Apple MacBook battery catches fire

Author: Tim Smalley
Published: 12th March 2007
Comments (20) Stumble
Could this MacBook inferno be a continuation of the events that plagued Dell's laptops last year?

Could this MacBook inferno be a continuation of the events that plagued Dell's laptops last year?

A MacBook owner has revealed the horror he felt when he woke up to find his beloved laptop on fire in his living room.

After Dell's exploding laptop battery saga last year, we would have hoped that this would be the end of potentially dangerous laptop batteries. With this development, more users are going to worry about the safety of the devices they own.

Luckily for this MacBook owner, his house and family were fine, but that doesn't make the situation any better. If anything, he's incredibly lucky that things didn't turn out any worse.

He claimed that his battery life has been very poor over the last few weeks and his MacBook hasn't been charging up properly either.

Could this be a fault with his particular MacBook, or is it another battery problem that could potentially become widespread? Whatever the case, it's a worry that budding consumers don't really want to contend with.

The owner's girlfriend, who witnessed the battery catching fire said that it was as if the battery was hissing like a steam valve before smoke started pouring out. A few seconds later, it's claimed that a flash fire started similar to the one on the infamous Dell inferno video. There's more details here, including pictures.

Discuss in the forums
Quote Kipman725 12th March 2007, 17:27
lithium iron battrys are unsuited to consumer aplications. IF charged incorectly or shorted they can very easily catch fire/explode.
Quote DreamTheEndless 12th March 2007, 17:48
Does this mean the beginning of another round of battery recalls?
Quote Tim S 12th March 2007, 18:07
Quote:
Originally Posted by DreamTheEndless
Does this mean the beginning of another round of battery recalls?
well, just last week Lenovo recalled a bunch of batteries from the T-series notebooks afaik.
Quote randosome 12th March 2007, 18:16
wow that looks pretty bad

although it sounds, from the quick summary, the hissing noise could be part of the li-ion design
FYI they have a pressure release valve to let gas out (if it builds up) its possible the valve got stuck maybe ? although the gasses setting fire doesn't sound right ;)

Lets hope its just a one off, and they guy gets a replacement laptop ;)
Quote DarkLord7854 12th March 2007, 19:00
Made me laugh somewhat.. Mac always bashing Windows in their ads...
Quote Skill3d 12th March 2007, 19:10
did they put sony batteries in or what? :P
Quote MrBurritoMan 12th March 2007, 20:42
i have done some tinkering with laptop batteries and usually have found that the newer ones have fuses and safety devices in them to prevent shorts across the actual battery terminals. however if those safety measures fail and a short occurs then the battery will heat up and explode. it happened every time with every one that i tested. this to me sounds like bad manufacturing not user error.

this story does make me happy though, take that arrogant mag users!
Quote traderonline 12th March 2007, 21:09
oh! bad news for Apple. Sony, Lenovo, Toshiba, HP already started recalling batteries. It's Apples turn :D
Quote Aankhen 12th March 2007, 23:47
She saw the MacBook catch fire and her first instinct wasn't to grab a camera and put it on YouTube? Jeez, what a waste. :p
Quote exavier412 13th March 2007, 01:43
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aankhen
She saw the MacBook catch fire and her first instinct wasn't to grab a camera and put it on YouTube? Jeez, what a waste. :p

:)
Quote waxbytes 13th March 2007, 02:09
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aankhen
She saw the MacBook catch fire and her first instinct wasn't to grab a camera and put it on YouTube? Jeez, what a waste. :p

Internet Stardom isn't everyone's first thought in a crisis A-hen.
Quote SteveyG 13th March 2007, 08:36
The hissing thing happened to one of my friend's Macbooks too while it was charging. Apparently it was really violent so he leapt for the plug and turned it off. No explosion though :(
Quote Enak 13th March 2007, 08:56
Virtually EVERY manufacurer has been affected by the Sony battery recall.

This includes Apple.

If you have a laptop, go to your manufacturers website and check that the battery has not been recalled.

Lithium battery technology is extremely danagerous when it goes wrong.
Quote David_Fitzy 13th March 2007, 09:22
Mwhahahahahahahahahahahaha

Mwhahahahahahaha
Quote Crazyglue 13th March 2007, 14:05
wow, doesnt the laptop comanies / battery manufacturers usually test their batteries extensively before they release them to the public?
Quote whisperwolf 13th March 2007, 14:18
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazyglue
wow, doesnt the laptop comanies / battery manufacturers usually test their batteries extensively before they release them to the public?

Yes, then they sub-contract the manufacturing out to a less diligent third party.
Quote David_Fitzy 13th March 2007, 14:35
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linked Article
Some pics (finally - bloody windows!):
Just had to get that dig in there didn't ya Maccy. Bloody iPeople (Bad Naughty words )
Quote randosome 13th March 2007, 17:12
Quote:
Originally Posted by David_Fitzy
Just had to get that dig in there didn't ya Maccy. Bloody iPeople (Bad Naughty words )
i love it :p
Quote Warrior_Rocker 14th March 2007, 04:02
You mean to tell me that the Mac didn't use its 27th sense to know about the fire before the user ever encountered it and promptly end xFire. I simply ill not believe an apple product went beyond defective all the way to fire.


.... stares at my drawer of busted iPods....



Even though it is a really cool way to bash apple and everyone who is actually into computers will note on the ******* child that is apple inc. It isnt fair to blame them as a company for something completely out of their control. Unlike NASA apple cannot afford to test technology for years before using it.
Quote Grinch123456 15th March 2007, 01:23
Quote:
Originally Posted by Warrior_Rocker
...Unlike NASA apple cannot afford to test technology for years before using it.
That doesn't stop them from saying they're better than everything on the market. Maddox had it down pat quite well.
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