I Replaced My iPhone Battery Myself at Home and You Can Too

If you own an iPhone 17, Google Pixel 10 Pro, or Galaxy S25 Ultra, you won’t have to worry about the age of your battery for at least a few years. But batteries age over time, so if you have a much older iPhone or an old Android phone, you may find that your battery no longer gives you the same battery life it did when it was new. But having an old, worn out battery doesn’t mean buying a whole new phone; it’s surprisingly simple to just replace the battery.

Apple has its own do-it-yourself repair programbut even if you don’t use it, you can replace your iPhone battery yourself at home. With affordable third-party components and various tools available for purchase, you can open up your iPhone and replace that old, worn out battery – or replace a broken screen – often for less money than if a company did it for you.

That’s exactly what I did, replacing the old battery on a well-used iPhone 6 to give it new life. I was delighted to find the phone on eBay for just £75 (around $100 or AU$140) in 2020. That’s a lot less than a new iPhone 17 Pro, but unfortunately the battery had aged to the point where the software had to artificially limit performance to keep it from dying. Instead of throwing the phone away and experiencing buyer’s remorse, I decided to purchase a replacement battery and tools from iFixit and try changing the battery myself.

It took a little over an hour, but I was able to safely replace the battery and get the iPhone 6 working perfectly again. I’m not giving step-by-step instructions here – head over to iFixit and pick up a kit if that’s what you’re looking for – but I want to describe my experience, including the simplicity of the process, and hope to answer some of the questions you might have if you also need a new battery.

If you have a newer model (an iPhone 12 or newer), be sure to check out Apple’s new repair options first and see if you would be able to do a replacement with parts supplied directly by the company.

Please note that any maintenance you carry out on your own devices is entirely at your own risk.

For more on iPhones, check out everything Apple announced at WWDC 2025.

1. Why would you need to replace an iPhone battery?

Batteries age over time, and given that the iPhone 6 was released years ago, it’s no surprise that the one I bought wasn’t working in perfect condition. One day, the phone restarted unexpectedly while in use and a warning was displayed: “This iPhone experienced an unexpected shutdown because the battery was not able to provide the necessary peak power. Performance management was applied to prevent this from happening again.” Even the phone itself knew it had a bad battery.

In short, a phone’s performance can be limited if it can no longer keep up with power demands. There is the option to disable throttling, but this will cause more frequent crashes. Neither situation is ideal, so replacing the battery seemed like a smart solution to me since it wasn’t my primary phone and I was willing to take a risk.

2. How much does a replacement iPhone battery cost?

The problem with my situation in particular was that I bought the phone for so little that spending more money on a battery replacement service wiped out some of those initial savings. Apple’s replacement service costs £49 ($49), more than half of what I paid for the iPhone 6 I bought. As I was in the middle of a coronavirus lockdown when I attempted this, I wasn’t able to get to an Apple Store to pick it up, and sending it by post would bring the total cost to around £56 (around $75 or AU$105).

iFixit, however, sells a DIY replacement pack for £35 (including postage to my home in Scotland). It costs $30 in the US, and with shipping, that’s about $38. It’s not a huge saving compared to replacing with Apple, but every little bit helps. This also means that you will always have the tools you need if you want to do this again in the future. All you need to buy next time is the battery.

3. What does the iFixit Battery Repair Kit contain?

The iFixit kit comes with a third-party replacement battery that is not from Apple, since Apple does not sell its parts separately for phones older than the iPhone 12. It also has all the tools needed to open the phone and remove the old battery. The only extra thing I needed was a hairdryer to heat and remove the glue.

4. Does replacing a battery void your phone’s warranty?

Opening an iPhone will void the warranty, but if your battery is old enough to need replacing, chances are you’re already past the 12-month warranty period.

5. Is it safe to replace your iPhone battery yourself?

It is not so simple to answer this question. iFixit’s guide gives very detailed instructions on the steps to follow, but a few points made me nervous. One step was to heat the back of the phone with a hairdryer to loosen the glue holding the old battery in place.

Specifically, it said to heat it to “a little too hot to touch comfortably”, which I found a little vague. Especially since this section also warned that “overheating the iPhone can ignite the battery.” But how hot is too hot? What signs would I see if I overheated? I couldn’t find this information and therefore didn’t know how close I might be to overheating it.

Shortly after, while trying to remove the old battery, I accidentally tore what looked like the black casing around that battery. I was pretty sure the battery itself wasn’t punctured – there was no smoking or hissing – but I would have felt much more comfortable if I had had “emergency” instructions on hand about what to watch for and what to do if the battery caught fire.

6. Can I replace my iPhone battery myself?

To a certain extent, I discovered that it was possible, and I’m not the best at DIY. The iFixit instructions were easy to follow and there were only seven internal screws to remove, which were easy to put back in afterwards.

One thing I found confusing is that the instructions on the iFixit website end at the point where you remove the old battery. The only instruction in the conclusion was to follow the previous steps in reverse order. Granted, it wasn’t particularly difficult, but I would have appreciated more guidance at this point.

Another problem I encountered during the process was that when I removed the screen, I cracked the screen protector that was in place. I noticed the hairline cracks and was worried I might have damaged the screen itself, but luckily it was unscathed.

7. Is it worth replacing an iPhone battery?

This depends on the age and value of your phone. If, like me, you bought a cheap used iPhone and just want to upgrade it, this could be a great way to bring old technology back to life without spending a fortune. Keep in mind though, this wasn’t my primary phone and I didn’t buy it with my own money. For me, the risk was low. If I had made a mistake and damaged the phone, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. You will need to ask yourself if you can really do without the phone and assess your tolerance for other risks.

If you are using a newer device, like an iPhone 14 or 15 for example, I would take it directly to Apple. The savings you’ll get from doing it yourself aren’t great enough to justify the potential cost of damaging a more valuable phone.

Watch this: Apple announces DIY repairs for iPhone and Mac

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