But you don’t have to buy a new MacBook when the battery is worn. You don’t even have to take it to an Apple Store for a genius to wave their magic wand over it. You can, in fact, replace the battery yourself. Also: How to record calls on your iPhone
Replacing the battery in your MacBook or MacBook Pro
Materials needed:
Battery replacement kitA clear workspace
Estimated time: 30 minutes
The MacBook going under the knife for this article was a mid-2012 13-inch A1278 MacBook Pro that has nearly 2,000 recharge cycles on the battery, which is well over the rated 1,000 which Apple considers as its limit. Note: There are different battery kits for different MacBook models, so it’s important to choose the right kit for your device. Do this by searching for the model number (found on the bottom on the laptop, and it follows the format Axxxx where xxxx are four digits). The kit I bought consisted of a replacement battery, and all the tools needed to carry out the replacement. In this case, the tools that came with the kit were as follows:
Plastic spudgerPrecision bit driverThree 4mm precision bits – Pentalobe P6, Phillips #00, Tri-point Y0 (for this job I did not need the P6 bit, as this is used on later models that the kit covers)
The replacement process is quick and simple. iFixit has detailed repair guides that are easy to follow. I’m familiar with the process so the whole thing took me about five minutes on a kitchen table, with no electrostatic discharge prevention, and just a tablecloth underneath the MacBook. If this is your first time, I suggest putting aside 30 minutes. The job essentially consists of these steps:
Tips
If you’re doing this for the first time, here are my top tips:
Get the iFixit’s “Fix Kit” so you have the right tools (this is not a job for cheapo tools, or big honking household screwdrivers)Read the appropriate iFixit repair guide.Put the screws in a pot so they don’t get scattered to the four winds.You will be dealing with screws of varying lengths, so either make a note of which goes where, or use your smartphone to take pictures.Take your time, and enjoy the process!
How to tell if your battery needs to be replaced
Want to check if your battery needs replacing? There are two ways.
