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Best Buy Recalls MacBook Pro Batteries
redletterdave writes "A recent line of complaints from MacBook Pro users forced big box retailer Best Buy to finally issue a recall notice for 5,100 MacBook Pro replacement batteries after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission advised customers to 'immediately stop using the recalled battery.' Both the CPSC and Best Buy received 13 individual instances of the MacBook Pro battery catching fire, with one incident resulting in 'a serious burn to a consumer's leg.'"
The summary might have mentioned that these were third-party batteries, yeah?
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
Right. As I noted in the firehose article, this is third party batteries only and Apple batteries still only catch fire if you hold them wrong.
Slashdot, owned by Dice... the cases for incompetence and malice are both so strong....
It's interesting to note that it's only a certain replacement battery offered by Best Buy. However, Apple's batteries haven't been much better in the past. I had two bulge out of their case before I decided to go with a third party battery. The third party battery has worked great ever since. However, incidents like these make me very hesitant to buy or recommend a unibody design since the battery is not user-replaceable.
You mean with batteries made by Sony? As such the issue wasn't isolated to Apple laptops but affected Dell, IBM, basically everyone who used Sony batteries. Yes Apple really was at fault for that.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
I'm going to say it right now: between the sensationalist and misleading summary (missing a slightly important point), and what the actual article says... this is going to be one giant "go RTFA fest" as the apple haters jump to conclusions and don't read the article.
I'll give you a hint: why would Best Buy and not apple be doing the recall?
Nothing personal against apple haters, my best friend is one. All I'm saying is, for a site where people often go off of the summary, without RTFA, this is a complete and total setup.
I love you Slashdot, I've been here under one account or another since day one. Sometimes I think your editing is actually based on keeping me sentimental. Kisses.
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It could also have mentioned "2008"... the year the black and white plastic case Mac laptops and the replacement batteries from ATG were sold.
Best Buy has been fighting this recall of the third party batteries they sold to these consumers for about 5 years now.
YES, it is. Subcontracting doesn't absolve you of shit. You are ultimately responsible for any tasks you assign to others.
Dell, IBM, "basically everyone else" are equally responsible - although of course any who have packaged the batteries as removable are showing a much more responsible approach.
I would have loved for this to be a Sony problem, but it was a Chinese manufacturer going by the name of ATG.
Please don't flame me into oblivion for saying that. I know Apple stuff is manufactured as cheaply as possible these days, but the fact of the matter is that Apple at least has standards given that they're a major corporation. They generally know what they're doing on the hardware end of things, and can be held accountable if a battery explodes or bursts into flames and burns down your house.
I have personally dismantled one of these effected batteries (on a consultation contract from an insurance company). The insides look nothing like the equivalent Apple replacement P/N. For one, the Apple batteries are actually pretty advanced- they've got a built in uC that actually monitors a bunch of variables pulled off the cell, and even keeps track of the number of cycles the cell has gone through and some min/max stuff from the last charging cycle. There's a temperature sensor and a whole bunch of fuses/disconnects designed to protect the unit from a hard short. The SMC built into the computer side communicates with the battery uC and provides a bunch of variable reporting, error handling, and emergency shutdown stuff.
The third party battery basically has none of this. The external chassis is compatible with the Apple unit (as to fit in the laptop properly), but that's about it. The micro controller built into the third party battery basically does nothing- it only implements enough functionality to keep the SMC happy and allow the laptop to identify and use the battery. There are no thermal safeties, no fuses, nothing. The laptop should be able to detect a defective cell on the Apple branded unit and actually refuse to charge it- but that is impossible on these third party batteries because the uC is hardcoded to basically return "I'm OK!" irregardless of the physical state of the lithium packs.
IMHO; these things shouldn't have been sold at all. The fact that they're going up in smoke now is absolutely no surprise. I can only compare the cheapness of these batteries to other "Apple compatible" accessories that come from third party companies in China. They skimp out on everything possible, and you get something that if you're lucky just barely works- and if you're not, then it burns your house down. If you want to check that kind of thing out, just google the difference between the official Apple USB wall chargers, and the design of the Chinese 3rd party equivalent. It is vastly the same thing with these lithium batteries.
You go to the manufacturer of any laptop and a brand new original battery is usually $150+. Ebay gets you a $20 3rd party battery with sketchy cells, a 6 month useable life, and typically the wrong chip so it won't charge. Batteries Plus or Best Buy charge at least $100 and then give you a sketchy 3rd party battery, making them both the worst possible option. Why people even still go to them is beyond me.
They are not responsible for 3rd party batteries that Best Buy bought and resold.