iPhone 3gs exploding expanding battery

You can try taking it to an Apple genius bar and see if they will do anything for you, but since it is out of warranty they may just offer a trade-in allowance. Doesn't hurt to try.

I remember that...with the scorching of iPhones visibly seen on the back. Good days.

Take it to Apple, and hope for a replacement. If not, they'll either offer an out of warranty replacement, or a trade-in allowance.

Hi, This happened the other day to my iPhone 3GS. I purchased the iPhone on March 8th 2010, it's barely 2 years old!!!

I spoke to apple support re this at the end of last week and I am shocked at the explanation I got from them!!!

I was told initially that there were a limited number of cycles that the batteries were designed to last. When I asked for documentary evidence of this, I was told that they did not have this documentation and that in fact, the battery that they were referring to was the MacBook pro battery!

I was then told that the battery had expanded as this was a 'safety' feature. Again, I asked for a copy of the manufacturers documentation and battery specs for the model of battery that is fitted to the iPhone 3GS and again, Apple were unable or unwilling to supply this. I was then given the postal address for apple customer relations in Cork and was also advised to contact O2 as the phone was purchased there.

Lookm, batteries do not behave in this manner, I also expect a product, that costs hundreds of euros to purchase to last longer than 2 years!!!!

Come on apple, you can do better than this!!

Apple is not here and no one here can help you. If possible, take it in to Apple and let them physically see it.

Some relative proof: http://www.macworld.com/article/1058916/iphonebattery.html

The 300 number always refers to a 20% decrease, or 80% capacity. Seems to be the case for Apple products, but of course I only know of Macbooks and iPhone.

Well here we have another 3GS that blew it's lid.... Went to Apple and they said sorry this is not a defect and since it is out of warranty it is my loss. One would think you could get a product to last for more then 2 1/2 years. Apple you were great at one time but no more. You should be ashamed.

Exact same thing happened to me I notIced battery starting to swell and was starting to lift the screen out

I took to apple retail they had a quick look said this needs to be changed now but said $89 for battery but tech guys said too dangerous to attempt battery removal as the back was also bulging but phone still works they come up to me said sir we can't change battery and can't give you a replacement for the $89 we can't offer you anything other than a free disposal of the phone there reason was the phone is too dangerous to take from me but still allowed me to take it home since getting back home the screen now popped out and no longer works I called apple 133622 spoke to several guys they offered me a mail in repair I took phone to aus post one look at the swollen battery they said too dangerous to mail now tech support said same thing just dispose of the phone I asked why the battery do this he said its a safety feature of the phone rather than leaking inside phone the battery expands and it happens towards the end of expected battery life so they make battery to do this roughly after 2 years almost every case I seen advertised about swelling battery has happened about 2 years old the phones are not considered as even a out of warranty replacement even tho they still work but a phone run over by a tank will be replaced

Not fair and only seems to be iPhones that are programmed to self destruct after 2 years

LATEST UPDATE FROM APPLE LOL

SIR WE CANT EXCHANGE THE PHONE AS A REPLACEMENT BECAUSE THE SCREEN IN YOUR PHONE IS A GENERIC NON APPLE SCREEN I SAID HOW DO U KNOW HE SAID WHEN THE SCREEN POPPED OUT THEY OBSERVED SMALL SCREEWS ON THE FRAME HOLDING THE LCD INTO THE MID FRAME HE SAID APPLE SCREENS ARE ALL BONDED NOT REMOVABLE LCD

I SAID OH OK I HAD NO IDEA BUT TODAY I RECIEVED A CALL FROM CUSTOMER SUPPORT AFTER I LEFT VERY POOR FEEDBACK HE EXPLAINED THE PERSON WHO LOOKED AT THE PHONE WAS PROBABLY NEW DIDNT REALISE THE 3G AND 3GS SCREENS HAD A REMOVABLE LCD BUT NEVERLESS THEY KNOCKED IT BACK

EVEN THO THE PHONE IS LESS THEN 6 MONTHS OLD IT WAS FITTED WITH A FAULTY BATTERY BUT BECAUSE THEY SAY ITS A GENERIC SCREEN ALL WARRANTY IS VOIDED

