol ( 35104 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @04:10PM (#12593408)
      And they're taking what must be a pretty big loss just for the sake of having good business integrity.

      According to the article over at MacCentral [macworld.com], nope. Apple doesn't expect the cost of performing the recall "to be material to Apple", and LG will be the one ponying up the costs.

      Which, given this is the second time in a year LG has caused Apple to issue a recall on batteries, they ought to be doing.

  • From TFA (Score:3, Funny)

    by millennial ( 830897 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:45PM (#12592402) Journal
    "The danger posed by these batteries is at its greatest when soaked in water and then stabbed with a screwdriver or other blunt object."
    Just kidding. But it's true for the iPod, remember? [slashdot.org]

  • Hot bodies attract? (Score:4, Funny)

    by CrazyJim1 ( 809850 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:45PM (#12592403) Journal
    Apple has asked 128,000 notebook computer users to return their PowerBook or iBook batteries on the off-chance the components could overheat and catch figure. I'd be interested in purchasing a computer that can catch figures for me.

  • How do they do it? (Score:5, Funny)

    by jargoone ( 166102 ) * on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:47PM (#12592427)
    It's incredible! I got my new battery from the recall, and my Powerbook is faster than ever before! Whether it's software or hardware, Apple just keeps getting better!

    • Re:How do they do it? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by brkello ( 642429 )
      I am confused on whether to be pleased that a scarcastic statement about apple was modded up or be disappointed that it was modded up due to people believing it.

  • Microsoft (Score:3, Funny)

    by devphaeton ( 695736 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:47PM (#12592431)
    So how long before Microsoft copies this?

    er.. i mean....

    Who should we complain to in the KDE team about being slow and lazy in adding this feature? My Toshiba running FBSD hasn't had any troubles with the battery! Those KDE folks are slow and lazy.

    er... i mean....

    Good job Apple.. Glad to see someone taking some responsibility.

  • haha ironic (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Kaamoss ( 872616 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:48PM (#12592440) Homepage
    I could have had the first post, but I realized that my recent ibook was effected. Went to the site and filled out the form in about 5 minutes. Deffinitly hassle free so everyone who has a relativly recient ibook 12" 14" or power book 12" should go there asap and get their free replacement battery.
    • Thanks for the tip, man.

      I got a PB around that time, so I should check it out as well.

      Although it's probably a good thing that you didn't get first post. Strongbad would have torn apart your post for spelling! :)

      • Yes. I usually spell check but I'm at work and we have cameras. If I type fast enough however because of how compressed the video has to be and time it right the camera never even takes a frame of me typing my post. I apologize for the spelling though.
        • A tip - compose your post in another app, like MS Word or something so it looks like you are working. Cut and paste into the slashdot comment box, switch back to your work for 20 seconds, swithc back and post. Nothing for the cameras to catch. NB - this is not how I do it, we have very liberal bosses at work.

    • Re:haha ironic (Score:3, Informative)

      by Cecil ( 37810 )
      Well, that's a nice thought, but it's not all batteries, only some of the LG ones. I bought my PB 15" a month ago, and my battery's serial number is W7515XXXXXXXXX nothing near the range of serials they're replacing.
  • Am I supposed to believe that this problem "strafed" my 14" iBook G4? Better keep an eye on 'er.

  • unsafe batteries? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by brontus3927 ( 865730 ) <edwardra3&gmail,com> on Friday May 20, 2005 @02:53PM (#12592514) Homepage Journal
    A couple weeks ago, Dell issued a recall on some of their Inspirions because of a similar problem. My sister's isn't one of them, but I noticed that the battery gets warmer than the processor does. And the powerbrick gets too hot to touch if the things been running for a few hours.

    I haven't a clue what the solution to this is, but with the explosion of notebook sales, I think we're going to be seeing A LOT of these kinds of problems

  • WE always had problems with the batteries and logic boards going out like crazy. Would anyone care to wager a guess why?

    They're mainly manufactured in Guadalahara, Mexico. Cheap labor and poor standards controls usually equals poor products.

