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nicho

macrumors 601
Feb 15, 2008
4,217
3,210
Branded “Simplo”? Maybe?

I don't think that's an issue.


What is interesting is someone earlier noted that every Simplo battery shared the same serial in coconut battery. Yours shows the same one. I wonder if it's possible that there's some kind of bug in the reporting, though, rather than them being fakes with the same serial?
 

LarryJoe33

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 17, 2017
2,554
1,042
Boston
I don't think that's an issue.


What is interesting is someone earlier noted that every Simplo battery shared the same serial in coconut battery. Yours shows the same one. I wonder if it's possible that there's some kind of bug in the reporting, though, rather than them being fakes with the same serial?

Interesting yes. I haven’t followed the battery stuff that closely since the nupower was working ok. What surprised me is the manufacture date of 2017. I think that’s when I bought it. The rub at the time was that these eBay Apple batteries were shipping old.
 

molala

macrumors 6502a
Oct 25, 2008
620
3
Cambridge, UK
Thanks for your reply. What you say does make a lot of sense, I don't know either why a poor battery would impact on the fans kicking in, but I did read a few times that it makes the machine work harder when battery is old. Just think it's an 8 year old MBP so isn't going to be tip top. Can't see what the original watt spec is on here. Just that it says 'replace soon' and cycle count 1871...

Re the 'OEM', it's £39GB versus the OWC which is over £100. Hence I think it's probably safer to buy the OWC.

HI Pete, Where did you buy the OWC in the UK? Is it from MegaMac? Were they reliable and are you still happy with the battery? Looking at their batteries for a 2011 MacBook Air 11". Thanks!
 

Peter Franks

macrumors 68020
Jun 9, 2011
2,038
87
HI Pete, Where did you buy the OWC in the UK? Is it from MegaMac? Were they reliable and are you still happy with the battery? Looking at their batteries for a 2011 MacBook Air 11". Thanks!

Hey Molala, I didn't get battery from them, the only thing I bought from MM was 2 RAM cards for the MBP, and they were OK, But no experience of their batteries, OWC or otherwise. Sorry
 

fury88

macrumors newbie
Jun 8, 2010
18
1
Well I came across this post and I can tell you I bought a battery from OWC for my 2011 17” and it worked for a week and now it doesn’t charge. It quite possibly fried my charging sensor. I can’t say for sure cause I need to test it but regardless I can no longer run on battery. Cable only at this point!
 

montreux

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2020
2
0
This thread killed my hopes for the Newtech-battery. Now I don't know what to do at all with my MBA battery needs.
 

LarryJoe33

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 17, 2017
2,554
1,042
Boston
This thread killed my hopes for the Newtech-battery. Now I don't know what to do at all with my MBA battery needs.

Take it all with a grain of salt. It seems pretty much from this thread that all the battery options are Russian roulette. I guess they are cheap enough to swap out annually to keep our old machines alive, we’ll sort of when on battery!

You can replace a battery in a MBA?
 

Glockworkorange

Suspended
Feb 10, 2015
2,511
4,184
Chicago, Illinois
Yeah, I’m going to bring it in today. Hopefully you don’t need a genius appointment for this.
[doublepost=1520175549][/doublepost]Does anyone know if you need an appointment for a new battery?
You do and they have to order it, as they don’t stock batteries for older models.
[automerge]1584312191[/automerge]
I will report back, but this would suck if true for me. Considering I have called Apple support, given them the serial number and have been given instructions to take it into the store. On top of that, I made two trips with my machine and told them I needed a battery and was instructed to come in for a diagnostic before they could order me a battery.
Yeah, they won’t just give it to you—they have to run the silly diagnostic.
 

LarryJoe33

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 17, 2017
2,554
1,042
Boston
You do and they have to order it, as they don’t stock batteries for older models.
[automerge]1584312191[/automerge]

Yeah, they won’t just give it to you—they have to run the silly diagnostic.
Thanks, but dude, you quoted some really old questions and statements, all of which that have been answered if you read the whole thread. We are well past having the Apple store as an option for our vintage machines.

