Macbook Pro Battery

[Captain_Obvious]

I know there are a lot of knowledgable apple users here and was hoping to find some advice.

I just checked today and saw a "Service Battery" alert on the top right of my screen just to the left of the clock. It says I need to take my macbook into an authorized service provider asap.

I checked, and (of course) my 1 year warranty was up 1 week ago (when no such warning appeared).

Has anyone had any experience / trouble with batteries in Macbook pros?

Wondering if I should take it in and try and fight it out despite being a week past warranty?

Any advice would be appreciated if anyone's run in to similar difficulties.

Cheers

[sclitheroe]

You should run through a battery calibration first

1. Fully charge, and leave on charger for 2 hours after it says its charged
2. Unplug from charger
3. Turn on laptop, do not allow it to go to sleep - change the power settings if you have to, in System Settings
4. Keep laptop on even when reserve power warning comes up
5. Laptop will power off on its own - leave it like this for 5 or more hours so the reserve power keeping the RAM alive dies too
6. Plug in and allow to fully recharge


Then see if it still says it requires service.

[sclitheroe]

Apple would ask you to do this, by the way, prior to replacing a battery even if the unit was under warranty.

[Titan]

I agree but I would also take it in asap. If only a week over it is a pretty good chance they will change it if it is bad. Mine was bad and they changed it but I was still in warranty.

Maybe call them and see what they say?

[silentsim]

I've had this happen. a battery calibration topped off with a smc/pram reset fixed it. is this a unibody mbp?

[Captain_Obvious]

Thanks sclitheroe, I'll try that.

Titan, if necessary do you think should I call an Apple store directly or some sore of 800 Apple care number?

I live near SAIT and there's a Westworld right by me... does anyone know if they're considered an Authorized dealer? Being close to the holidays I'm scared to even go near an Apple store.

[silentsim]

authorized dealers are significantly less likely to deal with anything out of warranty. i've had the apple store fix something 3 weeks out of warranty for free, but third party dealers don't have that flexibility.

[BigDogg]

Originally Posted by Captain_Obvious

Thanks sclitheroe, I'll try that.

Titan, if necessary do you think should I call an Apple store directly or some sore of 800 Apple care number?

I live near SAIT and there's a Westworld right by me... does anyone know if they're considered an Authorized dealer? Being close to the holidays I'm scared to even go near an Apple store.

Hey Captain, I actually work at an Apple Authorized dealer in my town. My past experience with Apple and out of warranty coverage would lead me to believe that it would be worth your time to give a call to the 800 number and talk to an AppleCare rep. Explain the issue, tell them it's just a week outside of the warranty and see if they'll cover you. Usually if you drop this line "I really want to continue to be an Apple customer but... (if you don't cover this then I might reconsider)" they will usually fold. I've had quite a few customers get their way with that line. If you don't get the answer you want, hang up and call them again, you'll 99.9% of the time get a different rep and sometimes that's the difference.
Either way, if you call them then they have a record of it and if you do end up going into an Apple Store they'll be able to pull up all the info much easier and you should be in and out.
If you have any other issues/questions feel free to drop me a line.
adam@sohoservices.com

[Da_Chief]

First, I don't know if you're complaining about the "(when no such warning appeared)" but if you are why? unless you bought it off someone else you should know when your warranty of 1 year will expire. I'm on my 3rd mac (upgrading every pro this time) and I haven't seen such warnings.

Anyways, if you think you have a case for the warranty expiring and this other method doesn't fix it then look into the U of C shop (not the store) in the basement of Math Sciences building there should be a place where you can go and talk to them. They are authorized to fix warranty products(Dell and Mac) at no cost. I had my first mac looked into by these folks and came out perfectly fine.