The Challenge
The biggest issue? There’s no practical way to fit this massive battery inside the phone’s slim design. So, the first step is figuring out if I can get the phone to even recognize and run on this oversized battery. If successful, I’ll work on making the setup more secure and portable.
Prepping for the Upgrade
Step 1: Preparing the Battery
The 8,000mAh battery came from a power bank. First, I cut off the black and red wires to detach it. After almost using a damaged battery (rookie mistake!), I switched to a safer, untouched one.
Step 2: Removing the Phone’s Original Battery
Opening up the iPhone 7 Plus was straightforward since I hadn’t glued the battery down too tightly. I carefully pried it up to avoid damaging the Apple logo mod on the back of the phone.
Step 3: Detaching the Battery Management System (BMS) Board
The BMS board, which regulates battery usage, needed to be removed from the iPhone’s original battery and soldered to the power bank battery. This step was tricky—I even broke the first board I tried to use! Thankfully, I had a backup from a previous project.
The Soldering Saga
Soldering the wires to the new battery was a delicate process. After several attempts (and some trial-and-error with a soldering helper tool), I got a solid connection. The first try didn’t work—the phone didn’t recognize the battery at all. On my second attempt, the phone powered on but kept looping at the Apple logo screen.
The Breakthrough
Persistence paid off! With a third attempt, using a single 10,000mAh power bank battery instead of a double setup, the phone finally booted up and stayed on. The battery showed a 76% charge, and the phone was running solely on the external power source.
The Results
The modified iPhone 7 Plus now runs on a 10,000mAh battery, giving it over four times the battery life of the original. The setup is still rudimentary, with wires sticking out, but the proof of concept works. My next steps include:
- Extending the wires for easier placement.
- Drilling a hole to attach the battery to the phone’s back securely.
- Testing the battery life and performance over time.
