Apple has recalled nearly 2 million laptop batteries and warned of potential fire hazards.
The move has allowed thousands of businesses and private owners in the UK to use their machines only on the mains.
1 recall.
8 million batteries after at least 9 overheating
Burn two users and cause some "property loss ".
Earlier this month, Dell had to pull out more than 4 million laptop batteries.
Sony from the same supplier
After at least six explosions
Action ordered by the United StatesS.
The consumer goods safety Council is the largest.
Recall of electronic products.
The new Apple alert covers 12-
12-inch iBook G4
G4 and 15-inch PowerBook-
Inch PowerBook G4 laptop sold after October 2003.
Apple estimates this includes 1.
There are 1 m machines in the United States. S.
The World and 700,000 people
Tens of thousands of cars will be sold in the UK, one of California
The biggest market for the company.
Britons who buy laptops abroad may also be affected.
Anyone with one of the three listed products should check the serial number on their battery against the recall list on Apple's website --www. apple. com/support.
The list of affected batteries can also be found here.
If your battery is one of the affected ones, you should take it out and run the laptop on the power supply.
You will then need to contact Apple, which will provide a replacement battery for free.
The company issued a statement last night saying: "We found that some of the Sony batteries in the previous PowerPC-based iBooks and PowerBooks models did not meet Apple's safety and performance standards ".
An Apple technical consultant said that although all batteries will get hot during use, the recalled batteries become hot and may cause burns.
In another development, Apple confirmed that the 15 inch MacBook Pro machine, which sells for about £ 1,699 and has been "selling fast" in the UK, was affected by a second battery problem.
The battery was not recalled, but there was a danger of overheating.
Apple says it will replace the battery sent by any worried user.
The recall by Dell and Apple was a major blow to Sony, which made the batteries in Japan and China.
In a statement, the company said it believed the recall would cost up to 136 million.
The announcement led to a fall in Sony shares.
However, Apple said it did not believe yesterday's recall warning would have a significant impact on its share price.
Apple is also facing problems with its popular iPod nano.
Someone complained that the screen of the 100-pound music player could easily break.
The company claims there is a problem with only one batch of products.