    One out of three laptops actually made it past the Cashmere test after repairs, due to defective parts. (Bad onboard USB/Firewire, IDE controller, etc.) And people wonder why Apple products are so expensive. They're spending more in repairs than almost anything else.
  • "Apple has asked 128,000 notebook computer users to return their PowerBook or iBook batteries on the off-chance the components could overheat and catch figure."
    In a related note, the Register's reporting and editing have been outsourced to Bangalore.
    Paris Hilton had her ibook's battery explode on her lap, all that we could hear her say was... 'That's hot!'
  • Ive just checked my battery and its within the range, which is worrysome, because if I hadnt spotted this on Slashdot, chances are I would never have found out about it! Anyway, replacement ordered, battery disconnected, threat of death averted, thanks :)

  • I for one... (Score:2, Funny)

    by slcdb ( 317433 )
    ... welcome our new Consumer Product Safety Commission overlords.

    Ahem, sorry... this is getting really old, isn't it?

  • Dell (Score:4, Informative)

    by truesaer ( 135079 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @03:03PM (#12592645) Homepage
    I had a dell notebook once that had a battery recall. I didn't even know about the recall until one day I found an Airborn Express box on my porch with a new battery and a prepaid box to return the old one. After returning it I promptly got an ADDITIONAL battery and a $30 gift certificate to Dell's website as a thankyou/sorry. I thought that was pretty cool of them, the recall consumed about 2 minutes of my time to seal the battery in the return box, and I got a bunch of free stuff out of it too.

  • Please see this as a positive thing (Score:4, Insightful)

    by johansalk ( 818687 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @03:04PM (#12592662)
    Companies too often get a bad press when they do the responsible and praisworthy thing of honoring their promises to consumers and recall their products to repair a fault. Yes, ideally the product should not have the fault in the first place, when that would be in an ideal world, and these thing just have to happen from time to time. I think companies should get a bad press when they don't recall a product when they should, not when they do the right thing.
    • So lets see here: we have cellphones that catch fire; we have iPods that can explode; we have Dell and Sony and Apple laptops that catch fire -- the problem seems to cover a wide variety of battery operated consumer products.

      It took the TSA/DHS nearly 3 years after the British would-be bomber, Richard Reed, to get around to banning butane lighters on commercial aircraft. Anyone willing to take a bet on just how long it will take for the TSA/DHS to ban all battery operated consumer products from commercial
  • I'm at work right now, so I don't have my PB Battery Serial # handy to fill out the form. Do you have to send in your battery first, or do they send you the replacement along with a return box?
    • Nevermind, I just found out on the bottom of the page: After serial number verification, a new battery will be shipped to you, free of charge. When you receive the replacement battery, please use the same shipping packaging and included prepaid shipping label to return the recalled battery to Apple.

  • Now I wish I'd abused mine! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Ben Jackson ( 30284 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @03:17PM (#12592790) Homepage
    Mine is about 5 months old, but I've been babying the battery. Wish I'd known I'd be getting a freebie! To find out how many cycles your battery already has:

    ioreg -l -w 0 | grep Capacity

    I only used 22 cycles. :(
    • 492 cycles here. nearly a cycle a day since I've owned the thing. I am still getting a little over 1/2 the life it came with, but have a new one that's only been drained and charged for regular maintenance. Apple recommends fully draining the battery and recharging it at least once a month to keep it from going into some sort of deep discharges state.
      I'll keep this one till it is absolutely pointless to use anymore, since about 1/2 of my time I am using it on AC power, the battery only needs to last a co

    • Re:Now I wish I'd abused mine! (Score:5, Informative)

      by busman ( 136696 ) * on Friday May 20, 2005 @05:33PM (#12594263)
      or for the terminal impaired ..

      System Profiler -> Hardware -> Power

      Battery Information:

      Battery Installed: Yes
      First low level warning: No
      Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 4438
      Remaining Capacity (mAh): 1262
      Amperage (mA): -1726
      Voltage (mV): 10921
      Cycle Count: 22

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @03:25PM (#12592884)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • It seems there are some current problems with the website, just be forewarned!

    Here's my story:
    So, my battery for my PB 12" is in the range as testified on Apple's site. I tried to use the site to have my affected battery registered, but the site kept returning an error that my serial number wasn't recognized. Huh?

    So, I call Apple, and the guy says, "your model number is the Powerbook battery #, but the battery's serial number is an iBook battery serial number, so the system is rejecting the battery # as inconsistent with the computer's #." Huh?

