First Dell, now Apple. Last week Dell was in the headlines for a massive notebook battery recall of 4.1 million batteries. Apple just stepped up to the plate 10 days later with a battery recall totaling 1.8 million batteries. As with Dell’s recall, Sony batteries are at fault. The recall appears to only affect Apple laptops with IBM PowerPC chips, and not Apple’s line of Intel-based laptops.
12″ iBook G4’s, 12″PowerBook G4’s and 15″ PowerBook G4’s sold in the United States from October 2003 through August 2006 are among the affected laptop models. Apple instructs users to stop using the batteries immediately and to run the laptop from AC power only because, like with Dell’s faulty batteries, Apple’s batteries on the recall list have been proven to overheat and have caused minor burns and property damage. Be sure to check Apple’s battery recall page or call their toll-free number at 1-800-275-2273.
(As of Thursday afternoon, I’ve been unable to access the Apple webpage. It is most likely due to a surge of traffic to their site.)
Here are the affected models and serial numbers:
| Laptop Model | Battery Model Number | Serial Number Range |
| 12″ iBook G4 | A1061 | ZZ338 – ZZ427 3K429 – 3K611 6C519 – 6C552 ending with S9WA, S9WC or S9WD |
| 12″ PowerBook G4 | A1079 | ZZ411 – ZZ427 3K428 – 3K611 |
| 15″ PowerBook G4 | A1078 & A1148 | 3K425 – 3K601 6N530 – 6N551 ending with THTA, THTB, or THTC 6N601 ending with THTC |
Addendum (10:36PM EST): Apple’s site appears to be back up and running. I’ve updated the above chart accordingly since Apple appeared to have added a few serial number ranges since the initial announcement.
I also thought I should mention that like with the Dell battery recall, the batteries found in these Apple laptops will be replaced free of charge. Start out by filling out the forum on the right hand side of Apple’s battery recall page.
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