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ghsDUDE

macrumors 68030
Original poster
May 25, 2010
2,921
740
Can anyone confirm a few things about **safely** destroying an iPhone 11?

Here’s what happened, phone fell off car and got ran over...completely destroyed/bent.


I was able to open it up, here’s the inside.


I safely removed the battery and put it in a LIPO safe bag. Here’s the phone without the battery.


I then decided to drill some holes throughout, as there was zero way for me to power on and remove/reset phone. Here’s a picture (notice the “dust” on the bottom side too from some component?).


Here’s the final picture after drilling holes throughout multiple areas (as I didn’t know where the phones “storage/etc” was actually at).


1. I did this as safely as possible, but other than the glass shards and battery fire risk (which I put in a LIPO safe bag) is there anything risky about what I did?

2. Not sure if there’s anything toxic inside (is there?), but I did everything in an open garage and washed my hands afterwards.

Thanks for the insight and let me know if I missed anything!
 

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Last edited:

Ladybug

macrumors 68000
Apr 13, 2006
1,874
1,013
Battery acid, fire, then bag remains and dropped into the great deep? A bit much yes? :) Kidding of course.

Looks like you did a good job to me.
 

ghsDUDE

macrumors 68030
Original poster
May 25, 2010
2,921
740
Thanks everyone. Yeah, first time I’ve ever broken a phone, at least I got my new 11 for a little cheaper haha.

I must say, it was a little fun to rip apart and destroy! Just has these follow up questions -

1. I did this as safely as possible, but other than the glass shards and battery fire risk (which I put in a LIPO safe bag) is there anything risky about what I did?

2. Not sure if there’s anything toxic inside (is there?), but I did everything in an open garage and washed my hands afterwards.
 

JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
12,547
23,266
Here’s the final picture after drilling holes throughout multiple areas (as I didn’t know where the phones “storage/etc” was actually at).

It's right here.

1602803953044.png

Next time (if there is one), I would consider drilling once and selling the device to a repair shop. You can probably get at least $50 for the undamaged components and logic board.
 

ghsDUDE

macrumors 68030
Original poster
May 25, 2010
2,921
740
Thanks for the feedback guys! Now I’m going to take this thing into a place like Home Depot where I can safely recycle it.

I also didn’t wear goggles or a mask when doing this (or cleaning it up). Hopefully that’s ok?
 

Expos of 1969

Contributor
Aug 25, 2013
4,741
9,257
Thanks for the feedback guys! Now I’m going to take this thing into a place like Home Depot where I can safely recycle it.

I also didn’t wear goggles or a mask when doing this (or cleaning it up). Hopefully that’s ok?
Can you see or is a friend typing for you?
 

Soundboy2609

macrumors newbie
Apr 9, 2021
3
1
WHY WOULD YOU DESTROY IT WHY NOT GET IT FIXED NO MATTER WHAT APPLE SAYS THAT IS FIXABLE WELL WAS UNTIL YOU DRILLED HOLES IN IT
 

Soundboy2609

macrumors newbie
Apr 9, 2021
3
1
I'm sure the OP has their reasons.. Maybe they don't have Applecare+ and the out of warranty repair cost was more than finding a like new iPhone 11 on Swappa or some other market place.
But I looked and it would not of cost more than 265 dollars to get it fixed and not to mention the waste he created by not fixing it
 

BugeyeSTI

macrumors 604
Aug 19, 2017
6,852
8,703
Arizona/Illinois
But I looked and it would not of cost more than 265 dollars to get it fixed and not to mention the waste he created by not fixing it
Apple charges $399 for out of warranty replacement for iPhone 11

If your talking 3rd party repair, I would rather throw the phone away too
 
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