Saving a Laptop with exploded battery

Don’t try this at home - but I did

Sep. 14, 2017 - Willem L. Middelkoop

Last night I had a nasty surprise: my original MacBook Air was swollen due to an exploded battery. I immediately had to take action, for reasons of safety and to preserve this piece of modern computer history. Don’t try this at home, but if you do... read along for some practical tips.

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That bobble is not supposed to be there.., causing the keyboard to be bend

MacOS X correctly concluded that there are no batteries available, it works fine using a Power Adapter.

Swollen and cracked. I carefully looked for any leaks.

The MacBook is back alive, greeting me with its boot screen.

Once removed the deformation in the battery pack is clearly visible

Steve Jobs unveiling the MacBook Air in 2008 from a vanilla envelope

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Articles (155)

2024-12-19 Data versus Feeling
2024-12-09 The Problem With Bitcoin
2024-11-11 Write your own words
2024-11-10 Go Viral on X
2024-10-20 Marathon
2024-09-10 I see dead people
2024-05-11 Developing a native iOS app
2024-03-24 Half Marathon
2024-03-05 No, I Won't Build That!
2024-02-16 Vision Pro
2024-01-16 Health and fitness data
2023-12-15 Backup Rotation Scheme
2023-11-10 Apple Watch as Phone
2023-11-01 And... there is light!
2023-10-14 Giving AI Training
2023-10-13 Hello, stranger
2023-08-23 The Same, Differently
2023-05-31 Impact of training
2023-05-08 Tablet as Tool
2023-05-03 Using AI to generate code
2023-05-01 Working Offline First
2023-04-20 Tips for Long-Distance Cycling
2023-04-05 Cutting Cloud Costs
2023-02-08 Back to the University
2022-12-22 Rolex DateJust 36
2022-11-01 Moving to the countryside
2022-10-23 MUSE in Carré
2022-09-15 The Ultimate Freedom Bike
2022-09-11 Computer says no
2022-07-30 CAPTCHA Alternative
2022-07-17 Offline Music
2022-04-18 Snake '97 High Scores
2022-01-14 Wearing WHOOP 4.0
2021-12-09 For the love of mini
2021-11-19 Escaping the flat tires
2021-10-25 Using Google Free Android
2021-09-30 Inspiration from a child
2021-08-31 Protecting VMware ESXi
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2020-09-16 Syncing files seamlessly between smartphone and tablet
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2020-08-23 Cleaning a vintage watch
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2020-07-31 Influencing purchase behaviour
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2020-06-24 Some thoughts on touch screen user interface design
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2020-03-25 Designing and implementing a (micro) payment system
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2020-02-28 Your own addressbook and calendar cloud
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2019-10-19 Flying in a C47-A (DC-3) classic plane
2019-10-07 Multi-Window support in your iPad app
2019-09-27 Visiting an international hackers conference
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2019-08-28 Riding with a power meter on your bike
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2019-07-16 Limitations of sleep tracking using a wearable
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2019-06-24 Six months with MCADD
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2019-04-25 Search like a pro: Google search operators
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2019-02-27 One year on the ultimate commuter bike
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2019-01-24 My first weeks as dad
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2018-11-16 Around town in an electric car
2018-11-02 Is the Apple Watch the modern tool watch?
2018-10-16 Rescuing files from a broken harddisk
2018-10-09 Using a budget Android as main smartphone
2018-09-27 Swimming and cycling with Apple Watch
2018-09-26 Optimising images for the web and performance
2018-08-21 Space travelling from El Teide
2018-08-20 Google Analytics vs AWStats
2018-07-20 Helping people with free software
2018-07-10 Enjoy a festival without alcohol
2018-06-09 Removing paint from a bike frame
2018-06-02 Creating a minimal iPhone stand
2018-05-17 Listen to your body
2018-05-09 Lunch by plane
2018-04-30 Off the grid: Working on 100% renewable energy
2018-04-18 Outside the comfort zone: amateur acting
2018-03-10 Cyber security: 5 easy tips to protect your server against hackers
2018-03-07 Tablet as main computer
2018-02-24 Creating the ultimate commuter bike
2018-02-21 Updating Snake '97
2018-01-21 Something the smartwatch will never have: patina
2018-01-08 Lessons from a takeaway plastic bag
2017-12-02 Commuting by bike
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2017-10-23 From tree to table
2017-09-14 Saving a MacBook Air with exploded battery
2017-09-02 Climbing Mount Etna
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2017-07-31 The day I killed my LAN
2017-06-30 Fietselfstedentocht 2017
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2017-04-30 Smartwatches vs Mechanical watches
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2017-01-30 iPad Pro next to my primary machine
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