I have an old MacBook Pro that has a failing battery. Or something. It’s failing in such a way that the battery discharges while operating and connected to power. No matter which charger, no matter which port the charger is connected to. When the battery goes to 2% it shuts down—again while connected to mains power and the OS indicating the charger is connected.

I had hoped I might be able to repurpose this machine as an “iTunes” server, replacing a MacBook Air that ended a few OS versions sooner. That one is still chugging.

Battery replacement on one of these has about 38 steps to get the battery out. The battery itself is in six parts. And there is a lot of heating and prying because of adhesive—which has to be replaced on the return journey. I saw a video on YouTube with the process that was an hour and 15 minutes long.

I’m not doing that. My suspicion is that the battery might be failing, but something else has failed, too. If it was a matter of a few different screw types after pulling of the bottom cover, and a knock-off battery from Amazon for 40 bucks, I’d have placed the order already.

Because of the way this is designed, I’m not going to chance it. It breaks my heart. But this one will probably be handed back to Apple for recycling.

I would estimate the amount of money it would cost to have it repaired by Apple would put me pretty close to the price of a NEO.