Apple recalls older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro over fire risk | Hacker News Reader

Apple recalls older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro over fire risk

cnet.com

55 pointsohjeez50 comments

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20235259.

I recently had my spare macbook’s battery replaced by paying quite a lot. I even had to do a second trip to the store because the returned item was also faulty. They did something to the motherboard while changing the battery I guess because they also replaced that for free, but not before I diagnosed the problem for them...

Then today I learned that the battery I got replaced was included to this program butit seems Apple doesn’t want to refund the money I paid for the battery and they can’t guarantee if the replaced battery is healthy, so I have to do a 4th trip to the Apple Store make sure it won’t explode to my face...

I don’t understand why Apple can’t track what it put to my laptop and tell me if it dangerous or not.

It’s just annoying and painful. I’d expect better -which was the case for the past 6 years.

I'm going to say Apple no longer respects their customers. It's been a downward moving trend for the last several years. Keyboards, bad screens, batteries, etc.... They used to be able to charge the prices they did because A) it worked and B) was the best.... I can't say that anymore for them.

I have had a MacBook Air Mid-2012 since... 2012. Last year I bought new batteries online myself for like 80-90$. Replacing them took like 15 minutes by following a webpage linked in the battery package; it was idiot proof.

The new batteries have like at least 20% more capacity than the old ones ever had, and almost a year later are still going strong.

Couldn't been happier.

This Macbook Air mid-2012 is the best laptop I've ever had. I've been wanting to upgrade to a new laptop but I haven't been able to find one that makes the upgrade worth it. Paying 2000$ for 30% better performance isn't really worth it for me.

What it looks like when it happens:

https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/bulbhv/my_macbook_pr...

Relevant HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20240359

Most Macbooks are going to show symptoms before catching fire -- which is thankfully a very rare event. For most people, it's going to manifest as a swollen bottom case. Here's what I look for:

- If you put your Macbook on a flat desk, does the aluminum on the bottom touch the desk? (The rubber feet should touch the desk; aluminum should not.)

- If you close the lid, does it seal all the way around? (You shouldn't need to apply pressure to make the lid seal. Closing the lid should not bend it. It should not pop open on its own.)

- Cracked trackpad is a bad sign

- Look along the edges; any warping is a bad sign too

I had a swollen battery that manifested with a trackpad that couldn’t click but I thought it was maybe damaged from accidentally dropping something on it that I couldn’t remember. Had it like that for many months until I googled it. Replacing the battery fixed it straight away.

My serial doesn’t come up as affected. I mean that’s great and all but now I’ll be staring at it in suspicion for a good while.

For their battery replacement program, my serial # did not come up as affected and they refused to service it over the phone. They quickly changed their minds when I showed up at the Apple store with a battery so swollen it was pushing through the trackpad.

just don't charge it when you're not home

"[Ineligible because our] records show that your device has already been serviced ..."

Cool, thanks Apple. Glad I got to pay like $700 for this when my 2015 MBP was overheating so much last year that the battery swelled and broke the motherboard. I just did a quick live-chat with one of the tech support people... no chance for a refund on the work I had done 8 months ago to replace the battery and repair damage it caused. It really sucks that people who proactively dealt with this can't get compensated for what is now acknowledged as a manufacturing flaw.

Originally posted here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20240359

You can contact Apple and they will refund your repairs. The official Apple page on the recall mentions this.

I didn't repost this but please don't flag! it's a serious safety issue that users need to be made aware of.

I think this keeps getting reposted because it falls of the front page very quickly for whatever reason.

Do service centers for these devices have special storage / handling requirements (especially when mass recalls are announced)? I can't imagine having a large amount of these ticking time-bombs, pending repair, all stacked together on a shelf is that great of an idea.

Most have a safe, fireproof and so on for the devices. But handling dozens of them, idk... Maybe Samsung knows an answer? /s

I know Apple Stores have fire-proof safes, I would assume it's also a requirement for the authorized service centers.

Yeah I read that in the article, but that was after the laptop already burst in to flames. I wonder if they place 20-30 of them in there at once? Surely they would all just slag if one decided it was time.

They know the affected component is the battery, they could be trained to remove the battery itself if it does not look to be bulging.

