Battery replacement, what am I doing wrong?

Question

iPhone 13 Mini

Released on September 24th 2021, the iPhone 13 mini is a smaller version of Apple's iPhone 13 and is the second mini iPhone. It features a 5.4-inch OLED, an A15 Bionic processor, and dual rear cameras.

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Jorx88 @jorx88

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Mud 26, 2025

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Battery replacement, what am I doing wrong?

When trying to separate the screen from the frame of the phone, part of it is still attached to the frame.

It looks like I've separated part of it, but some structure is still attach to the phone, and the wires to the front cameras/sensors/face id are still attached to the screen from two sides.

See next:

Honestly, I cannot manage to separate the correct part of it. I've tried a few ways and I'm scare to break wires or something else.

What am I doing wrong?

Could be that a refurbished phone may have different parts?

Thanks beautiful community, have a nice day :)

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Jerry Wheeler @dadibrokeit

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Mud 26, 2025

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What's happened here is that there's a metal frame attached to the screen that provides the attachment points to the body of the phone. Somehow you've managed to separate the screen from its frame rather than separating the screen+frame assembly from the phone's midframe. I've seen this happen on some of the newer model phones as well as aftermarket screens that don't use a strong adhesive to hold the screen frame in place.

Using this picture as a guide, you'll need to go around the edge of the phone again, only this time get between the screen frame and the midframe, separating it on all four sides.

Once it's separated you can go back to the guide and pick it up at Step 18.

Unfortunately, the time this happened to me I didn't have any luck; when the frame came away from the display it ended up damaging the OLED and I had to replace it. If you're lucky and your screen is still functional you'll need something like B7000 glue to resecure the frame back on the screen before you can put it all back together. Make sure if it's bent that you flatten it completely so it sits perfectly on the screen before you glue it back down.

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Thanks a lot, Jerry Wheeler! :)

You can't imagine how much I appreciate your message. During the process, I kept thinking, "Is this even an iPhone 13 mini? It doesn't look like the one in the guide." Haha.

Then, little by little, I realized I had lifted the screen off the metal frame. And thanks to your comment, I was able to accept that reality.

In the end, I decided to send it to the official Apple Store for the battery replacement, as I didn’t feel confident removing the metal frame and then gluing it perfectly back onto the screen.

But thanks again, and have a beautiful day! :)

crwdns2934271:0Mud 27, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Jorx88 crwdne2934271:0

@jorx88 Be prepared for extra cost here, as I am about 98% sure they're going to replace the screen along with the battery; there's just no way their official repair procedures are going to let them just glue your screen back together.

At least your phone is on its way back to being fully functional again; sorry it didn't work out for you to be able to replace your own battery. What you ran into isn't a common problem, but like I said, I'm seeing reports of it happening more and more on newer model phones. It may be that Apple has changed their procedures or materials used in making the screens and the new ones aren't as good as the originals.

crwdns2934271:0Mud 27, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Jerry Wheeler crwdne2934271:0

@dadibrokeit Hey Jerry! Quick update for you and the community.

I went to the Apple Store after accidentally separating the screen from the frame. They told me it had dead pixel lines and asked if I still wanted the battery replaced. I said no—at that point, I figured I’d go full DIY.

So I ordered a new screen and used the battery I had already bought. It took hours: removing the battery adhesive was nerve-racking (too many battery fire videos out there 😅), and cleaning off the old glue was tedious—but I pushed through!

Now I’ve got a completely “new” phone! 🎉 I did mess up the ambient light sensor, so auto-brightness is gone forever, but honestly, I’m still proud of the result.

I spent around €150 in total. Sure, the official battery replacement would’ve been €99, and I’d have kept the original OLED screen instead of a budget LCD—but I learned a ton, built confidence, and had fun.

Super happy to be part of this community. Thanks for all the support and inspiration! 🙌

crwdns2934271:0Mud 31, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Jorx88 crwdne2934271:0

@jorx88 Awesome, thanks for getting back to us and letting us know how it all turned out! So far between you and me we're 0 for 2 on resecuring a frame that's come off the screen, so that's good information to have.

Now that you've done it once, it'll come much easier the next time a situation like that comes up; I'm now the "phone repair guy" for my entire extended family because like you I decided to tackle the job myself rather than pay someone to do it. And yes,I made many mistakes as well, but I've learned from them and now I try and help others learn from my errors; hopefully you have too!

crwdns2934271:0Mud 31, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Jerry Wheeler crwdne2934271:0

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Thanks a lot, Jerry Wheeler! :)

You can't imagine how much I appreciate your message. During the process, I kept thinking, "Is this even an iPhone 13 mini? It doesn't look like the one in the guide." Haha.

Then, little by little, I realized I had lifted the screen off the metal frame. And thanks to your comment, I was able to accept that reality.

In the end, I decided to send it to the official Apple Store for the battery replacement, as I didn’t feel confident removing the metal frame and then gluing it perfectly back onto the screen.

But thanks again, and have a beautiful day! :) — Jorx88
@jorx88 Be prepared for extra cost here, as I am about 98% sure they're going to replace the screen along with the battery; there's just no way their official repair procedures are going to let them just glue your screen back together.

At least your phone is on its way back to being fully functional again; sorry it didn't work out for you to be able to replace your own battery. What you ran into isn't a common problem, but like I said, I'm seeing reports of it happening more and more on newer model phones. It may be that Apple has changed their procedures or materials used in making the screens and the new ones aren't as good as the originals. — Jerry Wheeler
@dadibrokeit Hey Jerry! Quick update for you and the community.

I went to the Apple Store after accidentally separating the screen from the frame. They told me it had dead pixel lines and asked if I still wanted the battery replaced. I said no—at that point, I figured I’d go full DIY.

So I ordered a new screen and used the battery I had already bought. It took hours: removing the battery adhesive was nerve-racking (too many battery fire videos out there 😅), and cleaning off the old glue was tedious—but I pushed through!

Now I’ve got a completely “new” phone! 🎉 I did mess up the ambient light sensor, so auto-brightness is gone forever, but honestly, I’m still proud of the result.

I spent around €150 in total. Sure, the official battery replacement would’ve been €99, and I’d have kept the original OLED screen instead of a budget LCD—but I learned a ton, built confidence, and had fun.

Super happy to be part of this community. Thanks for all the support and inspiration! 🙌 — Jorx88
@jorx88 Awesome, thanks for getting back to us and letting us know how it all turned out! So far between you and me we're 0 for 2 on resecuring a frame that's come off the screen, so that's good information to have.

Now that you've done it once, it'll come much easier the next time a situation like that comes up; I'm now the "phone repair guy" for my entire extended family because like you I decided to tackle the job myself rather than pay someone to do it. And yes,I made many mistakes as well, but I've learned from them and now I try and help others learn from my errors; hopefully you have too! — Jerry Wheeler

iPhone 13 Mini

Battery replacement, what am I doing wrong?

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