Chosen Solution
Hi guys, So about 3 years ago, I bought a 15” mid-2015 Retina MBP and had absolutely no issues with it. Unfortunately, as you probably heard, this generation seems to have some battery issues, which determined Apple to start a recall program. Now, I’ve already checked my serial number here and it came back negative. In other words, my particular machine is not affected by the issue. The thing is that I bought this machine second-hand. And I don’t know (I don’t think so…but again, I can’t possibly know for sure) if the battery has been replaced or not. When I bought it, it had about 30 charging cycles. But again, I don’t know how long did the previous owner have it for, or if he replaced the battery. So, my question is: is there a way to tell if the battery inside the machine is genuine? I went to About This Mac -> System Report -> Power, and there is a bunch of information in there. Some serial number, some Device Name…and stuff like that. Is there a way to check, based on that, if the battery is ok or not? Coconut Battery shows this.
Simply put, you can’t really tell if it’s original, batteries suppliers like Simplo or Dynapak don’t work just for Apple and there’s plenty of B/C grades batteries with nice Apple logo stamped on them not delivering the same standards. However, your description would make me think you got a good quality battery and chances are it’s an original one. Easiest way to check battery health is downloading Coconut battery, a great tool to tell battery condition in just a screenshot.
What I can tell you is the battery your system has is dated around when the system was made so its most likely the original battery. As the rule of travel has just been issued its too soon to tell what’s happing at the gate and each carrier (and in some cases airport) manage their own plane of inspection so what is OK for one may not be OK for the others. So what to do?? I would leave the system at home given you are traveling so soon. As all MacBook Pro’s look alike the bagage checker won’t know which is OK and which are not! So if you get to the line and they refuse to allow you to take your system what are you going to do? You can’t check it all they will do it throw it into a barrel and off it goes to the landfill or to one of the TSA recycle centers so you won’t know if someone else gets your system Yikes! Don’t forget its not just leaving its also your return! Different airport, different staff. Even if you have a friend wait until your plain takes off do you have someone at the other end able to do the same? And can you get it to them in time so you don’t miss your plane if they stop you? Then they will need to ship it by ground to meet up with you, which will likely take a good week. Some references: Air Transport Restrictions for Recalled Lithium Batteries and Lithium Battery Powered DevicesPackSafe for Passengers I’m sure the EU will follow the FAA rules they tend too.
