replacing the battery MacBook Pro (14 Zoll, 2021)

Question

MacBook Pro 14" 2021

Repair guides and disassembly information for the 14-inch MacBook Pro released in October of 2021, featuring Apple-designed M1 Pro and M1 Max SoCs. Model A2442.

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m.hofmann @mhofmann51933

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: tiawara ta 4 agoMha 15, 2025

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replacing the battery MacBook Pro (14 Zoll, 2021)

Hi everyone,

I’m considering replacing the battery of my MacBook Pro 14” (2021, M1 Max) myself at some point.

I’ve heard that the batteries in this model might be “paired” with the logic board, similar to iPhones, and that after a DIY replacement in macOS it may show “Service Recommended” even if the battery is technically working fine.

My questions are:

Is it true that Apple pairs the battery with the hardware on the 2021 MacBook Pro?

If yes – can an iFixit battery still be used normally, just with that warning message?

Has anyone experienced whether the “Service Recommended” message stays permanently or goes away?

Thanks!

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Your question revolves around Apples use of parts serialization! Similar to what John Deere has done with their tractors. Within the iFixit news feed via the link above you can learn more on it.

As far as the MacBook batteries the source of the battery often times is the issue as in China you'll find people rebuilding batteries by MacGyver a bunch of cells from old sets which are still good into a workable battery! But the BMC logic within this battery will still report a worn out battery.

Using a fresh battery with a clean BMC chip will get you 90% of the way but sometimes SMC logic won't refresh the OS temp files so you need to manual delete them.

crwdns2934271:0tiawara ta 1 agoMha 15, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Dan crwdne2934271:0

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Your question revolves around Apples use of parts serialization! Similar to what John Deere has done with their tractors. Within the iFixit news feed via the link above you can learn more on it.

As far as the MacBook batteries the source of the battery often times is the issue as in China you'll find people rebuilding batteries by MacGyver a bunch of cells from old sets which are still good into a workable battery! But the BMC logic within this battery will still report a worn out battery.

Using a fresh battery with a clean BMC chip will get you 90% of the way but sometimes SMC logic won't refresh the OS temp files so you need to manual delete them. — Dan

score 0 · Answer 1 · 2025-08-15T05:33:13-07:00

I would start off checking my battery to see how it is. The best tool for this is this one CoconutBattery Apple's Battery Heath sadly comes up short as it doesn't show the deeper details or even explain Cycles or how age and usage effects the battery. As of late Apple has finally realized batteries which are mostly tethered to a charger really shouldn't be pushed to 100% instead 80% and it's a settable option in iOS and iPadOS (I'm still running an older macOS release that doesn't offer it, hopefully it's available in the newer releases). Basically, when the Cycle count is getting close to 1000 the battery is on its last legs and the run time will be diminished quite substantially and that's independent of the age and usage which needs to be added in. A battery's life is about four y=to five years depending on your usage as the batteries chemistry degrades over time.

OK, enough of that, so while iPhones and iPads started the parts serialization mess. Apple has slowly walked back from it with some parts Batteries being one of them only reporting it's not a genuine Apple part and that includes MacBook batteries. So there shouldn't be any issues using an iFixit battery MacBook Pro 14" (A2442, A2779, A2918) Battery and it's guide MacBook Pro 14" 2021 Battery Replacement the other option would be getting the battery from Apples Self Repair option if it's available where you live Apple Self Repair Site

You may need to manually delete the cached OS values afterwards. But let's just get the battery replaced for now.

MacBook Pro 14" 2021

replacing the battery MacBook Pro (14 Zoll, 2021)

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MacBook Pro 14" (A2442, A2779, A2918) Battery

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