I have a still perfectly useable early-2015 MacBook Pro that I purchased from Apple 6 years ago. The battery needs to be changed, especially since it has visibly started bulging the keyboard. I went to two Apple Authorized Service Providers. Each time, someone at the counter just checked the laptop model, then saying that it's classified as a "vintage product" and that the battery can't be changed. Yeah, "vintage product." Apple is great with naming things.
Okay, so Apple is hellbent on not allowing other stores to fix or replace parts, but at the same time they leave customers in the dark with perfectly decent laptops.
I've always purchased official Apple batteries, because Chinese knock-offs usually don't last very long, and they can be a fire hazard. I tried finding a way to get an OWC battery, which apparently is a good brand, but there aren't any places selling them where I live. All the non-official Apple repair stores sell knock-off batteries.
Any suggestions of what I should do?
Where do you think Apple gets their batteries? I think you overestimate the amount of battery manufacturers in the world.
Yes Amazon/Aliexpress is wild west with lacking QA, and high prices are no guarantees for quality. Hell I have first hand experience (working at a mayor LCD manufacturer) that 90% of all QA rejects end up on aliexpress (or equivalent).
However you cant fault apple for limiting support on older devices, probably old stock is drying up and production of spare parts has stopped. Poor quality 3rd party is the only option you have.
You can however fault apple for your device not functioning properly because the battery is dead (the infamous "PROCHOT" throttling when any part of the laptop is missing).
Just because Apple gets its batteries from suppliers in China doesn't make every Chinese knock-off battery sold in China of the same quality. That's seriously flawed logic.
I think you overestimate your understanding of Chinese battery manufacturers. As in, you don't speak Mandarin, and probably have zero knowledge of it.
Interesting. They end up on AliExpress as replacement LCDs for the model they were literally made for? What's usually wrong with them?