The short answer discussed in this thread is that the Apple store will not and does not diagnose or supply batteries for our machines any longer. If you read further, the advice from the Apple store is to buy one on Amazon.
 
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LarryJoe33

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 17, 2017
2,554
1,042
Boston
Decided to check out Coconut Battery. The Apple battery I finally took out of the box after sitting for a few years has been working well. I have noticed it doesn't drain as fast when the lid if closed or open and using. I was surprised to see this poor health status. I am going to ignore it.
Screen Shot 2020-03-26 at 5.24.14 AM.png
 

LarryJoe33

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 17, 2017
2,554
1,042
Boston
Yeah, mine reads 100% design capacity, but poor health. Maybe that's tied to the charge being 47%.
 

smirking

macrumors 68040
Aug 31, 2003
3,753
3,729
Silicon Valley
Yeah, mine reads 100% design capacity, but poor health. Maybe that's tied to the charge being 47%.

That's weird. It shouldn't because that doesn't determine the battery health. Give it a good 10 discharge cycles and see what it says then.

Hopefully it's not an indication that the design capacity reading is faulty. That happened to one of my batteries. It read 100%, but it was behaving like it was 50%. It kept reading 100% but then one day it collapsed right down to 40% and just kept going lower.
 

LarryJoe33

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 17, 2017
2,554
1,042
Boston
That's weird. It shouldn't because that doesn't determine the battery health. Give it a good 10 discharge cycles and see what it says then.

Hopefully it's not an indication that the design capacity reading is faulty. That happened to one of my batteries. It read 100%, but it was behaving like it was 50%. It kept reading 100% but then one day it collapsed right down to 40% and just kept going lower.

Yeah, I’m not going to think twice about a reading from coconut battery. The eyeball/user test is that it’s working quite nicely.
 

Jayden Gerrard

macrumors newbie
May 23, 2020
2
2
Hey all,

My old and faithful MBA is about due for a battery. 3 chargers, Keyboard and a screen - I love this thing.

Kind of confused as to what battery I should purchase; So many conflicting experiences.

Is it just time I get a new machine? Or are legit good batteries possible to come by..?
I am from Sydney Australia if that helps. Thanks!

1590235748178.png
 

Audit13

macrumors 604
Apr 19, 2017
6,812
1,810
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I was thinking about replacing the battery in a mid-2014 13" Pro but decided against it because the MacBook is a bit flaky. I intend to use it until the battery lasts less than an hour or the MacBook dies.

If I do replace the battery, I'll just get a cheap one from Amazon. I don't want to sink a lot into a flaky machine.
 

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Jayden Gerrard

macrumors newbie
May 23, 2020
2
2
I love my MBA, It has done a great deal of work and deserves to be kept alive IF I can find a source of decent legit batteries.
I have read bad things about Amazon batteries.
 

Audit13

macrumors 604
Apr 19, 2017
6,812
1,810
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I love my MBA, It has done a great deal of work and deserves to be kept alive IF I can find a source of decent legit batteries.
I have read bad things about Amazon batteries.
The only place to get real OEM Apple batteries in Canada is from an authorised Apple dealer who must also install the battery for the customer. They are not permitted to sell the battery without the installation.

For the MacBook Pro 2013 to 2015 13", it would cost me $300 Canadian to have it done at the Apple store. I can and have purchased batteries from Amazon for $80 to $90. I know Amazon can be hit and miss but I've had good luck with the Air and Pro batteries I installed.
 

prisstratton

macrumors 6502a
Dec 20, 2011
542
126
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I went through this whole agonizing battery replacement process a couple of years ago (for my MBP - see my sig.). It was difficult to find reliable and consistent information about most of the third party manufacturers. My preference would have been to go with a genuine Apple replacement, but as my system was obsolete that was not an option. There are always people on eBay that claim to have genuine replacements, but are they ??? I also asked myself would I want to purchase a battery (even if it was genuine) that might have been sitting around for seven years.

I found several good reports regarding Newertech Nupower batteries. Of course, you always get people coming down on both sides of the argument, but I found more positive than negative reports. I eventually decided on this for my 2011 MBP and it has been very solid. I also replaced the battery in my MBA (same year as yours) last September with the same make and it has also been very good. I cannot tell you about the endurance in the MBA as I now have that repurposed as my file server.

