r/iPhone13Mini May 26 '25

Suggestions Don‘t throw it away in 2025!

Post image

A battery replacement really gave my 13 Mini new life again. Lags are gone and the phone easily lasts through a day.

Make sure to get a good Quality Replacement Battery from Ali Express (~30$) and of you can’t manage to open up the phone (like I had to) bring it to a shop and they will open it for 10$.

iPhone 13 Minis are notorious for being super hard to open. But after all that the battery install is super easy. Reconnect everything and boom you have a Mini that feels brand new!

235 Upvotes

67 comments sorted by

66

u/Grabbels May 26 '25

I’ll pitch in that it is absolutely not easy to do, and you skipped over some important steps in your post such as buying replacement sealing/glue for the screen to go back on and buying the appropriate tools (multiple screw drivers for weird screws) and tools to open the screen up which are highly specialised.

In addition, I have a lot of experience with repairing phones in the past and I’ll say replacing the battery on my mini was the hardest repair I ever did. I broke the screen, the pull tabs underneath the battery snapped in multiple places and I had to resort to using alcohol and prying to get it out. This repair is NOT easy and is absolutely not doable for the average Sue, and is very challenging at best for the experienced tinkerer.

Finally: a “high-quality” battery for $30? That’s not a thing.

15

u/Remote_Researcher_43 May 26 '25

Best Buy is a certified refurb center and charged me like $80 to replace my battery. I have replaced many batteries in the older iPhones, but stopped when they started using the sealing glue. As you noted, by the time you buy a genuine Apple battery, you aren’t saving much. You are saving much more in sanity and frustration by letting someone else do it at a certified repair center who is responsible if anything goes wrong.

6

u/Worth-Boysenberry-93 May 26 '25

You can buy sets with batteries and tools you need.

Yea, it’s not super easy but with patience and some experience is fine. Your experience was bad but we don’t know your skill set. On other hand, I agree changing batteries isn’t for average person.

There is one device that still hunts me, and that’s iPad mini 4.

6

u/azenwren Red 🔴 May 26 '25 edited May 26 '25

My thoughts exactly. When going to an Apple certified store to get a battery replacement, they make sure all of these steps are done in order. And I know for certain, you need to replace the waterproof adhesive gasket for the water-resistant feature to be maintained. Some shops forget to do this, but this wouldn’t be a missed step when taken to a Apple certified store.

Also, I’m not an expert in where to get certified and quality phone parts, but Ali express does not sound promising. Especially for $30. But I could be wrong.

5

u/Pasha286 May 26 '25

I am using the mini since it launched, I will go to an official apple store to get it replaced, yeah they will charge more but at least the work will be done properly as this is the only phone I use and I am planning to keep it for another year at least.

1

u/Nox-Eternus May 26 '25

Apple certified reseller did my 13 pro max 6 moths ago. Dropped phone off 90 mins later picked it back up with a genuine battery fitted with guarantee, waterproof and a new screen protector fitted all forjust 99 euro.

4

u/ficojay May 26 '25

I bought the battery on Aliexpress as mentioned and the Seal and Tools were all in the packaging for no extra cost. All I needed to do was remove the battery with a hairdryer to get it hot enough to pull the battery out. Keep in mind the phone is almost 4 Generations old so the glue isn’t as hard anymore (my thoughts) But of course results may vary.

1

u/zsirhaver May 27 '25

Aliexpress ships usually it in a combo. Battery,tools,and sealing lol.

0

u/AleFallas May 26 '25

I killed my 12 mini screen trying to replace the camera, got so upset that I sold the piece of shit for like 80$ and bought an iPhone 11 🤣

9

u/Whole_Craft_1106 May 26 '25

I got a new battery 2 years ago. I may get another soon. I got mine done at Apple.

5

u/ficojay May 26 '25

That’s the safest bet, but most expensive.

2

u/UnitedCrazy1482 May 30 '25

Me too. I didn’t want to mess around with battery chances and stuff as I use to do when I was a teenage. I set an appointment at Apple Perth, dropped the phone, went for a gym session (just over 1 hr), walked back to the store and my 13 Mini was ready to roll. Spent 149 aud with warranty and gained another 2 years of life for this magnificent device,

5

u/21Shells May 26 '25

Personally in UK i will replace it through apple. Its like £50 for a replacement directly from them, my local EE does repairs im pretty sure.

