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Apple Newton Rechargeable Battery Pack

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Apple Newton Rechargeable Battery Pack
The pack and its plastic end cap (Apple's leaflet)
Manufacturer Apple Computer, Inc.
Type Rechargeable battery pack (NiMH)
Compatible Apple Newton MessagePad 2000 and 2100
Power Four NiMH cells with thermistor and temperature switch
Part number H0212Z/A (order number); 922-2968 (service part)

The Apple Newton Rechargeable Battery Pack (order number H0212Z/A) is the nickel-metal hydride pack for the Apple Newton MessagePad 2000 and 2100. Apple quotes up to 24 hours of continuous use from it, and the MessagePad fast-charges it in about an hour while asleep, from the Newton 9W Power Adapter.[1][2][3][4] The service part number is 922-2968, and the plastic tray for AA cells is 922-3307.[5] The earlier MessagePads use a NiCd pack: see Apple Newton NiCd Battery Pack.

Apple's instructions

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Apple's leaflet says to charge a new pack in the MessagePad for two hours before first use, and that it needs several cycles of charging and discharging before it holds a full charge. Keep the plastic end cap on the terminals whenever the pack is out of the MessagePad, and never short the terminals. Damaged NiMH cells can leak fluid that burns skin and eyes; wash any contact with water for at least five minutes, without soap. A pack looked after properly should take several hundred recharges.[6]

How the MessagePad recognises the pack

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Only Apple's pack charges inside a 2000 or 2100; loose rechargeable cells in the AA tray have to be charged outside.[7] On Apple's prototype schematic the board has, besides the battery contacts (J14), a battery temperature sense pad (J16) and a sense pad for detecting the rechargeable pack (J15, labelled NiCd on the prototype).[8] Owners have adapted Apple trays to hold rechargeable AA cells, and there are open designs for 3D-printed AA trays and for a USB-C rechargeable pack.[7]

Rebuilding the pack

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Frank Gründel calls this the hardest of the Newton packs to rebuild. The two halves of the case are bonded together, so he cuts a lid in one face instead of splitting it.[9] Inside are four AA cells, a thermistor on white wires, a flat temperature switch joining two of the cells that cuts the charge current to about 100 mA above 55 °C, and a round metal disc that forms the pack's negative contact. The case has three solder lugs, A, B and C.[9]

  1. Cut the lid with a sharp knife against a metal straight-edge, keeping clear of the thermistor wires along one edge. Lift the lid off and peel back the tape over the thermistor so it can be reused.
  2. Take the cells out in the order he gives, cutting their links and unsoldering the red wire. Keep the temperature switch and the negative contact disc intact and unbent; the switch is fragile and hard to replace.
  3. Fit four AA NiMH cells with solder tabs, soldering quickly so neither the cells nor the lugs in the plastic case overheat. Measure each new cell first.
  4. Rebuild the wiring as before: the temperature switch between the first two cells, the thermistor to lug B and the negative contact, and lug C to the positive end. Keep solder off the outer face of the negative contact, which the MessagePad touches.
  5. Check the pack: the voltage between the negative contact and lug C should be about the sum of the four cells, and the thermistor across lugs A and B should read about 10 kΩ, varying with temperature.
  6. Glue the lid back on and sand the pack until it slides into the MessagePad as easily as before. He found two packs in three needed sanding.[9]

Do not prise a tight pack out with a tool or a fingernail: the front of the pack is only lightly glued and can come off. Hold the MessagePad, release the pack latch with your thumb and push the thumb against your other hand so the spring ejects the pack part way, then draw it out by its body, not its front.[9] General NiMH handling is on Battery Refurbishment.

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References

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  1. ↑ Apple Computer, MessagePad Accessories data sheet, November 1997, L00517K. Hosted as File:MessagePad Accessories data sheet (1997).pdf. Newton Rechargeable Battery Pack H0212Z/A: one NiMH pack for the MessagePad 2000 and 2100, fast recharge in one hour; the 9W adapter charges it.
  2. ↑ Apple Computer, Apple MessagePad (Service Source) for the 2000 and 2100, 1997, Basics, PDF p. 4: 24 hours' continuous operation with the NiMH pack, 100 hours idle with the backlight off. Hosted as File:Apple MessagePad 2000 and 2100 Service Source (1997).pdf.
  3. ↑ Apple Computer, MessagePad 2000 data sheet, February 1997. Hosted as File:MessagePad 2000 data sheet (1997).pdf. The pack charges in one hour when the MessagePad is in sleep mode.
  4. ↑ Apple Computer, MessagePad 2100 User's Manual, 1997, appendix A, p. 244: a rechargeable pack also needs the Newton 9W Power Adapter. Hosted as File:MessagePad 2100 User's Manual (1997).pdf.
  5. ↑ Newton FAQ, Part II: Hardware, 2a (MessagePad 2000/2100 parts), newtonfaq.com (read 2 October 2026).
  6. ↑ Apple Computer, Newton Rechargeable Battery Pack for Use With the MessagePad 2000, ZM030-9847-A, 1997, pp. 1–2. Hosted as File:Newton Rechargeable Battery Pack leaflet (1997).pdf.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Newton FAQ, Part II: Hardware, B6 "Which batteries can I use?" and B12 (3D-printed parts), newtonfaq.com (read 2 October 2026). Only Apple's pack recharges in a 2000 or 2100; methods by Nick Müller and Marco Mailand for adapting an Apple tray to third-party NiMH cells; 3D-printed AA trays and a USB-C rechargeable pack.
  8. ↑ Apple Computer, schematic "Q" EVT2, sheet 10 (power input and charging): battery contacts J14; current sensor U36 (MAX471); fast-charge control; NiCd sense pad J15 (nicdBatteryInDet); battery temperature sense pad J16 (tempBatteryIn). Hosted as File:Apple MessagePad 2000 Q EVT2 schematic.pdf; see Apple MessagePad 2000 Q EVT2 Schematic. Pre-production drawing.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Frank Gründel, "How to rebuild / refurbish an Apple Newton MessagePad 2000 / 2100 battery pack", PDA-Soft, pda-soft.de/mp2k_battery_pack.html (read 2 October 2026). Community guide.


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