The battery in my old iPhone (out of warranty) has just decided to explode, pop the screen off and bend the main board. Is Apple doing anything to correct this issue? I wasn't using it for a phone, rather an ipod around the house, but still it shouldn't just fall apart like that!
iPhone 3GS, iOS 5.0.1
I got my old 3GS replaced at an Apple Store yesterday for $80 - it was out of warranty but they said they would replace it as a battery problem. This was the second Apple Store I went to - the first tried to sell me a new battery for $150. I found an authorized Apple repair shop and they told me to go ASAP to Apple (and go to a store that wasn't as busy as the one I went to) and they should offer to replace for $50 - $100, confirming that the battery was swelling and it could explode or at least leak and damage the board. The second Apple Store was great - I did not have to throw a hissy-fit to get them to replace, just dropped a few key words like product defect; the Genius at the first store just wanted to get rid of me.
I noticed the problem when I was finally getting ready to sell the phone. I got a new iphone 5 in Nov. and had sold the phone after taking photographs of the phone in mid Jan. No bulging back and screen was clear and bright. I did notice that the phone was not holding a charge very well. Sold the phone about 10 days later and while getting it ready I noticed a dark spot on the screen, below the glass. when I pressed on the area, the spot moved. got an appt at Apple that afternoon and the Genius told me that the battery was swelling and pushing upwards and that's what caused the darkening. he opened the phone and apparently relieved some of the pressure but there was still a spot. obviously I could not sell with a known change so I checked around and found the place to replace the battery. in the 5 days between noticing the dark area and then going to get a new battery, the case started bulging. this was shocking as I was not charging or using the phone.
Took a while to find any info on battery swelling on Apple website (only here). Google 3GS battery swelling and the photos are grim - this is NOT unique problem. If your phone gets warm and the battery does not hold a charge, run, do not walk, to get the battery replaced.
I will take it to my local Apple Store and see what they say first.
efithian wrote:
I will take it to my local Apple Store and see what they say first.
You will take it to the local Apple store first before you contact Apple about it?
MMy iPhone 3GS. Has also exploded today?? Has anyone on here had any success taking it to an apple store?
Well, there is a burning process, a bit blurred, was in a hurry 🙂
billymac1 wrote:
I have a 50% failure rate in my world, you call that rare
Yes. 50% failure rate is extremely rare.
Chris CA wrote:
billymac1 wrote:
I have a 50% failure rate in my world, you call that rare
Yes. 50% failure rate is extremely rare.
LOL! I see what you did there...
It is however a problem for users since it results in a product that self-destructs with time and this may not be what the customer expected and likely Apple did not wish for it either.
This is an obvious defect in the hardware, this is not just normal wear and tear.
Apple has had recalled a number of their products because of battery issues and this should be another one.
Just look at these images and let me know if this is something that is safe to use:
Hopefully you still have what's left of the phone. Please take it to Apple and demand that they replace it. If you got it elsewhere, take it back and tell them that Apple is replacing phones when the batteries swell.
Just to give an update, just fired my 3GS up for an update today, had same issue, phoned Apple support, they put me through to a senior tech straight away when I said the battery had swollen and pushed screen out.
To cut a long story short, tried to get me to device replace for £126 (GBP, so c.$180 USD) - very quickly said they would replace the DEVICE under a "battery replacement" scheme and charge me £62 (so c.$90 USD)
I did think about buying my own battery for £10-£20, but I think the the phone is pretty shot from being forced open from the inside so figured a factory refurb (new casing, camera lens etc) was worth it...
Still a little bitter though as my 1st Gen Nano had battery problems too, and they EVENTUALLY replaced all those free under a product recall...
Note also, towards the end of the call (after I had emailed the photos over to tech, and he called me back) he really wasn't keen when I was suggesting I turn the phone back on and just charge it to see what happens.....