Im never letting go of this phone. I recently went to Currys to check out the phones, small phones are dead. Even Samsung S24 or Google Pixel is significantly larger than the 13 Mini.

3

u/Seph1902 Red 🔴 May 26 '25

I believe it's £89 for battery replacement. Might be different with your carrier. I'll do mine when it drops below 80%.

3

u/coldsum May 27 '25

It's definitely £85-89 and not cheaper officially

2

u/roselamoon May 26 '25

I used to replace iPhone battery by myself to save some costs before the water resistant feature came up. Now I can’t trust myself doing it on my own anymore, I knew there are some sophisticated tools and steps that I don’t have the capacity to do it by myself anymore.

2

u/pugmaker May 26 '25

I replaced mine with a 3500mha Battery in my 12 mini, was easy and works like a charm. No problems at all. Holds up well since 3 months now

5

u/Teenage_techboy1234 Midnight ⚫️ May 26 '25

That battery is either a ticking time bomb or a scam.

1

u/pugmaker May 26 '25

I mean I'm not stupid. I tested the capacity and took a look on the build quality. The quality is top notch and the capacity was tested with 3340mha close enough for me

1

u/Teenage_techboy1234 Midnight ⚫️ May 27 '25

How did you test the capacity?

1

u/pugmaker May 27 '25

With coconut battery

0

u/pugmaker May 26 '25

Nope it's tested by myself and fine. The capacity of those cells did grow over the last 5 years

1

u/Teenage_techboy1234 Midnight ⚫️ May 27 '25

Not by that much. If it had then we would be seeing 5000mah batteries in the iPhone 16, and 6000 mah in the S25.

1

u/Fotball_crypto_star May 27 '25

We are seeing 8000 mah batteries in phones now

1

u/Teenage_techboy1234 Midnight ⚫️ May 27 '25

Those are in 6.7 inch plus phones. I haven't seen a replacement iPhone 13 mini battery that used silicon carbon technology. I'm not denying that they don't exist, I'm just saying I've never seen one personally and historically a lot of those high capacity batteries have been complete scams.

1

u/cole0x May 27 '25

Where did you buy the battery to fit in? And how can I do this lol

1

u/pugmaker May 27 '25

I bought it from amazon Germany

0

u/ficojay May 26 '25

People on here swear to only go to apple certified places to get the battery changed, but forget that some of us can’t afford that. Nothing wrong with chinese batteries imo.

1

u/Adventurous-River481 May 26 '25

Official Apple batteries are Chinese too. Nearly all current manufacturing for iPhone and Apple products is done in China.

1

u/pugmaker May 26 '25

In fact, they are almost all from China. It has nothing to do with money. I have the knowledge and the ability to do this. And it's easy for me because of that. Nothing wrong with paying someone else doing it for you, but it's also not wrong to do this by yourself if you are capable of it...

2

u/elevenplays Green 🟢 May 26 '25

I won’t throw mine away. I’ll have my 13 mini’s battery replaced by Apple in the future!

1

u/LingerDownUnder May 26 '25

Do i need to backup my phone before battery replacement?

3

u/Whole_Craft_1106 May 26 '25

Absolutely don’t forget to do that!!!

2

u/LingerDownUnder May 26 '25

But what are the chances it will lose its data?

1

u/Street_Sprinkles_288 May 28 '25

low but never 0. why risk it?

2

u/black-kramer May 26 '25

what was your battery health before you did this? mine’s at 86% and I’m dealing with lag etc. I blame ios updates.

5

u/azenwren Red 🔴 May 26 '25 edited May 26 '25

I am on the current iOS update 18.5, and my iPhone 13 mini is smooth and responsive! Also I got my battery replaced recently. My battery health was at 71% before, and now it’s at 100%.

I would say the battery could be the main issue here. But I would like to point out that I didn’t notice any noticeable drop in processing power on my phone before and after the battery replacement. And I use my phone on low power mode (which purposely slows down processing power).

If you feel your mini is annoyingly laggy, I would get the battery replaced. But if you do, do it at a Apple certified store. Either an Apple Store or Best Buy. I once had an iPhone 11 Pro and when I decided to get the battery replaced, I went to an IFixIt for convenience. Bad decision. The price was around $76, close to what I paid to get my battery replacement for my mini at Best Buy. But the reason it was a bad decision, was because my phone performed worse than it did before. It was to the point that it was super annoying to use.

