iPhone 5s Battery Replacement

Written By: Sam Goldheart

Comments: 4

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

No estimate

Introduction

Prerequisite for removing the battery after the logic board.

Tools

Step 1

Insert the tip of a spudger into the hole in the battery adhesive tab near the headphone jack.
Lift the tab up slightly and use the spudger to unfold the tab from its recess.

Step 2

Pull the battery adhesive tab straight up from the phone.
Cut the black battery adhesive tab between the two white adhesive strips, separating them.

Step 3

Try to keep the strips flat and unwrinkled during this procedure; wrinkled strips will stick together and break instead of pulling out cleanly.
Slowly pull one of the battery adhesive strips away from the battery, toward the bottom of the iPhone.
Pull steadily, maintaining constant tension on the strip as it slips out from between the battery and the rear case. For best results, pull the strip at a 60º angle or less.

Step 4

Guide the strip carefully around the corner and up the side of the battery.
Be careful not to snag it on the corner of the battery or on any of the other internal iPhone components.
The strip will stretch to many times its original length. Continue pulling, re-grabbing the strip near the battery if necessary, until the entire strip comes free.

Step 5

Repeat to remove the second adhesive strip.
If you removed both strips successfully, skip the next two steps.
If either of the adhesive strips break underneath the battery and cannot be retrieved, try to remove the remaining strip, and then proceed to the next step.

Step 6

If any of the adhesive strips broke off and 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.

Step 7

Flip the iPhone back over and insert a plastic card between the case side of the battery and the rear case.
Be careful to keep the card as flat as possible to avoid bending the battery, which may damage it and cause it to release dangerous chemicals.
Press the card in farther to break up the adhesive behind the battery.

The iphone 3 and 4 were so much easier to fix! :)

gibitzga - 01/06/18

Step 8

Remove the battery from the rear case.
When installing the battery, refer to this guide to replace your battery's adhesive strips.

I only fix phones for myself, and I choose not to put more adhesive in just in case I have to replace the battery again

Cooper Hull - 07/08/19

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

2 comments

I feel like this guide should at least start with a link to another guide on opening up your phone. It’s weird that it just jumps in assuming your phone has already been opened. From a UX perspective, I should have to hunt around for a preceding guide when the topic of this one shows up on the top of my search results and describes exactly what I want to do.

alex - 31/07/18

Use this battery guide to replace your battery. This guide is a prerequisite to remove the battery in the course of another repair, and isn’t meant to be followed on its own.

Sam Goldheart - 01/08/18