iPhone 5 or earlier What to do with vintage iPhones and Apple devices with batteries - fire risk?

[Shirasaki]

OP has a good question related to safety.
"Keeping it in a drawer somewhere" won't mitigate the potential fire danger.

There are only two options: one is to maintain those old devices, and the other one is transferring them to someone/somewhere else, including ewaste landfill.
Besides, I already said I probably replace the battery if swelling ends up happening.

 

[maerz001]

I will take a look, thank you.

That said, it's not just the battery of this tablet I wish to get rid of. It's the entire thing.

Don’t u have communal recycling centers? Like where u can drop of fridges and other household things

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Is there even a fire risk with empty batteries?

If it's swollen that you see black spots on the display yes, as it's pressing against other internal components and could tear. The iPod Nano is infamous for this and why their value on eBay has taken a nosedive compared to iPod Touches and Classics, and even Shuffles. Battery replacements on Nanos are absurdly difficult that most do not bother, and because of how difficult it is to even repair one iPod mods on Nanos are nonexistent.

 

[blkjedi954]

Good question.
Check with your local municipality for disposal and recycling options.
The fire department may also have info.

Somewhat helpful info but totally ignored his desire to not “..really want to get rid of them”. Offering a solution that encompasses the main question saves a lot of back and forth. Cheers!

p.s. - replacing the batteries would be a solution or/even removing the batteries entirely if these were to be collectibles.

 

[sack_peak]

So I still have some of my first Apple devices like an iPod Classic, some old iPhones, an old MacBook, etc. I don't really want to get rid of them, but I'm concerned about battery swelling issues and the fire risk associated with that. I have some other non-Apple devices from around the same period as my first Apple devices, and most of their batteries had started swelling. Luckily, I can just take the batteries out of those devices and keep them, but the same can't be said about the Apple devices that make it a lot harder to remove the batteries.

What do you do with your old/vintage Apple devices?

Store it away from where you live in. Last thing you want is anyone to get harmed from devices you refuse to sell.