Apple pounces on MacBook battery problems

Apple is urging owners of MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks purchased between February 2006 and April 2007 to perform software updates, after the company discovered that these MacBooks may suffer from battery performance issues.

MacBook users who purchased extra batteries during this time  are also advised to run the software update.

The battery update is available through Software Update or it can be downloadable from here.

Apple has advised that the performance problems do not present a health risk, and that MacBook users can continue to use their current batteries.

If the software update does not fix the performance problem, Apple is offering a free replacement battery, even to owners of machines that are out of warranty.

The performance problem can be identified through the following symptoms:

1. Battery is not recognized causing an “X” to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.
2. Battery will not charge when computer is plugged into AC power.
3. Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.
4. Battery pack is visibly deformed.

For MacBook and MacBook Pro systems with Intel Core Duo processors, Apple is extending the repair coverage on the battery for up to two years from the date of purchase of the computer.

More information is available from the Apple web site.

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