Apple laptop battery - right to repair or replacement?

hexadecagon

My Apple laptop is warning me that the battery needs servicing, but unfortunately my warranty expired recently. I've been trying to interpret the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to determine whether I have a right to repair or replacement, despite being out of warranty, but it isn't clear.

Apple state on their website that the battery should last for 1,000 charge cycles, but it has broken long before that. They also state that they will "replace the notebook battery at no charge if it retains less than 80 percent of its original capacity", if it is covered under warranty, and mine only retains about 50% of the original capacity - so there is clearly something wrong with it.

Could I therefore argue that Apple should repair the battery because the goods are not of satisfactory quality and/or not as described?

pinkshoes

What have Apple said so far?

vuvuzela

How long was the warranty that you had ?

naedanger

hexadecagon wrote: »

My Apple laptop is warning me that the battery needs servicing, but unfortunately my warranty expired recently. I've been trying to interpret the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to determine whether I have a right to repair or replacement, despite being out of warranty, but it isn't clear.

Apple state on their website that the battery should last for 1,000 charge cycles, but it has broken long before that. They also state that they will "replace the notebook battery at no charge if it retains less than 80 percent of its original capacity", if it is covered under warranty, and mine only retains about 50% of the original capacity - so there is clearly something wrong with it.

Could I therefore argue that Apple should repair the battery because the goods are not of satisfactory quality and/or not as described?

How old is the battery?

For your argument to win in court, you will need to show on the balance of probability that the battery was not of satisfactory quality when it was originally bought (assuming it is now over 6 months since you bought it).

Batteries are recognised as having a limited life and their lifetime be affected by many factors. So I think you will have a hard time showing there was a fault with it when you bought it. Then even if you won any refund for the battery would be reduced for the usage you have already had.

TadleyBaggie

hexadecagon wrote: »

I've been trying to interpret the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to determine whether I have a right to repair or replacement, despite being out of warranty, but it isn't clear.

It's very clear, you clearly bought the laptop before the act came into force, so does not apply. You would have to rely on SOGA and so would need to show that the laptop (by way of an independent report) had an inherent fault.

hexadecagon

vuvuzela wrote: »

How long was the warranty that you had ?

The warranty was for 3 years.

naedanger wrote: »

How old is the battery?

For your argument to win in court, you will need to show on the balance of probability that the battery was not of satisfactory quality when it was originally bought (assuming it is now over 6 months since you bought it).

Batteries are recognised as having a limited life and their lifetime be affected by many factors. So I think you will have a hard time showing there was a fault with it when you bought it. Then even if you won any refund for the battery would be reduced for the usage you have already had.

The battery is 3 years old. Thanks for the information, that makes a lot of sense!

TadleyBaggie wrote: »

It's very clear, you clearly bought the laptop before the act came into force, so does not apply. You would have to rely on SOGA and so would need to show that the laptop (by way of an independent report) had an inherent fault.

Ah, I see. Yes, that would be quite a hassle.

pinkshoes wrote: »

What have Apple said so far?

I've been getting mixed messages. Some AppleCare representatives have said that it should be covered anyway, because I'm within a 30-day 'grace period' since my warranty expired. Others have said that I could argue that the battery did not last as long as it should have, from a consumer law angle. I couldn't get a straight answer out of the Apple store that I'm taking it to for repair though.

naedanger

hexadecagon wrote: »

I've been getting mixed messages. Some AppleCare representatives have said that it should be covered anyway, because I'm within a 30-day 'grace period' since my warranty expired. Others have said that I could argue that the battery did not last as long as it should have, from a consumer law angle. I couldn't get a straight answer out of the Apple store that I'm taking it to for repair though.

Personally I don't think you should argue the consumer law angle. May be worth asking if they will offer any discount on the repair as a goodwill gesture as you are just outside the warranty period.

(Did the warranty definitely cover the battery? I suspect some companies will exclude batteries from longer warranty periods.)

Fosterdog

Have you checked in the settings how many full charging cycles your has had? Mine is almost four years old and I regularly check the battery health, so far mine is still as good as when I bought it but I do tend to go several weeks at a time of not using it then use it daily for the next few weeks. I also rarely let the battery drop below 40%

hexadecagon

naedanger wrote: »

Personally I don't think you should argue the consumer law angle. May be worth asking if they will offer any discount on the repair as a goodwill gesture as you are just outside the warranty period.

(Did the warranty definitely cover the battery? I suspect some companies will exclude batteries from longer warranty periods.)

Good idea! Yes, the warranty definitely covers the battery for the full 3 years.

hexadecagon

Fosterdog wrote: »

Have you checked in the settings how many full charging cycles your has had? Mine is almost four years old and I regularly check the battery health, so far mine is still as good as when I bought it but I do tend to go several weeks at a time of not using it then use it daily for the next few weeks. I also rarely let the battery drop below 40%

Yes, it has had 700 charge cycles, so it should have lasted quite a bit longer if Apple are quoting 1,000 charge cycles as the lifetime of the battery.

agrinnall

It's a long time since I got an O-level in Statistics (1975) but I'd say that 700 cycles is well within the normal distribution of battery life centred on 1000 cycles. Some will pack up earlier and some later, and yours is one of the early ones. Whether that's because of the way you've used it, because the battery was a bit duff in the first place, or a combination, I don't know, and I'm not sure whether it would be possible to know. If you can get a free replacement from Apple, great; if not then you'll have to hope for a discount on the price of a new one. If they wanted to argue that it's simply reached the end of it's life they probably could.