How to fix a dead iPhone

The iPhone has grown into one massive product for Apple. In just over 7 years, since the initial iPhone was released in 2007 Apple has sold hundreds of millions of units.

With no moving parts apart from the home button and column controls they have proved exceedingly reliable. You still see people using iPhone 3Gs and iPhone 4 even though they are most likely over 4 years old.

The one part that does die is the battery. The small internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery has a finite life. Apple claim the battery life “is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity after 400 full charge and discharge cycles”. A claim that it hard to monitor and even harder to test.

We have seen a fair number or phones that have suffered a battery failure. The battery units expands and pushes the case apart and in some extreme situations it can force the unit apart. This can be rather upsetting. If the unit is still under warranty Apple will sort you out with a new unit.

However if it is out of warranty you are faced with a problem. If you want to continue using the phone you need to replace the battery. Of course with a sealed iPhone this is a non-trivial operation. It requires prising off the back after removing a pair of impossibly small screws, installing and reconnecting a new battery and then replacing the back. Of course all the parts have to align perpetually and the connectors need to be treated extremely gently. The guys from iFixIt are you friends as they offer super kits and guidance for iPhone 3, 3G, 4, 4S and 5. And they have an EC based distribution center so you don’t have to ship from the states.

If and when you suffer a faulty battery there is life in the old dog. We have successfully repaired a number of IPhones, so if the repair task fills you with fear just drop into Taybridge Towers and we can help you out or complete the form below.

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]