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Apple Powerbook and iBook Battery Recall

Posted by Zonk on 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."

6 of 364 comments (clear)

  1. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  2. unsafe batteries? by brontus3927 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    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

    --
    Free MacMini
  3. Re:Sounds like Good Business to Me by grahams · · Score: 4, Interesting
    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...
  4. Re:Sounds like Good Business to Me by FlopEJoe · · Score: 5, Interesting
    "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.

  5. Re:Now I wish I'd abused mine! by timbloom · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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 couple hours at a time. No point in hurting the nice battery until this one's life is completely gone.

  6. Re:Many laptops shouldn't! by llzackll · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "It only sounds like a stupid question. However many laptop power supplies are designed with the assumption that there will be this big battery installed acting as a capacitor. So the power supply just sends in dirty power, letting the battery smooth out all the noise into a nice steady DC current."

    Laptops don't work this way. Cars use this method to smooth out power coming from the alternator, but all modern laptops work just fine with no battery.