msnbc.msn.com — Apple Computer Inc. will recall 1.8 million lithium-ion notebook batteries after nine devices overheated, causing minor burns in two users, U.S. safety regulators said Thursday. The recall is the second-biggest in U.S. history involving electronics or computers, after No. 1 PC maker Dell Inc. recalled 4.1 million lithium-ion batteries last week.
Aug 24, 2006 View in Crawl 4
abandonowAug 24, 2006
My newest powerbook battery is among the recalled ones, but the damn apple replace site seems to be dugg down or something. :/
diggedbyAug 24, 2006
just to follow up on my own comment, i just spent 30 minutes on the phone with applecare, very nice and easy to deal with... the guy said that apple was a little fast posting the recall and didn't get the exchange program working perfectly... he got a generic serial number and forced my recall through.very excited... i was going to buy a new battery soon anyways, mine barely holds a charge anymore.
rocketryguyAug 24, 2006
Fortunately there are some advances being made in the electrode technology for lithium-polymer batteries that should reduce this issue substantially with less resistance across the electrode/core interface. Combine that with an crack resistant physical matrix for the polymer itself, and we should see something that works in production. I also think we're slightly over-reacting (A dozen failures out of 1.8 million?). But hey, I'm getting my new battery, so why complain? The new Tesla electric sports car is using Li-polys, but it apparently has diagnostics built in, and is probably armored to a degree. And that's not exactly a high market penetrator, so bad example I guess. Also cool are the Milwaukee li-po battery kits for the Prius, hot rodding it up to ~105MPG. Those packs are apparently ruggedized so you can drop them off a ladder with no problems, so you take a bunch of them and wire them up into the Prius with a new controller. Have to wait and see if there are any issues over the long haul, but I'm betting in a few years this will be a non issue, if it isn't already. Of course, Sony will possibly be a non-issue by then too...
saggygrandmaAug 24, 2006
"I couldn't care less. I'm sure my battery is part of the recall (I have a 17" Powerbook that I bought 18 months ago). It has been running 95% of the hours since then and is just fine. I think I'll take my one-in-ten-million chance."You dont want to get a free battery to replace your 18month old one?
darkmiseryAug 25, 2006
I guess I'm the one lucky person who doesn't fall under this recall. Damn, I wanted a free battery too.
theholymacAug 25, 2006
Maybe the ones used in such hybrids are safer. Still, I'm just waiting for the first one to turn into a fireball.
13tongimpAug 25, 2006
I made another because I was bored:<a class="user" href="http://applelaptoprecall.ytmnd.com/">http://applelaptoprecall.ytmnd.com/</a>
nobogeys217Aug 26, 2006
theyve definently been F'ed in the A this year. It almost makes you feel bad for them.
greenapple123Aug 31, 2006
I bought a replacement battery for my Dell laptop about a month ago from <a class="user" href="http://www.laptopsforless.com/laptopbattery">http://www.laptopsforless.com/laptopbattery</a> and it works great. Is there any reason to think that a replacement laptop battery would be any worse than the manufacturers? My laptop wasn't eligable for the recall which is why I didn't go through Dell in the first place.