MacBook Pro 15" Retina (Mid 2012-Early 2013) Battery

Mijn probleem

As one might expect from a 6-year-old laptop battery, it was toast. Waaaaay overdue for a replacement.

Mijn oplossing

This repair kit and guide is absolutely spot-on. Never did I reach a step and wonder, now what?! The only mistake I made was thinking I'd be able to breeze through this more quickly than the estimated time clearly stated in the guide. I've used a few guides for smaller efforts in the past, so with my confidence high, I didn't bother to take a close look at what was involved. Once my new battery arrived and I sat down to get to work, I was a little shocked to see just how many steps there were. Short of removing the keyboard and display, this thing was completely disassembled. Baby steps... I just kept my head down and did exactly as instructed. Everything went extremely smoothly. Using the adhesive remover and scraping away the old glue wasn't exactly a joy, but I was well-warned to expect it to take a little time.

Mijn advies

How did we live before smart phones? Google? Now, for repairing the growing inventory of electronics in the home—iFixit?! Be patient, as this does take time, but it is absolutely a project worth tackling. I'm a little reluctant to admit that it might have actually been enjoyable! Thanks.

Mijn probleem

The battery health on my laptop was pretty bad. It didn't hold a charge sufficiently before. It would shut down my computer at 70% battery or 50%. I decided it's unacceptable for me to deal with something like that, and I wanted to make my computer last longer while also avoiding Apple's pricey battery replacement.

Mijn oplossing

It went pretty well. At first, I thought I couldn't remove the screw that were holding the battery. The only hard part was removing the leftover glue. I went straight to the battery for this. Always test the screw bits gently to avoid stripping the screw.

Mijn advies

I went straight for the battery and was careful with where I want the adhesive removal to be at. I used a nylon rope from Home Depot and sawed through the battery glue from top down. I used a hooking tool to tie both ends of the string while I pulled at it in a sawing motion, with some assistance of someone holding it steady to prevent hurting fingers. I would also say to be careful with the middle two batteries with the touch pad cable on there. So always apply the adhesive removal at an angle to avoid this. I didn't end up using too much of it though. Also if you worry about the adhesive removal getting into the plastic of the speaker use the plastic card to block it there and place a covering on the sensitive parts like the logic board. For the glue removal, always try to see if you can peel it out without it breaking and using the tool to scape to help it pull. I used the tweezer with it for additional support. Placing the battery requires testing the fit before proceeding and then locking it into place with the screws. Overall it went well.

Mijn probleem

After 1,000 charge cycles on my 2012 Retina Macbook Pro, my battery had hit the skids. Furthermore, I'd cracked the trackpad and purchased a replacement. After realizing I'd need to remove the battery to do that repair, I just waited until the battery was ready to go...

Mijn oplossing

It's brutal. None of is iFixit's fault! If anything, they are helping our planet. There is NOTHING otherwise wrong with a six-year-old fast MacBook Pro, and the design Apple chose for the battery (to glue it to the case with industrial epoxy) is the opposite of sustainable! I've enjoyed Apple products for years, but the gymnastics they put one through to replace a battery seems absurd at best to me, and profit-motivated at worst. I LOVED the iFixit kit because it truly has everything you need, and the tools are yours to keep forever for future repairs. They did all the work of thinking it through—you just need to follow the directions and you will get it done.

Mijn advies

Allow yourself time to go slowly and carefully! Do not hurry in removing the very fragile connectors inside of your Mac—just take time to be careful with them. SEPARATE THE SCREWS for each part and find a way to keep track of them. If you end up with a pile of silver and black screws all together, you will struggle in getting it put back together correctly. (A lot of the screws LOOK the same but are in fact slightly different.) On that note, maybe don't do the repair while your six-year-old boy decides to play with the screws and knock them on the floor ;)

Mijn probleem

Battery was below 75% factory capacity, and I wanted to send the laptop to Mom, out of state. It was time to replace and ought to keep her from calling me in a year with battery issues.

Mijn oplossing

Repair went very well... But I didn't use any adhesive remover, nor did I remove most of the innards as your guides stated.

Mijn advies

I was just extremely careful not to puncture the battery (used your plastic shims and a stiff metal putty knife), and very careful not to press on anything important (always aware that there's a trackpad I didn't want to replace). Pulled the plug, covered it in tape, two screws, and time pushing the plastic card between the case and battery.

Performed a test fit and power up before sticking down and reassembling. No harm, no foul.

I hate when people sound superior and brag... If you know how much you can pry, you may not need to do all the stuff the guides recommend.

Mijn probleem

I was getting a 'Check Battery / Service Battery' notification.

Mijn oplossing

Far from perfect, but everything is working fine touch-wood.

Mijn advies

Instructions could include visual examples of screw types, as there are a few that differ in millimeters, which is hard to tell for a novice. I was left with 3 screws in hand that didn't make it into the assembly.

Mijn probleem

MacBook Pro 15" Retina (Mid 2012/Early 2013) battery was overdue for replacement. Ordered iFixit.com's battery replacement kit (including tools) and followed iFixit.com's battery replacement guide: MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Mid 2012 Battery Replacement

I found the kit tools to be necessary and effective: the adhesive removal chemical compound + the spudger tool + the plastic cards to dig underneath the batteries were instrumental for having a smooth repair. Everything worked perfectly.

Mijn oplossing

Smooth, followed instructions exactly and repair functioned as expected. Thank you to the author on iFixit.com for their concise and clear instructions / guide. It's all I needed--nothing more, and nothing less ;) Cheers.

Mijn advies

Consider setting aside 3-4 hours if you're a beginner at repairing.

Mijn probleem

MB Pro battery life had significantly declined. Battery status indicated "Service"

Mijn oplossing

After buying the iFixit kit I began to doubt there was an adequate spudger tool, so I got back on line and ordered a spudger tool pack for an addtion $6 plus shipping. Everything arrived together 3 days later. I performed the operation on my kitchen counter. Lots of extras in the iFixit kit that I set aside, but I was please to have an extra spudger. After removing the back, I disconnected the battery, removed the remaining two screws, and peeled back the tape. Then I slowly worked the the spudger tools under battery working left to right and right to left until all four outside cells were completely free. It was nice to have an extra spudger--it speeded the process by providing extra prying power. The center battery slides up and out -- no adhesive. I used some Qtips to dab the cleaner solution on the residual adhesive. Within a few minutes I had everything tidied up. The replacement battery fits in easily and no issues on startup once the case was fastened together.

Mijn advies

An extra spudger tool is nice to have.

Mijn probleem

My computer was loosing its ability to stay powered on and the power level checker would give incorrect reading.

Mijn oplossing

The repair was straight forward. There are several videos on how to replace but many have you removing all the components, not what I did.

Mijn advies

I used a 40lb fishing to cut the adhesive from the battery group and gasket remover tool to scrape away glue. Then applied the adhesive remover supplied with the kit.

Mijn probleem

Battery was dead after five years of professional use. It seems like this wasn't super-invasive surgery, so I thought I'd go ahead and do it myself rather than pay the the over three-hundred-dollar best estimate I'd found at any of the local Mac repair shops.

Mijn oplossing

Everything went exactly as advertised...including the removal of the leftover adhesive on the inside of the laptop shell and trackpad, which was by far the most painful part of the process. Especially the adhesive on the back of the trackpad itself...I ended up carefully scraping that with a sharp, single-edge razor blade, after acetone alone wasn't doing the trick.

Mijn advies

The computer booted up fine with the new battery, but did have a glitch, where the cursor was wandering around the screen with a mind of it's own. Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) took care of that problem and now the computer is acting good as new.