Expanded, swollen batteries can explode. I got my (out of warranty) iPhone 5 replaced on an Apple Store for free. The battery was pushing up the display/screen glass out of the aluminium bezel. If your iPhone’s battery is expanding, fix it ASAP!

The battery of my iPhone 5 suddenly expanded…

Not fixing your iPhone’s swelling battery can be very disastrous: the battery can expand so much at the point of cracking / breaking the screen/display glass!

In the case of expanding / swelling batteries, take it seriously: even if there is no “official” program for it, take your device for an inspection at an Apple Store. Lithium-Ion batteries store a big deal of chemical energy and can generate flammable gases.

After I published my video, a few friends contacted me privately saying they also had the expanding battery problem and Apple replaced their phones.

My old iPhone 5’s battery was terrible

Our only complaint about that first iPhone 5 was the battery: shorter than my previous iPhone, the 4S, and very often it shut down around 20% battery indication. Apple announced an “iPhone 5 Battery Replacement Program” – but its serial number was not it the list… I inherited this iPhone from my wife, when we bought her the iPhone 6 Plus – she got immediately delighted with the 6 plus’ huge battery life.

I got used to my inherited iPhone 5’s short battery life – battery aside, it was a very good phone: fast, slim, beautiful, great camera (for photos)… I was happy with it.

When that iPhone 5 got 2 years and 6 months, I started noticing a weird color movement when I touched the sides of the screen, like when you push a notebook LCD’s screen. In only one week, it got much more visible – and then I realized: the screen was being pushed up from behind. On the laterals, the front glass was almost 2mm up from its original position in the aluminum bezel. The battery was expanding – that’s dangerous, poses risk of fire or even explosion.

Apple replaced my old iPhone 5 with a new one. The Genius Bar experience was superb. At the “Puerta del Sol” store in the center of Madrid, the ‘Geniuses’ were very kind and knowledgeable – they assisted me on upgrading the replacement phone’s iOS to the newest version so I could restore my iCloud Backup. You cannot restore a backup made on iOS 8.3 on a phone with iOS 8.1, for example. But you can restore older iOS backups (lets say 8.3) on a newer iOS, such as 8.4.

My ‘new’ iPhone 5’s battery is EXCELLENT! All the short life and premature shutdowns are gone. I am finally ending my day with plenty of juice left 🙂

Apple’s Exchange and Repair Extension Programs

http://www.apple.com/support/exchange_repair/

Programs like this are great for consumers. No production line is perfect. It is very brave of any company to put it open which devices/batch/serials are known for presenting problems – and even offer new devices in exchange. Very recently, Apple determined that a small percentage of iPhone 6 Plus could have cameras with problems to focus: iSight Camera Replacement Program for iPhone 6 Plus. My wife’s 6 Plus is eligible, so we are taking it there too (I still don’t know if they replace the camera or if it is a full replacement).