Is your iPhone battery life much worse than it used to be? Or maybe your device suddenly dies while watching a video? These could be signs that it’s time to replace the battery in your iPhone. Hardware failures aren’t as common as software issues on iPhones. But all smartphone batteries can degrade over time (although newer batteries last longer), leaving you with a device that could eventually give up at the most inconvenient time.
These five signs could be warning you that it’s past time to replace your iPhone battery.
The first and most obvious sign of a failing battery is that it doesn’t hold a charge very long. Your iPhone battery should last several hours, even when in use. If it’s dying after two hours or less, it’s time to consider a new battery.
Sign 2 – Swelling iPhone Case
No, not the case you bought to protect the smartphone. The actual outer metal shell of your iPhone can swell if the battery has become damaged or has degraded. Stop using your iPhone, as a swollen battery can be dangerous. Contact Apple if the device is in warranty, or a third-party repair service if it’s not.
Sign 3 – Battery Health Is Poor
Head to Settings > Battery and look at Battery Health.
In most cases, you should see “Normal.” If it doesn’t say “Normal,” it could indicate a physical problem with the battery. You may also get a pop-up message saying, “Your battery’s health is significantly degraded.” This is another sign that a new battery is required.
Sign 4 – Battery Capacity Has Dropped Dramatically
Tap on “Battery Health,” and you’ll see a new screen with more details. The maximum capacity for your battery should be over 80%. If it’s not, it’s telling you that you cannot hold more than 4/5 of its potential battery capacity.
Sign 5 – iPhone Shuts Down Without Warning
You normally get frequent warnings when the battery on your iPhone is running low. These may include a prompt to put your phone into Low Power Mode to save power. However, if the iPhone shuts down without any warning at all, it’s a sure sign that the battery is in poor condition.
Pro tip: If you miss the prompt to put your iPhone in Low Power Mode, you can go to Settings > Battery > Low Power Mode, then toggle Low Power Mode to on. The toggle button will turn green.
Replacing Your iPhone Battery
You can, in theory, replace your iPhone battery yourself with some skill and the right components. However, here are some things to consider:
Technically, while you can repair your own phone without violating the terms of agreement, using non-genuine third-party parts risks triggering a “Non-Genuine Parts” warning on your phone. You may also still invalidate any existing warranty.
Sourcing the correct components can be challenging, so you may want to get a trusted and experienced third party to do this repair.
If your iPhone battery life became critical while in warranty, Apple may fix it for you for free. Contact them using the support channels on their website.
As an avid gamer, I’ve run into my fair share of error codes and weird faults that have forced me to find fixes to problems I never anticipated. That gave me a passion for sharing those fixes with others so we can all game without feeling like our hardware is rebelling against us.
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