My Mac Book Pro is coming up on three years old, and I noticed a few weeks ago that it was not holding as long a charge as it used to.  This is not foreign territory for laptop users; battery chemistry degrades over time and you don’t notice it until it drops to 80% or so of original capacity and once its down to 80% you are coming into the steeper part of the degradation process.  So, you don’t notice it, but once you do you really notice it.

No big deal of course, outside that decision point of replacing a battery and wondering if the laptop is going to last much longer or if you would be better served by replacing the computer and getting a new battery in the process.  A laptop battery is not really a cheap purchase, especially for an older laptop.  And, especially for a larger laptop (the 17 inch version is a much larger battery than the 15 inch version).  $139 for a new battery – ouch!

Anyway, seemed worth it.  While older, the computer still has plenty of breath, storage space, and runs fine with the dozen or so apps I have running all the time.  My guess is that I’ll remain happy with performance until an operating system upgrade.  So, purchased new battery, left the old one on the desk thinking it was a spare I could get another two hours on for a long flight or something.

Yesterday, I noticed some books weren’t sitting flat on my desk.  They were sitting on the battery, and the chemistry in the battery was expanding to the point it split the case open.  Yikes!  I gave that little square of toxic sludge to a colleague for him to play with.