By Walter Galan • Difficulty: Moderate
Bring life back to your iPhone 6 with a new replacement battery—it’s easy and will have a big impact! If your battery is swollen, take appropriate precautions.
This guide instructs you to remove the front panel assembly; this is intended to prevent damage to the display cables. If you feel comfortable supporting the display carefully while peeling the battery out of the iPhone, you can skip the display removal and go directly to the battery removal steps.
For optimal performance, after completing this guide, calibrate your newly installed battery: Charge it to 100% and keep charging it for at least two more hours. Then use your iPhone until it shuts off due to low battery. Finally, charge it uninterrupted to 100%.
You can also use this guide to replace the following parts:
- Power off your iPhone before beginning disassembly.
- Remove the two 3.6 mm-long P2 Pentalobe screws next to the Lightning connector.
- Pull the blue handle backwards to unlock the Anti-Clamp's arms.
- Slide the arms over either the left or right edge of your iPhone.
- Position the suction cups near the bottom edge of the iPhone just above the home button—one on the front, and one on the back.
- Squeeze the cups together to apply suction to the desired area.
- Pull the blue handle forwards to lock the arms.
- Turn the handle clockwise 360 degrees or until the cups start to stretch.
- Insert an opening pick under the screen when the Anti-Clamp creates a large enough gap.
- Skip the next three steps.
- If you don't have an Anti-Clamp, use a single suction cup to lift the front panel:
- Press a suction cup onto the screen, just above the home button.
- While holding the iPhone down with one hand, pull up on the suction cup to slightly separate the front panel assembly from the rear case.
- Using a plastic opening tool, begin to gently pry the rear case down, away from the display assembly, while continuing to pull up with the suction cup.
- Pull the plastic nub to release the vacuum seal on the suction cup.
- Remove the suction cup from the display assembly.
- Open the iPhone by swinging the home button end of the front panel assembly away from the rear case, using the top of the phone as a hinge.
- Open the display to about a 90º angle, and lean it against something to keep it propped up while you're working on the phone.
- Add a rubber band to keep the display securely in place while you work. This prevents undue strain on the display cables.
- Remove the following Phillips screws from the battery connector bracket:
- One 2.2 mm screw
- One 3.2 mm screw
- Remove the metal battery connector bracket from the iPhone.
- Use a plastic opening tool to gently pry the battery connector up from its socket on the logic board.
- Remove the following five Phillips screws securing the front panel assembly cable bracket:
- Three 1.2 mm screws
- One 1.7 mm screw
- One 3.1 mm screw
- Remove the front panel assembly cable bracket from the logic board.
- Use a spudger or a fingernail to disconnect the front-facing camera and sensor cable connector.
- Use a spudger or a fingernail to disconnect the home button cable connector.
- Use a spudger or a fingernail to disconnect the display data cable connector.
- Use the flat end of a spudger to disconnect the digitizer cable connector.
- Remove the front panel assembly from the rear case.
- Peel back the first battery adhesive tab from the bottom right edge of the battery.
- Slowly pull the adhesive tab away from the battery, toward the bottom of the iPhone.
- Pull steadily, maintaining constant tension on the strip until it slips out from between the battery and the rear case. For best results, pull the strip at a 60º angle or less.
- If the strip breaks, carefully try to retrieve it with your tweezers (without damaging the battery) and continue pulling. If the strip breaks off underneath the battery and can't be retrieved, continue with the steps below.
- Repeat for the second strip.
- Wait about one minute for the alcohol solution to weaken the adhesive. Use the flat end of a spudger to gently lift the battery.
- If the battery remains stuck to the rear case, prepare an iOpener or use a hair dryer to heat the rear case directly behind the battery. It should be slightly too hot to touch comfortably.
- Then, use a plastic opening tool to gently lift the battery.
- A stronger alternative to floss is an unwound guitar string, such as a 0.009 E string from a 12-string set.
- Remove the battery from the iPhone.
- Before you adhere the replacement battery, temporarily reconnect the battery connector to the logic board socket. This ensures that the battery is properly aligned in its recess.
- Adhere the battery, disconnect it, and continue reassembling your device.
Compare your new replacement part to the original part—you may need to transfer remaining components or remove adhesive backings from the new part before installing.
To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.
Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Check out our Answers community for troubleshooting help.