Battery recall not all bad: Apple customers may get better batteries

Having to send your notebook battery back to the manufacturer due to safety concerns can be a pain as far as going mobile with it is concerned, but some user reports are suggesting that it could be a shorter wait than the 4-6 weeks that Apple say customers should wait, and you may end up with a better battery.

Simon Perry at Digital Lifestyles said that his battery arrived within 2 weeks by courier, and that, though it looked the same as the old battery, was actually better:

If you’re interested, the batteries look identical form the outside, but we’ve found that the replacements have a higher battery capacity 4607 mAh vs 4400 mAh of the original. The new one certainly has loads more than 2846 mAh that our 14 month battery has ended up with. Translated – what you end up with is better than the original.

Particularly as they’re recalling batteries from as far back as 2003, those batteries are likely to have degraded somewhat after so many charge cycles. So, there is a silver lining.

I ordered my replacement Powerbook battery a week-and-a-half ago so it’ll be interesting to see how long it takes in the UK. Anyone else recalled Apple or Dell batteries and had them arrive yet?