Should I replace my mac's battery or get a new laptop?

mohanadd9 wrote:

2017

I don't notice. The laptop is far and connected to a monitor, but it gets hot sometimes just form Chrome.

Touchbar or non-Touchbar? I personally would be hesitant to spend money on the non-touchbar model since it has a lot of potential issues such as Display cable issue and an SSD with a high failure rate. Plus the USB-C ports on the 2016-2017 models tend to wear poorly resulting in loose cable connections....this is worse on the non-touchbar model since the USB-C ports are part of the Logic Board instead of a separate I/O Board. The other potential issue would be the butterfly keyboard, but by replacing the battery the keyboard will also be replaced since the battery is glued to the underside of the palmrest & trackpad.

Even the Touchbar model has the Display cable issue and butterfly keyboard issue, but it at least has separate I/O Boards for the USB-C ports and the Touchbar model's SSD doesn't have the high failure rate.

Keep in mind the 2017 model will not be able to run the next major upgrade release of macOS Sonoma which will be released in a few months. This means that within two years this laptop will no longer receive any security updates (Apple provides support for the current OS and previous two versions...many third party developers may only support those same operating systems as well). Plus some third party software will drop support for Ventura for later versions of their software at that time...something you may want to investigate before investing money especially if you need the latest version of a third party app. Otherwise, it may make sense to replace the battery.

What year is the Macbook Pro? Cost to repair by Apple depends on the model year.

Apple does not charge US$500 for a battery service IF the computer is otherwise undamaged. However yours is seriously compromised and the damage will only get worse the longer you take to make a decision..

Independent service providers often quote that high price because they cannot use the dangerous solvents required to remove the old battery in a retail or workplace setting. They must order an entire upper deck assembly including trackpad and keyboard which is about US$500 with labor, assuming no other damage.

However, the swelling you see brings a completely different set of issues. Yes, the swelling likely has damaged other components that could take the total cost well over US$500.

If your Macbook Pro is an older model that cannot run the latest macOS version, a $500+ repair is ill-advised.

mohanadd9 Said:

"Should I replace my mac's battery or get a new laptop?: [...]Buying a new laptop will damage my wallet, and I don't know if it's worth buying a new one or just fix the current one. If anyone had a swollen battery, please tell me how did you deal with it?"

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Troubleshooting a Swollen Battery:

I've had a swollen battery. It damaged the LogicBoard so much, that I had to get a new Mac. Being that my Mac as of 2013, I simply upgraded. I had Time Machined Backups of all of my Mac. So, I transferred everything over using Migration Assistant.

mohanadd9 Said:

"Interesting. I'd not be surprised if they tell me the same. The battery is swollen to the point where the touch pad can't be clicked...."

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Troubleshooting a Swollen Battery:

Play it Safe: Keep your hands away from the swollen area. It may cause bodily harm. Seek medical assistance, if you touch and acid whatsoever from the corrosion.

You should stop using the laptop. Likely just the battery but you never know what else might be damaged, especially the touchpad.

Depending on the age of your machine, no guarantee after replacing battery it wouldn’t have other problems in the near future. I remember years back I send my iPhone to Apple to replace battery, 2 months later the phone suddenly shuts down and no longer able to boot up.

If you have financial constraints and need a working computer, there may be other brands to consider.

Consumer reports magazine, when talking about appliances in general, suggests that when the cost to repair your Appliance {dishwasher, washing machine, refrigerator, etc. } exceeds HALF the cost of a new one, you should buy a new one.

Unfortunately, that does not clear everything up.

If you do NOT edit videos daily, you might be able to get a MacBook Air for around US$999, but not a higher-end model. MacBook Air you buy today has far more capability today that the one you could have bought a few years ago.

What's the model year? Does your system get hot frequently during use?