This move follows Dell's decision to recall more than 4m batteries from its laptops only last week.
"We discovered that some Sony batteries in previous models of PowerPC-based iBooks and PowerBooks do not meet Apple's standards for safety and performance," Apple said in a statement.
"Our number one priority is to recall and replace the affected batteries free of charge," the statement also said.
According to American safety officials at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Sony, who also supplied similar batteries to Dell, made the batteries and while Apple is not expecting any "material financial impact" from the recall, Sony predicts that the recall of its Dell and Apple batteries will cost the firm between 20bn and 30bn yen ($172m to $258m).
In the US, 1.1m machines are affected and a further 700,000 Apple laptops sold overseas are also involved in the recall, which is thought to be the second-biggest in American history to involve electronics or computers.
