Official Apple Recall of 1.1 Million Sony-made Batteries

Life can't be easy for poor Sony this year. There's been a lot of PS3's bad press and now these batteries recall from Dell and Apple. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission forced Apple's hand to launch the recall. There are well over 1.1 million Sony-made batteries affected, and this count is only in the US.

Name of Product: Rechargeable, lithium-ion batteries with cells manufactured by Sony for certain previous iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 notebook computers only.

Units: About 1.1 million battery packs (an additional 700,000 battery packs were sold outside the U.S.)

Battery Cell Manufacturer: Sony Energy Devices Corp., of Japan

Computer Manufacturer: Apple Computer Inc., of Cupertino, Calif.

Hazard: These lithium-ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Apple has received nine reports of batteries overheating, including two reports of minor burns from handling overheated computers and other reports of minor property damage. No serious injuries were reported.

Description: The recalled lithium-ion batteries were used with the following computers: 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4. Consumers should remove the battery from the computer to view the model and serial numbers labeled on the bottom of the unit.

Computer model name Battery model number Battery serial numbers 12-inch iBook G4 A1061 ZZ338 through ZZ427 3K429 through 3K611 6C510 through 6C626 12-inch PowerBook G4 A1079 ZZ411 through ZZ427 3K428 through 3K611 15-inch PowerBook G4 A1078 and A1148 3K425 through 3K601 6N530 through 6N551 6N601 No other Apple notebook computers are involved in this recall.

Sold Through: Apple's online store, Apple retail stores nationwide, and Apple Authorized Resellers from October 2003 through August 2006 for between $900 and $2300. The batteries also were sold separately for about $130.

Assembled in: Japan, Taiwan and China

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the recalled batteries immediately and contact Apple to arrange for a replacement battery, free of charge. After removing the recalled battery from their iBook or PowerBook, consumers should plug in the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives.

Consumer Contact: : Contact Apple at (800) 275-2273 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. CT Monday through Sunday or log on to Apple's Web site at http://support.apple.com/batteryprogram to check the battery's serial number and request a replacement battery.

Apple Battery Recall Official [via Gizmodo]