Macbook Air puffed out

Macbook Air puffed out: a reader asks…

Hi Chris, my 2011 Macbook Air started developing a problem last week and it’s getting worse. Last week I noticed that the left side of the trackpad wasn’t clicking anymore. This week the lid won’t close all the way and it looks like the case is warped. What should I do?

Sounds like you’ve got a case of the expanding (puffy) battery. The picture you sent doesn’t look too bad, I’ve seen expanding batteries that really warped the case and keyboard, requiring replacement of a lot of parts. Hopefully you can get away with just a battery replacement.

This problem can happen for a number of reasons including allowing the battery to get fully discharged (not good for Lithium Ion batteries), when the battery has gotten to the end of its service life (and should be replaced anyway), if your Mac is allowed to get too hot (leaving it in the sun for example), or using a non-standard Apple charger. You have only two solutions at this point:

1. Replace the battery and any other parts that got warped, or
2. Replace the Mac.

I wouldn’t recommend you continue to use the Mac since there is a (slight) danger of explosion – I’m sure you’ve heard or read about exploding Lithium Ion batteries. I’d suggest you make an appointment with Apple to have the battery replaced (and any other parts that need it). Start by contacting the Apple Genius Bar http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/, and if you’re near a retail Apple Store you can bring your ailing Mac in, otherwise you’ll pack it up and mail it. Unless your Mac is currently covered under an AppleCare service contract, be prepared to spend $130 or more for the repair. Sometimes folks report getting a break on repair costs, but the standard rule is that warranties don’t cover things that wear out, like batteries. You’ll just have to see if you can sweet-talk the folks at Apple into cutting you a break. While it’s possible that you could have the battery replaced by a 3rd party at a lower cost than what Apple charges, you run the risk of getting non-standard parts – not worth it in my book.

Since your Mac is only 5 years old, you should still have more than a few good years of use. I’ve seen 10-year-old Macs that continue to perform well. If you consider that the expected service life of a Mac is anywhere from 7 to 12 years (and more!), the only reason to replace the Mac is if you just want a new Mac. Even the latest version of OS X (El Capitan) will work for most Macs built in the last 5-9 years, and I’d expect that your 2011 MBA will be eligible for the next major OS X version, probably coming sometime in 2016. And even if you don’t update to the latest OS X, your Mac will still do everything it can do now (once you get the battery problem fixed) for many years to come. The 2011 Macbook Air line came with solid-state storage memory which is highly reliable.

Other than a faster processor and better graphics (for snappier overall performance), there’s not going to be much difference between your Macbook Air and a new model. The latest Macbook offered has the sexy new feature – the new Force-touch trackpad (also on the new Macbook Pro), along with the decidedly unsexy USB-C port to replace all the other ports on the Mac (not so with the new Macbook Pro). Personally I think the USB-C port all by itself is not going to be very popular – the new Macbook has no other ports, not even an SD card port. But if you’re going for same-same, the new Macbook Air will certainly be snappier than your old one. Sorry, the latest Macbook Airs didn’t get the Force-touch trackpad upgrade.