Battery replacement not as bad as expected (but for one mistake)

Mijn probleem

Battery was down to 80% health, and battery life was getting noticeably worse. I didn't want to replace the computer yet (~$100 for a battery is a lot less than ~$3000 for a computer), and I wanted to avoid having Apple do it (since I didn't want downtime).

Mijn oplossing

Overall, the repair went fine. The instructions were easy to follow, and the tools provided worked as expected. As usual, detaching the little connectors on things was nerve-wracking ("please don't break, please don't break") but it all went fine.

Ironically, the only problem was that I accidentally ordered the wrong battery. I knew I had a "late 2013" retina 13", but somehow I accidentally ordered an "early 2013" ... which, of course, I didn't notice till I had the thing taken apart and was ready to put the new one in!

iFixit support was great: they don't do exchanges, but they just had me buy a new one and RMA'd the bad one for return. Alas, since batteries can't go on planes, it took about a week from when I started the repair till I finished. But, once I got the new battery, putting it in and reassembling only took a couple of minutes.

Mijn advies

Make sure you order the right battery! And, look at all pictures and make sure you understand all steps. There were a few were I was a bit confused because I skimmed too fast, and (thankfully) went back and re-read.