    So, the guy went off to figure out what to do and put me on hold. For some reason, the hold music turned off, and this voice comes on every 30 seconds to say, "Please wait. Please wait. Please wait. Please wait."

    It is very very very obnoxious.

    So, they finally try to set up a manual request over the phone, but I have to give them a credit card number (They want to put a hold on it, I guess to keep you from getting a free battery), which is SOP but still annoying, because I don't have a credit card. So I have to call back later with a credit card (grrr) or wait for the website to be fixed (double grrr grrr).

    for whatever reason, they *don't* requre the credit card info via the website.

    hopefully my experience can be of assistance to one of you out there.
    • Same problems here. The website was returning "errors" re: my battery serial number. So I called and spoke to a guy who sounded a bit confused -- he put me on hold and them came back with (honest truth) "Can you please call back at a later time? We're having some problems here." Went back to site and it was down. Now there only seems to be a Powerbook battery exchange in its place (I have the iBook battery). Oh well, maybe I'll try again tomorrow.
  • a thing "affects" another thing.

    "effected" means produced, "affected" means influenced

    (btw - the title is just a joke)

  • Mine is fine (Score:4, Funny)

    by lbmouse ( 473316 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @03:39PM (#12593045) Homepage
    I'm using it right now and haven't had a singl

    +++ATH
    NO CARRIER

  • Nothing about this on the Apple website, at least on the home page. "Hot News" is that "Tiger Roars and Soars". Unfortunatley the link provided in the story has been slashdotted, so I will have to wait to see if my iBook had the bad battery. (unless someone is kind enough to post info...)
  • So how do I ask for my replacement battery if the site is slashdotted?

  • OEM recall? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by amichalo ( 132545 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @03:52PM (#12593194)
    Why is this recall not coming from the Original Equipment Manufacturer? I mean, does Apple actually make the batteries being recalled?

    It also seems like battery recalls are happening more and more on electronic devices. Is it that we are using more batteries or is there something going on with battery manufacturing?

    Dell issued a large recall last year, this is Apple's second recall on batteries I believe. Certainly there are others that I don't know about.

    • Re:OEM recall? (Score:3, Informative)

      by hackstraw ( 262471 ) *
      I mean, does Apple actually make the batteries being recalled?

      They do not make the battery itself, but to my knowledge they make the custom enclosure for the battery to fit inside of the computer and add the LED power level indicator, and whatnot.

      To my knowledge, I don't know that you can buy one of these batteries from somewhere else.

  • Warning: Don't put water on burning lithium (Score:5, Informative)

    by Johnboi Waltune ( 462501 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @04:07PM (#12593372)
    I have one of these recalled Powerbook batteries, and right now it's running at home unsupervised. Great.

    I haven't seen anyone else mention it in this thread, but pouring water on burning lithium is an extremely Bad Idea. You'll get an effect similar to pouring gasoline on burning wood.

    Most Slashdotters probably know not to pour water on an electrical fire, but I suspect far fewer know burning lithium can use water for a fuel source.

    From a FAQ I found about how to handle a lithium fire [66.102.7.104] (this is a google html version since the original was a .Doc file): "Use a graphite powder or a Lith-X (class D) extinguisher to extinguish burning lithium. Don't use water, sand, carbon tetrachloride, carbon dioxide, or soda acid extinguishers in lithium cell fires."

  • Good deal! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by chudgoo ( 812186 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @04:28PM (#12593571) Homepage
    If you're like me, your battery is wearing out anyway and a free (and new) replacement is a pretty good deal!

    (If it hasn't exploded yet, it probably wont anyway)

  • Apple web site totally slammed... (Score:3, Informative)

    by peter1 ( 796360 ) on Friday May 20, 2005 @05:06PM (#12593967)
    When I went to put my serial numbers in (which are within the qualifying range), it initially came back and told me that I do not qualify. On a second reload of the page (which took forever) it finally admitted that I did qualify, but when I went to register the page never finished loading. A final third attempt and again it claimed that I was out of luck.

    Had to end up calling Apple support directly (800-275-2273) who admitted that they are being slammed and all the techs are taking serial numbers to enter at a later time when the servers get quiet again...

    Just to save everyone the hassle of trying to get registered on the web site...

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