Late 2008 Unibody Macbook Pro 15" battery questionq

Does anyone know if it's possible to install the new mid-2009 Macbook Pro 15" battery in the late 2008 macbook pro 15"? I looked at the pictures and it seems to be an identical fit, just no screw to secure the battery but from what I see all it is is a simple change in battery./

Has anyone debated trying this? I would love the extra battery life and I don't see why we couldn't do this aside from maybe the charging being 80w compared to the 73w for the new battery...

 

what pictures? I would think it wouldn't even come close to fitting without modifying some of the case

 

yes, i think the same as doh123.the new battery has different dimensions.

 

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3580&p=3 looks the same to me.

look at your laptop and the dimensions are negigible at best. There is nothing that a small bit of dremeling can't fix. I guarantee the new battery is no more than a few MM larger if anything. So aside from your guys' baseless statements, does anyone have an idea of it will work?

 

Did you at least see the old battery's height and compare it with the new one?? my old gen battery is approximately the same height as my hard disk's height. the new battery stops higher than the height if the battery. so unless they have started using 1.8" hdd's, there's no way these 2 batteries are of the same dimensions.

pic of old battery:


pic of the new battery:

 

The physical dimensions state that it cannot be taller at all. The motherboard of the macbooks is identical man, the only difference is the screen and battery on the high end version. it MUST fit. There isn't a way it cannot if it has the same physical dimensions. The same physical dimensions imply they did not change the panel that is a 1 piece to have "increased height" so it can accomodate teh battery.

If I had the dimensinos of each battery I would have had the questions answered but I can't find it anywhere... .

 

The motherboard is identical but in the previous gen unibody, the latch mechanism also took some space along with the screws which held the upper cover in position. Removal of these small space wasters may have contributed in a space being created between the battery and the motherboard thus allowing the new batteries to be slightly taller.

 

I can agree that the latch mechanism may have changed but I honestly believe man aside from the small screws and the latch that it can fit. We just need to find someone who has taken the new 15" battery out and measured it.

 

Yes, but why cant you simply go to an apple store and ask a genius? It's simple as that. Personally, i see the new one is bigger from the pics, but i think it's just a matter of perception.

 

The motherboard design is not identical. Infact, the late 2008 comes with a double fan and not a single fan design displayed there in the picture above. Unless that is a 13" (I doubt it), it is different.

 

it is a 13" above. from anandtech

 

The board is identical. You can have the same motherboard with a modified PCB, logic gates are unchanged. You might need to be more creative but you do not definitely need to change the board.

Trust me on this one man.

 

Also Luke1708. You seem well educated on how this sort of stuff works, but asking a GEnius is not in the cards. They are trained, yes, and they do whatever they are supposed to quite well. They, however, lack the intuitive ability to answer a question like this.

I'm asking IS it possible? I'm not expecting a complete Drop in fit. I'm expecting something quite close actually, but I truly believe that the fitment may require a couple MM here and there of shaving but nothing a terribly risky or anything; and that's a MAY.

Can someone please measure their battery if they've got the new 09 MBP 15?

It'd be appreciate.d Thanks

 

I actually googled this a while back, cant remember where the website was but the new MBP battery will not fit because the connector where the metal plates touch so the charge can run through are located in different spots by like a few mms. And the size is a wee bit bigger, extends upwards a bit more where the latch mechanism is.

 

I'd drill and dremel the battery and make it fit, sounds more and more possible to be honest...

A few mm off a battery cover won't hurt it.

 

it seems i was correct but i didnt know about the plugging port for the battery.

 

Actually, they are very different.

This is a direct comparison between the 13" Macbook Aluminum and the newer 13" MacBook Pro. Very similar footprint bu the batttery connector in the new design requires a cable harness. There is little reason why the newer 15" model would be any different than this.




Unless you know the exact difference in pinout of the new cable header in comparison to the older battery design, then modifying the new battery to work with the older board is possible on a technical level. However, without heavily modifying either the board or the battery design itself, I doubt it would even fit due to the design differences.

 

If you flip over that older unibody macbook's contact points, you will see that they are still the same. The cable is just a conductor from the battery's internal connector which was likely non-ideal.

Simple conduction fix is all. The contact points are not changed, just the interface... Does it fit? That's all I want to know, then I'll order one and do a how-to for you guys.

I've got quite a bit of soldering experience and I'm a Computing Science major with plenty of experience in EE stuff so this shouldn't be much of a porlbem.

 

NoelGallagher,
I think it's about time you order the new one and replace it with a detailed how-to for others to benefit. It seems like you know what to do and the more you post the more it becomes clear that you already made your mind to do this. So, just do it

 

where can I order one? I was assuming apple is very anal about releasing/selling these because they want "their guys" to do it