Perhaps could have held out for more, but figure c.10% of cost for a factory replacement after 3 years isn't too bad,
Just returned from our local Apple Store, frustrated. Waited 2 hours for an appointment with the 'Genius', showed them my blown up 3GS, just to find out that they offer me a $79 repair. When I told them I want to trade the thing in, the answer was: yes, get it repaired and we recylce the repaired one for $18. I could hardly stop laughing.
This is Apple's new business model: make $79 on the repair and buy it back for $18. Looks like they are desperate to recover their share value.
All joking aside, Apple should show some more appreciation for its customers. I have plenty of electronics in my home, many of this being much older than this iPhone of 2010 (guys, we are in 2013 - this is not from the last century). Most of this stuff runs on rechargable batteries, and runs and runs and runs. I have never seen one blowing up 'because of safety reasons', what a helpless and desperate excuse.
The saddest learning above all - Apple doesn't care. The money is in the pocket, done.
You missed the point. The money is not the main issue, it's the fact that the battery or the design is defective and Apple should own up to it.
J.K. ROFLing Texas, USA, Earth, Sol, Milky Way
Hey, all of you guys with "exploding", "expanding", "swelling", whatever batteries. If you haven't called Apple yet, do so. What is the worse that they can tell you? That it isn't covered? Well, if that's their answer, you are no worse off, you are only out a few minutes of time and there is a case created in their system (unlike complaining here) that you are having this problem.
But who knows, if you are nice and aren't screaming and hollering, they just might be able to so something. Then again, they might charge you for the battery replacement, $80 if I remember correctly, but they might cover the parts damaged by the battery.
Who knows for sure what they will do, but IMHO its worth a shot.
CMC55 is spot on here.
The fact is that those whose phones are being destroyed in this way have no prior knowledge of the fact that it is even possible to occur, unless they are a technophile and dig deep. There has been no recall (such as Toyota regularly have done when faults are found, and they focus heavily on customer satisfaction despite heavy losses), nor has there been any public interaction whatsover by Apple, apart from deleting posts in this thread!
In staying silent they leave their customers vulnerable to abguish and complete loss of data. And their investment is destroyed - unless of course they pay £80 or whatever for the priivilege of having a design fault fixed – and I doubt they'll make losses on those amounts.
Imagine if this happened in their computers! They would have no customer base at all very quickly. It seems that because it's a phone a few years old then it's expendable. Well it's not how I've been brought up and if you want to stick to 'old' technology then why not? On environmental policy alone it's shoddy.
This phenomenon is incredible and Apple's approach in dealing with it disdainful.
Please add another EXPLODING battery to the list, this just happened today, my 3GS LCD top cover started popping off from the top, I removed the LCD/Digitizer to see whats going on and I noticed the RF sheilding cover was warped on the top of the logic board, a minute later the battery expanded and popped the circuit board out of the phone at the camera corner side, cracked the board in half from the pressure of the battey having room to grow now since the LCD was off. Dear Apple what would have happend if I tried to push the LCD/Digitizer back on and I burst the LION battery from pressure ? My 3GS is ruined now, the logic board is snapped off, and this is a normal event dont worry ....😠...
Ruined Logic board, my phone was working fine earler today but was not holding a charge well anymore. I literally watched the battery expand and crack the phones board, it took 1 minute to destroy my phone !
Moderator: How come these hyperlinks are allowed?
Lawrence Finch NYC Area
CMC55 wrote:
You missed the point.
You are missing the point. It is a failure mode of ALL Lithium batteries, whether they are in iPhones, Galaxy phones, Windows phones, Nokias, laptops, Tesla cars or space ships. Apple's batteries if anything are safer than most others, as none of them have ever started a house fire or injured anyone, like these:
http://osaseye.blogspot.com/2013/07/samsung-phone-battery-catches-fire-in.html#. Us9M0GRDuA0
http://www.digitaltree.org/samsung-galaxy-s3-fire-incident/
http://gsminsider.com/2013/07/samsung-galaxy-s4-exploded-hong-kong/
iPhone 3gs exploding expanding battery
