iPad battery swelling

[rwsaunders]

Has anyone here ever experienced this? I went to use my iPad while doing some “hampstering” on the treadmill and the case was sprung open with the battery swollen like a balloon. The iPad is going on 8 years old. I’m stopping at the Apple Store tomorrow and I’m sure that they are going to inform me that I’m SOL, but it’s sort of spooky looking. I just placed it in the garage all by its lonesome in case that it decides to go thermonuclear on me tonight.

Safety Alert/Fire Hazard from certain MacBook/MacBook Pro batteries

[Mabouya]

The iPad is going on 8 years old. I’m stopping at the Apple Store tomorrow and I’m sure that they are going to inform me that I’m SOL

Re: Not standing behind their products

A while back the display died on my iPod Touch when it was less than a year old and I had barely used it a few times. I had not subjected it to any sort of abuse that might have damaged it. I went in to the Apple store and they confirmed that it was inop and there was no way to repair it (short of major surgery). They then told me that my only option was to buy a new one at full price and that they couldn't guarantee that the replacement would last any longer than the first one. I asked them if they thought I was stupid enough to make the same mistake twice and basically they said Fnck You, so I walked out and haven't bought an Apple product since.

[Blue Jays]

An iPad that has reached eight years of age has more than reached its expected service life.
No need to spend extra money on diagnostics. Use said funds towards new tablet purchase.

[rwsaunders]

I get the battery life coming to an end...I just didn’t expect it to end in a bang.

[j44ke]

Take it in, you never know. I still have my iPhone SE because they've either fixed or given me a remanufactured replacement for the cost of repair. I took advantage of the battery recall and got the battery for something like $25. The next time they offered me the replacement for $70. A little iCloud magic and I was done.

I have an original iPad still. I use it for music only. Battery is miserable but I just plug it into a charger and play music over some Bose speakers. I don't know what OS is on it or even how old it is, but as long as it plays stuff I have in iTunes, I'll keep it.

[rwsaunders]

I made an appointment and stopped by the Apple Store at lunch and the associate that I was assigned to was actually quite condescending and on the borderline of being rude. When he started to go down the road of "an expanded battery and swollen case could be expected with age" and when he compared the event to the issues that Samsung was having with their phone batteries, I interrupted and told him that this wasn't a Samsung phone and that I wanted to know my battery repair/replacement options, and asked him to please keep the conversation on point. He then offered to recycle the device and I told him that I'd rather recycle it myself and keep him from being employee of the month...it was that kind of conversation.

I went home, called Apple support and waited two minutes for a return call. The agent asked me to downloaded photos for her while we were on the phone, which I did, and she then brought a manager into the conversation. The iPad is now on its way to Apple for either repair or replacement and I'll keep you posted. The agent mention that they appreciated my support over the years and noted the number of devices that I own...don't I know it. Worse comes to worse, it's shot and they properly dispose of it...I get that. The point is, don't make it out to be the customer's fault, but try to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution.

[j44ke]

Nice work.

I am sure Apple Store dude doesn't remember a single thing he said today except that it was great.

[happycampyer]

Swollen batteries are a common problem with iPhones—I’ve had a few. For an 8-yr old device, I would be surprised if they replace it, and would be very interested to hear if they do.

[SteveP]

Sounds dangerous to me.

My kid had a mac book pro ( owned by the University she teaches at )... The keyboard would not connect to the computer.. she had to plug a separate keyboard into the usb port to make it work...
the thing was 13 months old. I brought it to Apple store here... $500+ to replace keyboard and whatever else.
I notice a recall for this exact issue... " This machine not covered as it is not in the time period of the recall"

I bought her an Air... still a vastly more reliable machine imo and she has always used apple.

Sometimes they get too cute. They should have repaired this POS in my opinion.
known issue, barely out of warranty, University would never buy extended warranty.

[sk_tle]

I keep telling my other half she shouldn't leave her phone or laptop in the sofa or bed, especially when charging and I'll soon have to repeat the same damn song to my daughters. I know sooner or later we'll have a fire that way.

[j44ke]

Sounds dangerous to me.

My kid had a mac book pro ( owned by the University she teaches at )... The keyboard would not connect to the computer.. she had to plug a separate keyboard into the usb port to make it work...
the thing was 13 months old. I brought it to Apple store here... $500+ to replace keyboard and whatever else.
I notice a recall for this exact issue... " This machine not covered as it is not in the time period of the recall"

I bought her an Air... still a vastly more reliable machine imo and she has always used apple.

Sometimes they get too cute. They should have repaired this POS in my opinion.
known issue, barely out of warranty, University would never buy extended warranty.

