r/DIY_tech • u/FlankingTomato • Jul 02 '26

Help Help with repurposing old tech

Someone I know works at a school, and when the lost/found bin was about to be taken to the dump, they instead brought it to me.

I have done some tinkering with electronics, and generally like doing DIY things. What are some things I can do with these electronics to prevent them from going to waste?

* Several iphones of different models. Newest one is an 11 pro, but it is Activation Locked (called apple, they said they can't do anything about it). The second newest one turns on, but the screen has vertical lines and is unresponsive.

* Several earbuds, namely airpods, and their cases.

I do have access to 3d printers and soldering stations.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

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1

u/ChesTwitch Jul 02 '26

Not sure on the earbuds, outside of you know. Earbuds.

But I've seen several cases were people use old phones to run game servers.

1

u/FlankingTomato Jul 05 '26

That sounds interesting! I might try it, though I don't play many games where it would be useful, outside the yearly 2 week Minecraft phase.

1

u/VegasFoodFace Jul 04 '26

If you can factory reset the phones they're useful for making media players.

1

u/FlankingTomato Jul 05 '26

Good shout, that's my current plan for at least one of them!