Jonathan Goldsmith

And btw, the "iOpener" is pretty much the exact same thing as a neck warmer/heat pad. The same thing can also be accomplished by placing rice inside an old sock(make sure to tie the open end), and then heating that in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. This works as a neck warmer/heating pad, and so would work well for this as well.

You can't really see it in these pictures, but there is a small hole at one end of the "pull tab". This is just the right size hole for the pointy end of the apple tool spudger, and thus is very handy for pulling the tab out.

The strips quickly broke for me as well. I pryed the battery up using the flat end of the apple tool spudger, starting from the top of the phone, and slowly and carefully working my way to the other end. About halfway, enough of the battery was loose to allow me to use my hands to pry it the rest of the way off. Afterwards, I had to scrape the strips off until there was enough to pull them. When pulling them, keep them as close to the rear case of the iPhone as possible, and they come clean off.

Okay, the problem would seem to have been with the screwdriver that came with my iFixit battery "Fix kit". Tried another screwdriver, and no problems at all.

Now my problem, however, is that the screws on this bracket do not seem to want to unscrew. :(

Pan is right. Not removing the battery means you will run the risk of shorting some circuits not meant to be connected, and thus can damage those components. This can happen very easily, and without you even knowing it. Additionally, the internal components of a digital device are not meant to be disconnected while having any amount of power applied(and even though your device may not even turn on because the battery is completely shot, there very likely will still be a small amount of power coming from the battery to the internal components of the device). Doing so will likely cause an overcurrent condition that will damage the components of the device.