MacBook Battery Compatibility
Sourcing Replacement Batteries & Recommended Brands
Broadly speaking, new or used OEM batteries are preferable to most anything else, but when that is not possible or practical, LMP and NewerTech are the two brands most commonly recommended by experienced techs in the Discord.
MacBook Air
MacBook Air 11" batteries are electrically compatible with all models. The 2010 battery (A1406) connector is physically in a different location and will not fit in the housing of the 2011-2015 battery (A1495). The 2010-2012 battery has a 35 Wh capacity vs the 2013-2015 at 38 Wh.
MacBook Air 13" unibody batteries are electrically compatible with all models. The 2010 (A1377) and 2011-2012 (A1405) battery have a lower capacity at 50 Wh 7.3 V vs the 2013-2017 battery (A1496) at 54 Wh.
MacBook Pro 13"
The MacBook Pro 13" unibody batteries are electrically compatible with all models. The 2009 battery has a lower capacity at 58 Wh vs the 2010-2012 battery (A1322) at 63.5 Wh 10.95 V.
The MacBook Pro 13" Retina 2012-E2013 batteries (A1437) are the same at 74 Wh.
The MacBook Pro 13" Retina L2013-2014 batteries (A1493) are the same at 71.8 Wh.
The MacBook Pro 13" Retina L2015 battery (A1582) is 71.8 Wh 13.05 V.
2015 13" Retina batteries will work in L2013-E2014 machines.
The MacBook Pro 13" Touchbar 4TBT L2016-M2017 battery (A1819) is 49.2 Wh 11.41 V.
The MacBook Pro 13" Touchbar 4TBT M2018-E2019 battery (A1964) is 58 Wh 11.41 V.
The MacBook Pro 13" Touchbar(A1708) 2TBT L2016-M2017 battery (A1713) is 54.5 Wh 11.41 V. This battery is also compatible with A2171 battery, no issue in AHT.
The MacBook Pro 13" Touchbar(2019Mid A2159, A2289 A2338) 2TBT 2018-2020 Battery A2171 is 58.2 Wh 11.41 V.
MacBook Pro 15"
The MacBook Pro 15" 2009-2010 batteries are electrically compatible. The 2009 battery has a lower capacity at 73 Wh vs the 2010 battery (A1321) at 77.5 Wh.
The MacBook Pro 15" 2011-2012 batteries (A1382) are the same at 77.5 Wh.
The MacBook Pro 15" Retina 2012-E2013 batteries (A1417) are 95Whr at 10.95V. Comparison with 2015 shown in photo.
The MacBook Pro 15" Retina L2013-2014 batteries (A1494) are 95Whr at 11.26V.
(The MacBook Pro 15" Retina 2012-2014 batteries are the same capacity at 95 Wh 10.95 V. They are electrically compatible, but have the connector in a physically different location. 2012-E2013 (A1417) 2014 (A1494) [verify])
The MacBook Pro 15" Retina 2015 battery (A1618) has a capacity of 99.5Whr at 11.36V. WARNING: This battery is NOT compatible with A1494 or any other because a) voltage b) cable positioninig on haptic magnet c) connector position compared to 2012. For some reason it was listed as compatible on A1494 on this page below, we appologize for this error.
- NOTE: All 2015 15" MacBook Pros require a battery to power up and boot an operating system properly. Without a battery, a bare board will power on and display a low battery image on the screen, and will not chime. Some third-party batteries and damaged/depleted/expired batteries will allow the 2015 15" boards to attempt to boot an OS, but they may boot loop indefinitely with or without any user intervention (e.g. keyboard presses). This appears to have something to do with current draw, as it has been reported that disconnecting the trackpad cable may enable problematic batteries to boot boards completely. Previously it was noted that this behavior only occurs on the 820-00163 2015 15" logic board with discrete graphics, but all of the above behaviors have since been observed with multiple 820-00138 2015 15" logic boards that only have integrated graphics.
The MacBook Pro 15" Retina Touchbar 2016-2017 battery (A1820) has a capacity of 76Whr at 11.4V.
MacBook Pro 17"
The MacBook Pro 17" 2009E-2010M batteries are electrically compatible. Batteries (A1309) are the same at 95 Wh 7.3V
The MacBook Pro 17" 2011E-2011L batteries are electrically compatible. Batteries (A1383) are the same at 95 Wh 10.95V
Quick Reference List of Battery Compatibility
Here is a quick list that I didn't make, but dukefawks posted a while back on the rossmann forum, this list is a quick lookup for which batteries work with which models.
A1278 2009-2012 = A1322
A1286 2009-2010 = A1321
A1286 2011-2012 = A1382
A1297 2009-2010 = A1309
A1297 2011-2011 = A1383
A1369 2010-2010 = A1377
A1369/A1466 2011-2012 = A1405
A1466 2013-2017 = A1396
A1370 2010-2010 = A1375
A1370/A1465 2011-2012 = A1406
A1465 2013-2015 = A1495
A1425 2012-2012 = A1437
A1502 L2013-2014 = A1493
A1502 2015 = A1582
A1398 2012-E2013 = A1417
A1398 L2013-2014 = A1494
A1398 M2015 = A1618
Table for battery
| Model | Battery | Compatibility |
|---|---|---|
| A1278 | A1322 | A1322 |
| A1369/A1466 | A1405 | A1377/A1405/A1496 |
| A1465 | A1406 | A1406/A1495 |
| A1398(2012-13) | A1417 | A1417 |
| A1398(2013-14) | A1494 | A1494 |
| A1398(2015M Haptic) | A1618 | A1618 |
| A1425 | A1437 | A1437 |
| A1534 | A1705 |
A1527/A1705 |
| A1502 | A1493 | A1493/A1582 |
| A1502 (2015M Haptic) | A1582 | A1493(lower capacity) |
| A1706(TB) | A1819 | A1819 |
| A1708 | A1713 | A1713 |
| A1707 | A1820 | A1820 |
| A1989 | A1964 | A1964 |
| A2159 | A2171 | A1713, A2171 |