Macbook Battery (1 Viewer)

[Jill Hives]

I have a five year old macbook, which seems to work just fine. The harddrive was recalled/replaced a few years back because it was faulty (wish I knew that before it crashed and I lost everything) but other than that it's working like a charm. I always have it plugged in so I didn't notice until the other when I clicked on the battery icon that it says Condition: Replace Now! How serious is this? Can I just keep using it plugged in or does it need some of the battery to actually work? Sorry if that's a dumb question. Also, if the battery does die while working will it fuck up my computer somehow? Should I replace now to stop future problems or okay just doing what I'm doing?

Also, that should just be unscrew and pop in right? I somewhat remember replacing the hard drive and I think the battery was in front of it. Are there specific batteries or like hard drives, a bunch of brands one can choose from? Sadly, my computer is the only thing that keeps me sane so I'd hate to break it.

 

[Jill Hives]

Re: Mabook Battery

Clearly that was to read: Macbook.
Perhaps my c key is not working well either.

 

[Umfufu]

If you always have it plugged in you don't need a battery.
The danger is that you knock the power cable out while working on something in which case the laptop will switch off instantly.

You're best off buying a new battery from Apple, though I think dodgy Chinese versions are available.
The battery is very easy to replace (nothing like replacing the hard drive).

If you replace it, try not to leave it plugged in all the time. Let it run down fully every now & then & plug it out when it reaches 100%.

 

[Theseus Mock]

Don't worry about the Condition: Replace Now! message, I went through years of that on my old MacBook. It shouldn't fuck up your machine if the battery dies whilst in operation, other than it being annoying or losing any unsaved work. You could try tinkering with the Energy saving settings in the Preferences to put the machine into sleep when there only a small amount of battery juice left, however in my experience, the battery is probably in enough dire straits and will struggle to safely put itself to sleep.

You could of course pop out the battery but as Umfufu says, one tiny knock against the magsafe connector and your machine will die instantly.

 

[Jill Hives]

Thanks. I already feel better. As it stands... if I unplug it, it calculates the charge. When plugged in, it says charged. Anyone know the price range of an apple battery? As long as it's not going to hurt it, I might put it off for a bit unless it's cheap enough.

 

[Umfufu]

About €120

 

[Jill Hives]

Sake. I'll be putting that off so. I don't mind it being plugged in. Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

 

[Lefty Frizzell]

These work ok.

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_3&products_id=107353