I have a Magic Trackpad 2 with a swelling lithium battery

I just made this repair using the battery listed here. The battery took 25 days to reach me from the time I ordered. My old battery had swelled and pushed the back of the case open, so the backing was easy to remove.

I just replaced my swollen battery with this same one from AliExpress, and it works fine. But just as the teardown explains, getting the rear panel off the trackpad is a nightmare. I used a hair dryer to soften the glue a little, but I spent the whole time worrying that I was going to bend the panel beyond its breaking point. Fortunately, it all went well. The glue kept its stickiness, so that sealing the thing back up again was easy. I would definitely have preferred tiny screws for this!

I experienced the same issue. The haptic component (Apple's Taptic Engine) no longer worked when I removed the swollen battery from my unit. It's not a big deal for me because I didn't find it that useful. But it is something to be aware of if you want to use the unit without a battery.

Have you tried adding a spacer to fill the space? Maybe a piece of cardboard with aluminum foil taped to both sides to mimics the capacitance of a battery (if it isn't detecting the force)? I'm thinking out loud here, but it would be worth trying some things like that to see if the missing functionality is an electrical issue or a mechanical one. Also, try a heavier-gauge third-party lightning cable and a higher-amperage power supply. When pulling power from your computer, the device probably caps itself at 500 mA, but the Taptic Engine may draw more than that in instantaneous power.

When I received the replacement battery linked above, it arrived totally unmarked or identified from what looked like Mr. Li. The battery initially looked far too long for the trackpad, but when I finally got around to getting the trackpad out for inspection, I was delighted to discover that the battery’s length was perfect, and indeed the cable and socket configuration appeared to be the same as the swollen one beneath the gaping wound in the trackpad.

The only thing that took any time was convincing the old battery’s adhesive to surrender. After placing new adhesive on the new battery, everything went back together quickly and effortlessly.

I knew that I preferred the trackpad to Apple’s curiously miserable Magic Mouse, but I wasn’t prepared for the sensual delight and ease of zipping the curser side to side on a large screen with one finger precision and less effort than it takes to say “effortlessly”!

My thanks to everyone who contributed to this outcome, including Mr. Li!

That's pretty strong language, Yatin. Apple certainly gives us reasons to call them on a surprising number of choices, but are you saying you're more satisfied with the universes of Android and/or Microsoft? I'm under no illusions that Apple is perfect—far from it. But hate is a one-way, dead-end street, with no way out, other than putting it in reverse through the understanding and power of love alone. It leaves us cast in cold stone.

Apple chooses to use strong adhesives for their cases for a number of reasons some good and some not so good for the consumers of their products. In the case of my magic track pad the adhesive was overcome by the swelling battery.

I still wish a replacement battery was available outside of the PRC. There is no reason for apple to make these accessories unrepairable by the average customer. The back could be secured by a waterproof adhesive and screws and removable and repairable and replacement batteries could be made available. I just set up a new MacBook Pro for work and it has a new magic keyboard and Magic TrackPad2. We will see if the battery on this one swells too?

I do think that Apple is open to legitimate criticism for their repair reuse policy. My position is that once I pay for my Apple products they are my personal property and I can repair them as I choose and Apple's no consumer repair policy be damned.

@richardleverett, I understand what you are saying about adhesives in general, but for this specific device, adhesives are not needed. Water resistance can be achieved using a gasket and would probably work more effectively. The decisions Apple is making on the design of this device are geared toward preventing user serviceability, plain and simple. Gaskets can be replaced and allow for easier access without the risk of damaging the device or your safety.

I 100% agree with you on ignoring Apple's anti-consumer policies.