Battery swelling in iPhone

[Shawn Pixley]

A couple months ago I had to replace the glass in my 3 year old iPhone after dropping it. Two weeks ago, I noticed the front glass was now bowing out. I figured it was that the glass wasn't properly clipped in. So taking it back to the shop they replaced the glass, they said and showed the battery swollen and black and waiting to explode. it was quickly replaced. I carry the phone in my front pocket. I am glad it didn't explode.

[Jason Roehl]

I bet your wife is, too.

[Chuck Wintle]

A couple months ago I had to replace the glass in my 3 year old iPhone after dropping it. Two weeks ago, I noticed the front glass was now bowing out. I figured it was that the glass wasn't properly clipped in. So taking it back to the shop they replaced the glass, they said and showed the battery swollen and black and waiting to explode. it was quickly replaced. I carry the phone in my front pocket. I am glad it didn't explode.

a good thing the battery swelling was discovered.

[Joel Goodman]

Recently I had the battery on my iPhone 4s replaced. I have heard that they generate some heat when being charged and that this can cause problems. I cut a few large holes in the back (behind the battery) of the Speck case that the phone lives in to help with the heat dissipation. Was yours in a case?

[Shawn Pixley]

Yes mine is in a case. LOML has hers (identical model) in an identical case. No issues.

[Raymond Fries]

WHEW...

You are a lucky man sir.

[Scott Shepherd]

I have an old macbook pro laptop that I don't use any longer. It's sitting in my office, leaning against the wall. Something caught my eye recently as I sat down, something didn't look normal, so I looked at it and it was sitting a couple inches off the wall. I picked it up and the battery had expanded so far that it actually bent the aluminum until it broke the latches holding it it. It probably swelled to 1/2"-3/4" thicker than it should be. It didn't explode or release any chemicals, but it was something I had never witnessed before. It must be a tremendous amount of energy stored in those things.

[Larry Frank]

It sounds like this is not an uncomfortable problem in all phones but iPhones seem to have a larger number...

I found a couple of potential sources


Old battery
Bending of phone
Wrong charging...over charging....bad charger
Software issues in which the part that controls charging is not good

[Kent Adams]

Did Apple replace your screen or did you have a third party replace it?

[Gary Yoder]

I've seen this happen with a couple phones when a different higher voltage charger is used for a period of time. My wife had two phones that she used extensively and would drain the battery a couple times a day and they both swelled up as well.

[Shawn Pixley]

Yes. Yes I am...!

[Shawn Pixley]

AEM replacement.

[Shawn Pixley]

Used original Apple chargers but many days nd night in Europe or Asia with different voltages / frequencies.

[John Coloccia]

Happened to my old iPhone too. Honestly, given the various LiPo et al. failure modes, swelling seems to be most common in these devices, and that's a good thing. If your phone ever starts smelling like bubble gum, look out... :)