Newertech have resellers in Australia if you decide to go that route (two of them close to you), please see here:


Good luck, I hope it helps.
 
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mikebjammin

macrumors newbie
May 23, 2020
29
5
This thread is a good read!

I bought my 15 inch Mid 2012 MPB new in fall 2013; today I am at over 1900 cycles. Although I leave my MacBook always plugged in, I am going to chance the battery as I am worried about possible swelling and want to keep my MPB running for at least 1-2 more years (I just do web browsing and very basic music productions).

I would like to get a real Apple battery, however, I hear mixed things if Apple even has them (i.e., an Apple employee in December told me it's no longer supported and to buy a 3rd party one but some people online say you still can) and with COVID I have no idea when I'll be able to go into an Apple Store. Also, would Apple even do the upgrade if I installed non-stock hardware (i.e., an SSD and more RAM) into my MacBook?

I ordered a battery from OWC that I plan on installing in the next few days once my 16 gigs of RAM arrive. As long as the battery allows me to use my MacBook for a couple of more years without the fear of possible swelling from an old battery, I'll be very happy. I'll update you guys on my experience.



Screen Shot 2020-05-23 at 1.50.04 PM.png
 

cardsdoc

macrumors 6502
Jun 9, 2007
359
58
Shaker Hts, OH
I recently replaced a mid 2012 15” rMBP battery with an OWC/nupower battery. I didn’t dismantle the entire machine to safely use adhesive remover but used an alternate technique of “sawing” through adhesive with fishing line. Worked very well and much easier. Battery very good so far but it’s only been 2 weeks.
 

LarryJoe33

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 17, 2017
2,554
1,042
Boston
This thread is a good read!

I bought my 15 inch Mid 2012 MPB new in fall 2013; today I am at over 1900 cycles. Although I leave my MacBook always plugged in, I am going to chance the battery as I am worried about possible swelling and want to keep my MPB running for at least 1-2 more years (I just do web browsing and very basic music productions).

I would like to get a real Apple battery, however, I hear mixed things if Apple even has them (i.e., an Apple employee in December told me it's no longer supported and to buy a 3rd party one but some people online say you still can) and with COVID I have no idea when I'll be able to go into an Apple Store. Also, would Apple even do the upgrade if I installed non-stock hardware (i.e., an SSD and more RAM) into my MacBook?

I ordered a battery from OWC that I plan on installing in the next few days once my 16 gigs of RAM arrive. As long as the battery allows me to use my MacBook for a couple of more years without the fear of possible swelling from an old battery, I'll be very happy. I'll update you guys on my experience.



View attachment 918101

I’m pretty sure your machine is deemed vintage and an Apple Store won’t touch it. They don’t stock the batteries or even sell them. If you wanted an OEM battery, your best bet is eBay. That said, the red results of a “new” OEM battery (in quotes because some are 3-4 years old on eBay but never used) are most likely consistent with other aftermarkets. By this I mean, it’s a crapshoot. Sometimes you get a good one that will perform and last a while and sometimes you will get a dud that drops from 70% to 7% and crashes.
 
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mikebjammin

macrumors newbie
May 23, 2020
29
5
I’m pretty sure your machine is deemed vintage and an Apple Store won’t touch it. They don’t stock the batteries or even sell them. If you wanted an OEM battery, your best bet is eBay. That said, the red results of a “new” OEM battery (in quotes because some are 3-4 years old on eBay but never used) are most likely consistent with other aftermarkets. By this I mean, it’s a crapshoot. Sometimes you get a good one that will perform and last a while and sometimes you will get a dud that drops from 70% to 7% and crashes.

Thank you for your reply! I was bored today so I decided to put the battery in anyways; I followed OWC's guide on Youtube. I'm charging it back to full now after draining the battery and letting it sit overnight. CoconutBattery says that my battery was made in very late 2019, so hopefully I got a good one! So far my MPB is running about 20 degrees cooler. We'll have to see how it goes...

I planning on rarely using my MPB on battery power, so as long as I get 2 more years without swelling, I'll be a very happy camper.
 

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