SO IN OTHERWORDS APPLE IS MAKING PHONES WITH AFTERMARKET SCREENS BECAUSE THIS ONE NEVER HAD A SCRATCH ON THE SCREEN

IM TOTALLY OVER THE APPLE PRODUCTS NOW IM GOING TO TRY SAMSUNG GALAXY

i decided to repair this myself and was surprised how easy it was to repair

2 screws remove screen with suction cap remove mainboard from broken back bought new back $30 new screen assembly $25 new battery $5 $60 and it now looks like new just no wifi as the wifi part of the board snapped but atleast can be used as a phone

i made a small video on me repairing it if anyone needs to know how to strip iphone and repair

My Iphone 3GS is about three years old. I purchased a 4s in June and put the 3gs in a drawer. After about two months i decided to charge it up and use it as an ipod. I noticed very quickly that the capacity of the phones battery had been reduced since i had last used it two months earlier.

After the seventh day of use, I went to unplug it and noticed the case for the phone was ajar. Upon further inspection, noticed the screen had pulled away from the phone case and the case itself seemed swollen and mishaped. After some research, I found several articles and photos indicating that the battery had expanded or exploded.

As this product is out of warranty (and I did buy apple care), I do not expect apple to fix it. But i think the issue is bigger than a battery replacement. This anomaly has the potential to cause serious personal injury or property damage. It would behoove Apple to investigate these problems and take action to recall if neccessary. It would be the right thing to do.

There are a few reports of this problem on the SaferProducts.gov site:

http://www.saferproducts.gov/Search/Result.aspx?dm=0&q=3gs&srt=0

I have about same issue as u. My 3GS got swollen in the way that it is completely useless. Local repair shop (working for phone dealer which I bought the phone) stated that my phone had had some sort of moisture damage. They did not want to fix the phone under warranty. My point is that this phone has always been in normal consumer use. It has its history as loved and used device which have never been misused in any way. If the battery explodes like my did, it is higly possible to happen to anyone!

In my country (FInland) there is no apple stores and iPhone purchases has to be done via operators... Operators are not so concerned about product safety and they are not taking this serious..

Have any of you guys had any luck with this matter?

cheers

Mine just popped. Used it a week ago to test an app, and went to grab it today an the screen is sticking out about a centimeter from the casing, main board is snapped, and its just totaled. Sure wish apple would do something about this as i am an independant game developer who just lost the ability to test 3gs support.

apple told me the batteries are made to do this at the end of expected life roughly 24 months old they can start to expand

Czarmuzz, that sounds like garbage (no offense to you). First, if apple makes a claim that their battery pnly lasts two years, they need to document it. I doubt people will shell out hundreds of dollars for a products that are documented to only last two years. What they have is a design flaw flaw that they are calling a feature. Do you really think apple designed a phone to have a battery expand after twenty four months and ruin the device? Is that something Steve Jobs signed off on and said "Yes, lets sell this."

My device was purchased in August of 2009 and functioned perfectly until June when I got a 4S. After 34 months, the battery itself, still had remarkable capacity. The story in these cases seems to be the same, e.g. Bought a new phone, put the old one on the shelf for a couple of months, decide to use it for something else, charge for a little while, then boom... no more phone.

You do not see this happening in any other product they sell. This is a serious defect, they need to acknowledge it and offer to fix product or offer a refund to the consumer.

If you feel so inclined, write a reports on the US Consumer Safety site, saferproducts.gov. Other 3gs owners have started to write reports and document the saftey hazards of the battery suddenly exploding. Even if you don't live in the US, you can report the incident as Apple is a US company.

http://www.saferproducts.gov/Search/Result.aspx?dm=0&q=3GS&srt=0

no offence taken

i have a few disputes running with apple atm about warranty and there excuses to to honor

1 i did software update on our 4s on a friends computer they said warranty voided because it was updated on a computer not associated to my device

the other one a iphone 4 with sticky home button been complaining about this since we got it they say accidental damage and want $198 even tho its got apple warranty

and third one was we has a 3gs the sim tray had broken they said thats classed as accidental damage and wanted $178 to replace the whole unit oh sir we dont know how this had proken and what environment it was exposed to so we cant honor the warranty on this i went to a phone store bought replacement tray for $5

they seem to think there stuff dosnt fail or break and always blames the user