AFAIK there is no finite period for these keyboards. Perhaps there was originally but now Apple has finally admitted the keyboards will all inevitably fail, so the policy is more generous. I've put two keyboards in mine, the first one within a year of purchase. The second one happened because Apple had not gotten rejiggered keyboards in stock as replacements, so they replaced the first one with another eventually defective keyboard. Supposedly this keyboard is rejiggered so should be okay. Search "Apple Butterfly Keyboard" to check which models do and do not have that particular keyboard model if you are considering a new laptop. I think the MacBook Airs never had the Butterfly Keyboard as the mechanism was too power consumptive and the Air has a relatively small battery. I could have that mixed up. Once my computer starts working again, I tend not to pay attention any longer.

[snotrockets]

I keep telling my other half she shouldn't leave her phone or laptop in the sofa or bed, especially when charging and I'll soon have to repeat the same damn song to my daughters. I know sooner or later we'll have a fire that way.

Li-Ion batteries are probably the safest there are, because the cells themselves are the quite dangerous: a lithium fire is almost impossible to extinguish, and it's pretty easy to get the battery cells to burst – if they're overcharged, or undercharged, or charged too fast, or discharged too fast, or when they're too hot, or too cold… once the cells are outside they're safe operating envelope, you should get an AVD device, as Halon doesn't always work with such fires – I was told that's the reason for the 787 battery fires.

So to make those cells into a consumer-safer device (and there are >1,000,000,000 li-ion batteries in laptops and cellphones,) there are very sophisticated controls around the cells: basically, microchip(s) that regulates it, and immediately disconnect the cells once there's a risk. Because of those safeguards, in a regular use, li-ion are safer than most other batteries, which lacks those safeguards (even if they have a bigger operating envelope.) There are two dangers: once when there's a physical damage (swelling is due to moisture getting into the battery,) or in some very cheap and unregulated batteries, which AFAIK, are illegal for sale in the EU and the US.

That being said, if your device enclosure breaks such the battery can be sharp objects, or if it swells, that's a hazard. Replace or dispose of it responsibly. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about the couch.

AFAIK there is no finite period for these keyboards.

Four years from sale (see the very last sentence on this page)

I think the MacBook Airs never had the Butterfly Keyboard as the mechanism was too power consumptive and the Air has a relatively small battery.

No, just old models that predates that atrocity. The 2018-9 13" Airs (with the fingerprint sensor) have the horrible keyboard. Note that there are a few versions of that keyboard – the Airs got the latest, which is not as bad as the pervious iterations.

IIRC, Apple only supports devices for 5 years past the time they were EOL, and up to additional two depending on availability. The SE was discontinued 3/2017, so you have a couple more years to find a suitable replacement.

[zachateseverything]

I had a bad experience with an iphone. the wireless antenna died 30 days after the 1 year warranty was up. I could connect to a cell tower but I couldn't use the wi-fi at home or work. Given the same condescending attitude and a choice of either buying a new phone outright or extending my AT&T contract I just walked away. I picked up an Android phone a month later and never went back.

If it's just the battery that's kaput and you're otherwise happy with the device, I'd see about just doing a replacement via third party.

[Chad]

Swollen batteries are a common problem with iPhones—I’ve had a few. For an 8-yr old device, I would be surprised if they replace it, and would be very interested to hear if they do.

Coworker had same issue. They told her it was due to charging overnight aka overcharging. No refund or warranty, it was approximately 1 year old.

[SteveP]

Jorn,
Thks for the note on the shiity keyboard..
For a company worth a lot of billion dollars they should have backed an obvious and well known issue instead of deflecting it and hoping we would
pay for the repair.
Anyway, The computer now resides somewhere in a closet at Trinity College.
She has an Air I bought her which is fine for her work... and replaced one that was probably 6-7 years old.

I was uber unhappy with my Apple experience in this case.

[rwsaunders]

In case Tim Cook's black ops goon squad tracks me down and disposes of me and the iPad, here's a pic for you VSalonistas to use for record purposes.

[snotrockets]

Given the same condescending attitude and a choice of either buying a new phone outright or extending my AT&T contract I just walked away.

I was told Apple's customer service (used to be) second to none. Never found it to be the case.

Best customer service I had was from Dell. YMMV.

Coworker had same issue. They told her it was due to charging overnight aka overcharging. No refund or warranty, it was approximately 1 year old.

You shouldn't be able to overcharge a battery with a functioning controller. Whoever said that was probably not knowing what they're talking about, or admitting a manufacturing fault. Not that I expect otherwise: getting a good service from any bigco today is nonexistant – it's a cost, one that detracts from the trillion dollar goal.

[SteveP]

In case Tim Cook's black ops goon squad tracks me down and disposes of me and the iPad, here's a pic for you VSalonistas to use for record purposes.

They are supposed to do that.
Apple genius at work

[j44ke]

In case Tim Cook's black ops goon squad tracks me down and disposes of me and the iPad, here's a pic for you VSalonistas to use for record purposes.

Looks like TSA had a hard time fitting your dop kit back in its envelope.

[AngryScientist]

oof, that's worse than i thought!

glad this didnt coincide with the "irrational fear of flying" situation. something like that happening mid movie on a transcontinental could be a little hairy!