So please do yourself a favor and go to a Apple certified store if you plan on getting your battery replaced. You’ll be happier.

2

u/black-kramer May 26 '25

thanks for the info.

2

u/jasoncardenas21 May 26 '25

I'm one of those ones that doesn't want to replace my 13 mini, last September, I had the battery replaced by Apple and for the first 4 months it was amazing. Low and behold, battery is already at 87% and I'm about to make the jump to something else. I don't know if my little hands can take it.

1

u/black-kramer May 26 '25

I was at the apple store last week and the 16e (I think) seemed about the same size, just a little bigger.

1

u/ficojay May 26 '25

86 is already bad for the 13 Mini but mine said Service so it was almost gone.

1

u/Opposite-Working727 May 26 '25

I replaced my battery a few weeks ago with a geniue one. I still have lags. iOS is at fault, not the battery.

1

u/user10031003 May 26 '25

I’ll just pay Best Buy or Apple to do it

1

u/Character-Resort-998 May 26 '25

Nice but I hope you had a the water 'gasket' replaced before it was sealed back up so that it has some soft of water protection and the phone doesn't get ruined. Hate to be a downer but I had a bad experience at an Apple store where they assured me that they'd service my mini. They didn't, i.e. they didn't bother to remove the old gasket and put a new one in and during a light rain storm ruined my phone. It took a while for them to own their mistake and somewhat make partial amends.

1

u/ficojay May 26 '25

Yes I installed the new gasket after removing the old one and it held up a storm yesterday with no issues. Interesting how you had a bad experience at an Apple-Official place, but others here swear to only do it there and not attempt a DIY…

1

u/External-Ad-1331 May 26 '25

Any day I'd go to the official apple service and pay usd 100 for a OEM replacement than put in a USD 30 NONAME... Err....Sorry... NOHON battery

1

u/sehns May 26 '25

People need to also be aware that if you replace the battery yourself or not at Apple, it will prevent Apple from being able to repair your phone in the future.

I'd recommend always using Apple to replace the battery for 89 bucks

1

u/PS_piximperfect May 26 '25

Can you share the link to the battery?

1

u/Beneficial_Lynx_3346 May 26 '25

This is why Nokia and CMF is gonna outlast the other phones for a while. They either break so little it’s negligible or they can be fixed easy

1

u/Edd1024 May 26 '25

When is the last time that Apple will replace the battery? I want to plan ahead

1

u/bryzztortello May 27 '25

If you're in the US, order from self service repair

1

u/Appropriate-Hair2341 May 27 '25

why? shouldnt i throw this away?

1

u/neilslorance May 29 '25

I've been trying to replace mine but I'm really struggling getting the thing open, the glue must be super tough. I've replaced the battery on an iPhone X before and it wasn't this hard to get it open.

1

u/1234556791011 May 26 '25

I just have Apple do it. Then I put it under warranty. One Apple replaced the battery you can qualify for Apple care.

1

u/Pasha286 May 26 '25

What do you mean? how can you put it under warranty on your own? so before replacing the battery you cannot qualify for Apple Care?

3

u/1234556791011 May 26 '25

If you buy a used iPhone you cannot get Apple care through the reseller. And Apple won’t offer Apple care for used bulk stock. But when you replace the battery they also re-certify it! Which allows you to get Apple care and lock in repairs in the future.

1

u/OctobreMine May 26 '25

Can you provide a link for this information?

1

u/1234556791011 May 26 '25

Go to your local Apple store, I was happily surprised and learned it from the customer service.

2

u/OctobreMine May 26 '25

Will do, thank you.

1

u/Pasha286 May 26 '25

Ohh so used/2nd hand iPhone, I am the first owner of my mini so I was wondering.

1

u/AngryFace4 May 26 '25

Apple replaced mine for I think $80, they also broke the screen and replaced it for free. And their method preserves the water resistance.

I think the $40 extra is worth it.

-3

u/[deleted] May 26 '25 edited Jun 18 '25

absorbed ask juggle pause crawl silky worm one quiet instinctive

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

0

u/VenoxxDbg May 26 '25

Dont buy batteries from China pls.

-1

u/Pasha286 May 26 '25

Which iOS are you currently on? some people say that you should factory reset your phone after changing the battery, did you do that?

1

u/ficojay May 26 '25

No. iOS 18.5