Sorry, but why did it take 4.5 years to do this? Is it because new models are not selling well?

A less immediately malicious (and simpler) interpretation of what's happened, is that it's taken this long for battery problems to start widely manifesting.

Of course, but normally it takes a lot of noise to make so that Apple does something like this. I personally have not heard any "multiple reports" news.

The only one I have seen is this one: https://www.macrumors.com/2019/05/30/smoking-macbook-pro-whi...

Wow, this is a giant FU to their customers

> Replacing the battery, however, "may take 1 to 2 weeks" with the company advising users to make sure to back up their data first.

Peacing out with a laptop that someone uses for 7-14 days is unbelievable.

Ummm. Before iPhone it was common for phones and laptops and PCs to disappear off in repair through third party warranty vendors for weeks and months.

You don’t know how good you have it.

I'm old enough to remember when $2.5k laptops came with same day warranty work.

Oh yeah? Who did same day, fedex-overnight-to-and-from warranty work, and on what laptops?

They don't ship the laptop, they send a technician and do the repair on-site. I have personal experience with a Lenovo ThinkPad. Dispatching the technician may have taken one or two business days (I don't remember exactly).

Dell used to do next business day on-site tech visit as standard, and 4-hour for a relatively low surcharge on the purchase price.

That was a long time ago though.

Both Dell and Lenovo/IBM used to have (and still might for all I know) on-site warranty support provided by local licensed technicians.

One could start with the fact, that with most laptops, one could exchange the battery without sending the whole laptop in... And as this is their pro laptop (and certainly priced such) one could expect on-site service even.

That's just not true. Depending on your warranty you could have on-site service. In that case, the repair would happen on-site and maybe take an hour or two. In my experience, this even worked while traveling to another country. Sometimes manufacturers would also send you a replacement part and you could replace it yourself (happened to me with a failed hard drive).

5 to 10 business days to fix literally years worth of laptops is impressively fast turnaround. How long do you think is reasonable to do battery swaps en masse like this?

Those 5 - 10 business days will be 30 seconds and an aftermarket replacement battery if Apple loses enough of their fights against the emerging 'right to repair'.

less than 2 hours in store while you wait.

or own your fuckup and dispatch people to homes and offices.

Basically, no one is going to take apple up on this (and Apple know that perfectly well) if the price is buy a second laptop for the HALF MONTH Apple is going to keep your computer.

Imagine if the way a car recall worked was "haha, we keep your car for a month and you pay for a loaner. Tada!"

It’s not 5-10 business days for ALL of them. It’s 5-10 business days for each individual repair.

Which is ridiculous. I shouldn’t have to give up my laptop for two weeks for Apple’s issue. A few hours is okay. Maybe a day. But not DAYS or WEEKS.

It’s completely unacceptable.

Link to apple.com information https://support.apple.com/15-inch-macbook-pro-battery-recall

check your serial number: https://support.apple.com/15-inch-macbook-pro-battery-recall

That's terrifying, I have one at home right now on the dining table with some paper around it. If this happened, the entire house will burn up.

I would hope Apple would be liable for burning your house down, but in reality they'd blame you for having 'water damage'.

I already had the battery replaced due to the fat battery issue. Hopefully, they don’t need to re-replace it.

There is a mail in option for something that may catch fire?

All mail can catch fire ;) (Presumably you would turn it off before you send it?)

Turning it off isn't enough. Instead leave it on until the battery is completely drained, then mail it once it shuts down.

This is not really a "recall": you keep the machine (turnaround time notwithstanding), they're just replacing an old battery.

Recall is not always a replacement, for example recalled cars are often returned to the owner after a fix.

I think that's a "service bulletin", and the "recall" itself would be on the specific part.

CNET is still autoplaying videos with sound in 2019.

I thought companies already figured out in the 90s that there's nothing more annoying than that. I guess I was mistaken.

autoplaying videos in the 90s? on 56k connections? i think autoplaying videos on CNET is definitely more of a 00s thing

Assuming you've switched back to Firefox, you can fully disable autoplay across the board.

Visit about:config?filter=autoplay and change media.autoplay.allow-muted to false.

there are ways around anything, but it should be the default behavior...

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