I wanted to share a short story about one of the many benefits of buying good hardware from serious companies.

My almost-2-years-old MacBook Pro battery was having serious performance issues: After a full charge, it only lasted about 20 minutes (even with the display dimmed to be barely visible).

Resisting the idea of having to buy a new battery, I’ve googled a little and found an Apple page about problems with MacBook Pro batteries. Turned out that my battery was eligible for a free replacement.

With nothing to lose, and after unsuccessfully asking in-person on a couple of “official” resellers, I’ve been directed to the AppleCare phone number in Spain. After about 15 minutes of music on hold and about 30 of Q&A with a nice and knowledgeable operator, I’ve been told that they’ll mail me a new battery on the next 4-7 days. I’ve also been given specific instructions about  returning my old battery to the same messenger for recycling. Good!

This was yesterday. Today, an UPS messenger brought my new battery and took away the old one. Right now it’s happily being charged while I’m writing this.

Just one more reason to be a happy owner of a Mac. I’ve no doubts about what I’m going to buy next time.

Alex