Chosen Solution
To first add some context: My one year old MacBook Pro (A1708) which quite inconveniently ran out of warranty just a while ago, started getting its battery swelling up. The battery replacement program for this model says my serial number is not eligible, and my country has no Apple Stores or any places that will repair this even for a price. So I’m left to repair this on my own, or get a new laptop if that fails. So my question is, until I can get myself a battery, would it be possible to boot this thing without one? I’ve heard MacBooks downclock when you remove the battery, and that’s fine with me. I just haven’t been able to find anything about this on the newer models, so I just want to know if I can boot this, as I can’t afford to go without this for long. (Alternatively, Apple says this is not a safety issue, so I suppose I can continue using this as is until I can replace the battery, but I don’t know if I can really trust them here.) Update (05/24/2020) Sorry for the bump, but I just wanted to report back on this. The battery was getting way too ballooned up for comfort so I took the laptop apart and pulled the thing out. (Now I have to find a way to dispose of that but that’s another story.) So now as mentioned in this thread, the CPU was being throttled when powered on without the battery inside. To be specific, it was being throttled down to half of the base clock. But turns out the way this is being done is by utilizing the Intel CPU’s “BD PROCHOT” feature. I’m no expert at this, but as far as I could find out, this is meant to be used by a computer to throttle the CPU when something outside it is going wrong. Now on macOS, I have no clue what to do about this. However, on Windows, disabling BD PROCHOT is a very simple thing. And that’s exactly what I’ve done. Did so and then ran a few CPU stress tests. Machine is chugging along pretty well. Going to be running it like this for a while to see just how things will turn out in the long run, but so far (used for like two days this way now) it sure seems like Apple’s throttling is nothing but a method for them to sell replacement batteries.
Unlike the older Retina models 2015 and older. Apple has changed things quite a lot in the newer USB-C systems. SMC will drop the CPU’s clocking quite low once you take the battery out to the point it won’t be very practical. So I wouldn’t do that. You are between a rock and a hard place ;-{ I would still try to get Apple to pick up the cost in fixing your battery, but time is against you. Do you have a friend who can get your system to an Apple Store and be your proxy if you can’t get there your self? Even though the warranty has just expired Apple will pickup systems which are just past (a month or two) if clearly the issue is theirs (which it is here). You will need to be strong (or your proxy) as you’ll likely need to push a bit up the food chain. You’ll should to go to the country you bought the system from. For reference here the IFIXIT guide you’ll need to follow to replace the battery MacBook Pro 13" Function Keys Late 2016 Battery Replacement and here’s the battery replacement kit you’ll need MacBook Pro 13" Retina (Function Keys, Late 2016-2017) Battery The only rub here is IFIXIT can’t ship batteries via air so you need to be in the continental US or within the shipping area of the other IFIXIT store fronts (Europe, Canada, or Australia)
You can use your Mac even with no battery installed but for your and machine safety it would be better to remove the swelling battery, it might leak dangerous gas and fumes. It’s strongly advisable to run down battery power until the Mac turns off before working on it.
