iFixit A1398 A1618 Battery for MacBook Pro 15" Retina (Mid 2015) - Repair Kit

iFixit has a reputation amongst the DIYers willing to face the challenge of fixing their technology themselves. As a seasoned IT professional, the price and the effort looked like an easy win. When I say the kit is complete, I mean it. Down to rubber gloves and safety glasses to wear when using the solvent to soften up the glue on the old batteries. It came with the pentalobe screwdrivers needed to open up my MacBook Pro and remove the supports for the battery cable. It had spludgers and thin pieces of plastic to help unglue the original batteries. Even tweeters to remove the cable from the motherboard. I literally needed nothing other than what came in the box to complete this project. The process doesn't take very long, depending on how delicate you are with getting the old battery out and how well the solvent gets to the adhesive on the old batteries. While difficult in practice, patience is rewarded. If your MacBook is warning you to replace your battery, starting to not keep a charge, or turn into a spicy pillow, I can highly recommend this kit.

*** 6/17/21 Here's a how I did it. Got a cheapie MBPro 2015 retina 15" with a 672 cycle battery (yikes!), and "battery service required" error message when checking battery status. Flipped it over, took out the screws using tools from this set, and began the operation. Watched youtube videos and visible instructions to get familiar. Do that before you begin this; I've taken macbooks apart for years (2011, 2007 mbpros) but this really required some effort. Drain the battery down to ZERO before attempting this. I did NOT remove all the stuff like you are supposed to (at my risk) only removed battery and trackpad connection (steps 1-6 in ifixit's instructions). I also took out the SSD as a precaution. I def was not going to screw with the wifi/bluetooth 3 connectors, nor the speakers etc. I did this at MY risk; I could have easily ruined stuff. You need to tilt the machine up maybe 1½" - 2" to get the glue remover to go under the battery when working on each side, though I had trouble with the nozzle, i had to cut it open to make a small hole. Despite my best efforts, I spilled some of that magic juice on things "local" to the battery, but wiped it immediately (it's like acetone so it evaporates quickly). Literally within 10 or seconds, the glue was loose enough to begin pulling away. I used a spudger and the credit card shaped card to dig away gently. ***One criticism is the glue remover nozzle is just way too big for the small space between battery and speakers (and since i didn't remove the speakers—i didn't care if they were ruined actually—the space was even smaller).*** But if you follow instructions and remove each side and carefully use the glue remover (and you literally only need tiny amounts; add more after 15 seconds if the glue doesn't move), the battery will come out. Since it is in big pieces, it might seem weird to pull it out. I used the case the new battery came in, to store the used battery (same shape!). You'll probably want to remove the rest of the nasty glue remnants stuck to the case. Just do it carefully with glue remover, spudger (scraping), and the card. It all will come off. Dry this thoroughly. I took the top plastic off of the new battery first and placed it where it fit to see. Then I took the bottom plastic off and set it in. Be real sure you know where it goes because even setting the new battery down gently will stick to the case. I pressed down hard and it stayed (see note below). Put back SSD ,Re-attached connectors to trackpad and battery (in that order; battery should be first thing and last thing you connect), and it booted fine with new life! Follow instructions to properly calibrate: charge it to 100%, drain it to ZERO, then charge it to 100% and leave for 2 hours. Get Coconut Battery app. Maybe took a half hour to do; kept iPhone on with youtube instructions just to be sure. **** I will update. **** *** 6/22 After a few days, i have gone from 1 cycle to 3 cycles, and my capacity dropped to 99.8% according to Coconut Battery. I started at about 103% on first day of capacity, but now after a few days, it has stayed at 99.8%, 8584 mAh (design capacity 8600 mAh). I think this is reasonable. Battery life seems fine. I have yet to time it to see how long I can work. **note from above about battery sticking to case: One thing I noticed today is that the battery may have de-attached from the case in a spot because it seems loose when I moved it up suddenly. I'll check on that next time I open it.

Almost every cell of my original MBP battery had swollen -- to the point where it would not sit flat on a table -- and OSX was showing "battery service needed" errors. Honestly I would have just pad Apple the $200 to replace it for me, but I couldn't get a workable appointment time at any of the three Apple stores in my area; so DIY it was. Installing this was a fiddly process, but that's not iFixit's fault. The kit contained all the necessary tools, which were good quality and can be used again. Based on user comments in the iFixit Guide, we opted not to remove the speakers and motherboard from the computer, which saved a ton of time (40-ish steps in the guide). Since the old battery was puffed up, it had already pulled away so we were able to separate it from the computer case without using the solvent. Then it was just a matter of cleaning up the leftover adhesive with goo gone, installing the new battery, and screwing it all back together. So far, the battery works fine and holds a charge as expected. No more battery errors. We didn't save a *ton* of money vs the Apple store, but we got it done on our timetable without having to take time off work. Most Batteries Plus Bulb stores will recycle used lithium ion batteries, so that's what we did with the old one.

Don’t try this if you have little, to no confidence in opening your machine and doing the work. I highly recommend watching the YouTube vids before deciding on buying to get a full picture of what’s involved and then decide if you are comfortable doing the work. With all that said, the instructions are pretty clear and the job isn’t overly difficult. It is time consuming and you must be careful. It is listed as a more difficult project, but it is pretty straightforward. Saved me having to buy a new laptop when mine was still working great, minus the battery life. Now my laptop has great battery life and is still going strong.

Everything fit and worked properly. Should have come with paper instructions. Asking to watch a video on your computer to install makes no sense when your computer doesn’t work

My 4-year-old MacBook Pro had the swelling battery problem. It not only swelled but became defective about the same time. I decided that with an engineering degree and some experience in an instrument shop this would be a piece of cake for me. The kit comes with everything needed and the instructions are very good. They are online also - a good idea to read before you tackle the job. All that said, this is an intricate job that will challenge you if you haven't done it previously. Some of the little connectors that Apple chooses to use in their electronics are as delicate as they are tiny - clearly designed for little or no service after the unit is sold. Their goal is compactness, not serviceability, so you will end up removing a lot of stuff to get at the battery. A liquid similar to acetone is used to loosen the battery adhesive (yes, it's glued in!) It's not pleasant and it will still require some maneuvering to loosen the battery. If I remember correctly the battery came out in 6 parts. The replacement fit perfectly and the rest of the process was just the reverse of disassembly. I'd rate the pucker factor at about 5 out of 10.

Right off the bat, all the tools provided made opening the Macbook a breeze. The hard part was taking out the old battery and there is a long way or a short way. Long way of course taking it all apart and the short way is straight up going at the battery head-on. I took the short way which took a total of 2 hours. If you know what you're doing then it's straightforward enough but highly encourage watching YouTube videos before taking on this project. The battery seems to be fine as it holds the same amount of charge if not more than the original which is good. With the 1 year limited warranty I say this is a win-win situation.

I purchased my MacBook Pro in mid-2015, the original battery lasted 8 years. I purchased this battery on March 9, 2023, installed it shortly thereafter, and you would think that a new batter would last as long as the original battery, but it is showing signs of degradation. Several months ago, I started noticing how quickly the battery would drain, and even though I could charge it to full capacity, the battery continues to drain fast and the health continues to decline. I contacted the company and received a full page of information on how to fix this issue, I followed their instructions and saw that the battery health went back up to 97%, then two weeks later, the battery is now down to 87% and continues to drain faster than normal.