How to minimise the risk of using a MacBook Pro 2015 recalled due to battery faults

My MacBook 2015 pro Retina 15'' has to be recalled by Apple. The reason is that its battery may be a fire hazard; eg macromors. Apple said the repairs can take two-three weeks. Because of my work, I absolutely can't have this interruption during the next month. (I will get the MBP fixed in a month's time.)

Question: If I must use my MBP, how can I minimise the battery risks?

I plan to do these:

• Shut down and unplug when not using
• Have a CO2 fire extinguisher nearby
• Only use the MBP plugged in to the mains, and not from the battery
• Constantly monitor the fan speeds and the battery/CPU temperatures and shut down when they spike

Would these work? Or should I do something else instead or in addition?

Solution 1:

Minimizing the risk is simple. Don’t charge the battery.

Does’t matter if you are sleeping or shut down, the discharge doesn’t trigger a problem. The charging does. So just don’t use the Mac once it needs a charge.

In case you're worried about the time to fix - here is a crowd-sourced list of times to repair:

Battery Recall Turnaround by Apple*:

From            | to Depot     | Turnaround  | Notes 
London, UK      | Prague, CZ   | 2-3 weeks   | Estimate by Apple, 31 Aug 19
Minneapolis, MN | Memphis, TN  | 2 days      | Apple quoted 2 weeks

*feel free to update.

As for repair times, it would be good to specify where you will be shipping the MacBook and where the repair parts might be stocked. Just because the US might have ample stock, other countries might need the whole 2 weeks to ship and perform the repairs.

The rest of the timing is for US based repairs: I would say two weeks is much longer than we’re seeing in the US. We sent two last week for work and the box with the fixed Mac was delivered three days after the box was shipped. (So it was our of our hands for two days only.) Some repairs have taken us a week, but that’s the exception of the 25 or so we’ve sent in already.

Also, you will almost certainly see the case swell before any charge causes a fire in most cases so look for that as well.

As for putting out a LiPo battery fire, CO2 is a less good choice than water or sand. The battery has so much energy and generates it’s own oxygen so smothering it for a short time and cooling it a little with CO2 might not be effective. Of course use it if you have it, but go get a bucket of something or a shovel to lift and move the MacBook to a safer place where the fire won’t spread (concrete floor, outside, etc...)