Where to start...the price was right, some good reviews, so I went for it. Shipping was fast. It fits just sort of ok as it sticks out a hair more than the Apple battery. It seems that the battery is the right size, but they glue an aluminum sheet over it to match the finish of the Macbook Pro and that makes it too thick. Cheesy, but it is on the back where it doesn't show... It does snap into place properly. The memory stick did come with the order.
The first few cycles were odd in that the battery status box would show all sorts of varying times remaining, all the way from around half an hour to over three hours. After many cycles it seems to have settled down and shows a consistent two plus hour time at full charge. In actual modest computing use, not plotting missions to Mars or anything, it does seem to last for around two hours.
When I click on the battery dialogue box, the one in the upper right-hand corner above the menu bar, the "Service Battery" caution appears. Nothing seems wrong, no odd behaviors or anything at all. I suspect that this happens because this is a non-Apple device and doesn't have the secret handshake. This happens with some other devices that are not "approved" by Apple.
In Amazon's product photos there is an image of some sort of certification. Whatever this really means, it didn't come with my battery order.
The little green LED status lights on the battery light up sequentially when being charged, but then turn off when the charging is complete and do not turn on again until the next recharging session.They don't count down as the battery is depleted. Strangely, my nearly dead original Apple battery does that as well. I never used that feature when the MBP was new, so I can't honestly say this is a fault. In any case, the LED status lights are useless.
I contacted Amazon with my concerns and they forwarded my email to Genuine Adapters, evidently without the order number(!) GA promptly asked for that number and I provided it. After that, no response. I emailed a couple of times since, asking if they needed any more information, but no response at all. I don't know if this is an unusual situation for this company or not.
One reviewer said that AGPTEK batteries are good. There is no indication that this is an AGPTEK product and, in fact, there is no indication of any particular brand at all.
Note that Amazon's description is that it is a product of "Brainydeal", but sold by "Genuine Adapters" and fulfilled by Amazon. I suspect that there are all sorts of marketers who buy these things as commodities and so the sources and branding changes all the time. As a consequence, the quality and service is ever-changing. The next seller might be "Acme Power Source" or whatever, and it might be the same battery I got, or another one. Who knows. There is a lot of electronic debris out there.
Replacement batteries are a huge business. It would be nice if Amazon would step in and sort this out by identifying solid manufacturers and promoting their products directly. The "Affiliates" are a crapshoot when they are marketing unbranded devices like this.
Surprisingly, at this point I am keeping the battery. It works ok and it is half the price of the very over-priced Apple unit. This is a risk. The thing could die in a month or blow up on my lap (yikes), but I have put enough effort into this and just want to get on with things.
Two stars because it works, with some cautions, and the price is right. The other concerns are serious enough to knock off three stars. I consider this to be a risky purchase. If you feel flush, are ok with enabling Apple's silly-high price for replacement batteries (I am not) and do not want to have to deal with affiliates or have other issues, then buy the Apple battery.
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UPDATE: As I predicted as a possibility, the battery suddenly quit, completely dead, just after the 30 day Amazon return period expired. Amazon, true to its good reputation for customer service, still issued me a return and refunded my purchase. Thanks for that! I believe that Amazon stepped up because I had tried to contact the seller several times before the warranty period was up.
For all the reasons I mentioned in my initial review, reinforced by my actual experience of a defective product sold by an unresponsive marketer, I strongly suggest you do not take a chance. As onerous as Apple's price for a genuine battery is, there does not seem to be a viable alternative.
You hear of battery fires and of defective batteries damaging computers. Luckily, my battery merely died. Don't take a chance.
Of course, I would change my rating to 0 stars if I could. Apple A1175 MacBook Pro 15 15-inch series Replacement Laptop Battery P/N: A1175 MA348 MA348*/A MA348G/A MA348J/A w/ a USB 2.0 SD Card reader writer - Macbook Pro - Laptop Batteries - Apple - Battery'
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