MBP $20 ebay batteries. Anyone with experience?

I'm looking for a battery for my 2006 15" MBP. Apple sells them new for $130 which is crazy considering they still get horrible reviews. I rarely need battery use, but have a couple trips coming up so would be nice to use during traveling.

Anyone have any experience buying some of the $20 - $25 batteries off of ebay?

Nw Battery for Apple MacBook Pro 15 Inch A1175 MA348G/A MA463 US SELLER | eBay

My only experience is you usually get what you pay for.

Personally, I would check with OWC and see what they have.


I think these are the right ones for your MBP. Starts at $85 from OWC
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple_laptop/batteries/MacBook_Pro_15

One time I bought a battery off eBay for about $60-70, and when I got it it was warped and I had a really hard time both putting it into my MBP and taking it out. Nevertheless, it worked, and it worked for a long time. It was about 550 or so cycles before I had to get a new one.

travisw said:

Anyone have any experience buying some of the $20 - $25 batteries off of ebay?

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Hey...it's $20 bucks. Even if it was only 50% as good as a brand new Apple battery...$20 bucks is way less than 50% of the price of a new Apple battery ($65).

Regarding Apple batteries. Do you know how many Apple laptop users are out there??? Hundreds of Thousands??...Millions??...Tens of Millions!!! If all those users were having battery problems...it would be national news...and NO ONE would be buying Apple laptops (which certainly isn't the case)...and Apples stock price would be heading for the basement!!!

What you're reading is a VERY VERY small minority of folks with problems...which happens with ANY manufactured product. No manufacturing process produces 100% perfect defect free products.

- Nick

I have been wondering about some of the third-party batteries myself. I have been looking on Amazon and seen several for my '08 MacBook Pro.

I would be wary of any "no-name" batteries from eBay. I've heard horror stories of product and property damage, up to and including fire in grey market cell phone and laptop batteries.

With that said, there are some reputable third party battery solutions, the one that springs most readily to mind in terms of good reviews is this one:

FastMac | Product - Laptop Battery Upgrades

cwa107 said:

I would be wary of any "no-name" batteries from eBay. I've heard horror stories of product and property damage, up to and including fire in grey market cell phone and laptop batteries.

FastMac | Product - Laptop Battery Upgrades

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That's why I was nervous about some of the deals I saw on Amazon. My battery is bulging

This is a follow up.

I ended up buying the cheap ebay battery. Have had it for a couple months and haven't any big issues with it. I think its fines for people who:

- rarely unplug their laptop
- just want a battery in when traveling so it doesn't go dead

I haven't really tested the life but it's somewhere between 1.5 and 2 hours.

I build LiPo batteries. The battery materials alone cost way more than that, when compared to a stock Apple battery. There are two explanations for that cheapness:
1. They manufactured the living daylights out of them.
2. It's just cheap crap.

I'd go with #2. "You get what you pay for." If you complained about the stock battery, you're going to have a field day with that one.

I have not heard of any "horrible reviews" of Apple factory batteries either.

I have had and also have heard of major problems with cheap knock off batteries for specific applications like cameras and computers. Poor quality, low grade materials, short life span, size at variance with original equipment batteries, leakage. I would no sooner save a few dollars placing an unknown commodity battery in a $2K - $3K computer than I would in my $3K - $4K cameras. Seems a very poor place to save money but, hey - it's your gamble, not mine.

travisw said:

I'm looking for a battery for my 2006 15" MBP. Apple sells them new for $130 which is crazy considering they still get horrible reviews. I rarely need battery use, but have a couple trips coming up so would be nice to use during traveling.

Anyone have any experience buying some of the $20 - $25 batteries off of ebay?

Nw Battery for Apple MacBook Pro 15 Inch A1175 MA348G/A MA463 US SELLER | eBay

Click to expand...

Those batteries are made with recycled parts and will probably last you a month. A fresh, new battery costs more than $25 bucks to make anything you buy for that price ... well you ain't gonna be happy.

Expect to pay $80-100 for a quality battery. Make sure whatever you buy has a warranty.

Another follow up in case anyone finds this thread:

After after 5 months the battery no longer works. Shows that it has a charge, but when I unplug my macbook it turns off.

So if you are looking to buy the cheap ebay ones - unless you need it for a trip or a couple weeks - spend the extra money for an Apple battery.

We found it and thanks for posting back a follow up.