Even if you take care of your iPhone, all it takes is a minor mistake to end up with a broken iPhone screen. According to a poll, a quarter of the people owning an iPhone have a broken screen. So, consider yourself not alone. 

The screen repair is the most costly out of all iPhone parts. However, if you are willing to do the repair yourself, you can save more than half the cost of iPhone repair. Repairing the screen yourself is not an easy task, so here’s a step-by-step guide that you can follow to make the repair convenient and hassle-free. 

What you will need for the iPhone screen replacement?

Without the right set of tools, replacing the iPhone screen can become a lot more complicated. Therefore, it is recommended to keep these tools on hand for repair.

• Plastic triangle opening pick
• Fine tip spudger 
• Fine tip electronic tweezer
• iPhone pentalope screwdriver
• Y000 screwdriver
• Philips screwdriver
• Heat Gun/Hair Dryer
• Suction cup 
• New screen assembly for the iPhone 

These are the bare minimum tools you need to complete the repair. All these tools are often sold in kits. If you don’t have any tools, buying them in a kit would be better rather than individually picking out each tool. 

What is the Average time needed to complete the repair?

If you haven’t dealt with an iPhone screen replacement before, this repair can take you a while. On average, it takes a professional anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour for an iPhone screen replacement. 

Since you will need to go over each step of the repair process carefully, it may take 2-5 hours to complete the repair. Therefore, for completing a DIY iPhone screen repair, be prepared to give up a Sunday afternoon. Remember, patience is a virtue!

What is the difficulty level of the repair? 

The iPhone is not a very repair-friendly device. For the past few years, Apple has been focused on keeping the prying eyes away from what is beneath the iPhone.

Luckily, replacing the iPhone screen is among the few iPhone repair that is still doable as a DIY project. However, replacing the screen comes with its complications. Due to the complexity involved with this repair, it is quite difficult. On a difficulty scale of 1-10, the iPhone screen replacement DIY repair comes at 7. 

iPhone Screen Replacement DIY Guide

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Note: Performing this DIY iPhone screen replacement will compromise iPhone's waterproof capability. 

Step 1: Turn off the iPhone and Discharge the battery to less than 25%

• Shut down the iPhone and unplug any cables or wires that are attached to it. 
• When starting the repair, make sure the iPhone’s battery is below 25%. A higher battery percentage can be hazardous if the battery is not dealt with properly during the repair.  

 

Step 2: Remove the Sim Tray

• If the sim tray is not removed, it can get in the way of the repair and cause issues.

 

Step 3: Remove the two pentalope screws

• All iPhones have two screws on each side of the charging port. Unscrew them with an iPhone pentalope screwdriver. These screws should come off quite easily, so don’t use excessive fragile as they are quite fragile and can deform. 

 

Step 4: Use a Heatgun/Hair Dryer 

• Use a heat source; ideally, a heat gun, but a hair dryer will work just fine along the edges of the iPhone. Heat will melt the adhesive holding the screen glued to the frame. 

 

Step 5: Lift up the screen slightly with a suction cup 

Once a side of the iPhone is heated, place a suction cup on it. 

• Lift the suction cup slightly to release the screen from the frame. At this point, you are not looking to remove the entire screen. A slight gap between the frame and the screen will suffice. 
• Slide a triangle opening pick between the gap created by the suction cup. 

 

Step 6: Use the triangle opening pick to open the Display 

• Run the triangle opening pick along the iPhone's sides to detach the screen from the frame. 
• Be careful along the right edge of the screen because that is where the display and camera ribbon cables are located. 

 

Step 7: Open the Display

• Once all the sides of the screen are detached from the frame, carefully lift up the screen. 
• The screen will open like a book with the ribbon cables attached. 

 

Step 8: Remove the battery connector

• To get access to the battery connector, you will need to remove the metal plate covering the connector. The metal plate is located right next to where the display ribbon cables attach to the screen. 
• Remove the three screws on the metal plate using the Y000 screwdriver. 
• Use the spudger to disconnect the battery cable from the connector.

 

Step 9: Remove the display and camera ribbon cables

• The display ribbon cable is under the metal plate located right next to the battery connector metal plate. 
• Unscrew the five screws to remove the metal plate and expose the display ribbon cable. 
• Use a spudger and remove the two display ribbon cables and the front panel assembly ribbon cables. 

 

Step 10: Remove the front camera and sensor assembly from the screen

• To remove the front camera and sensor assembly, unscrew the four screws holding the earpiece speaker. Three screws use the Phillips head, while one screw uses the Y000 head. 
• Flip the front earpiece speaker assembly away from the camera and sensor users a spudger.
• Flip the iPhone to the other side and use a heat gun or hair dryer on the top half of the screen. Ensure not to direct the heat directly at the camera or the sensors, as heat can ruin them. 
• Use the triangle opening pick and wedge it under the ribbon cable on the front camera and sensor assembly. Gently twist the opening pick until the ribbon cable comes off from the frame. 
• Use a tweezer and remove the rectangular metal bracket covering the ambient display sensor. Using the same tweezer, gently wiggle the ambient light sensor and remove it from the frame. 
• Using an opening, pick lift up the entire front assembly and set it to the side. With the front assembly out, the disassembly part is done. The next step will be how to reassemble the iPhone.

 

Step 11: Clean the iPhone frame

• To make sure that the new display sits flush with the frame, clean out any broken bits of glass that may be stuck around the edge of the frame. 
• For the final wipe-down, use an isopropyl alcohol wipe to clean the surface of old adhesive residue and other elements. 

 

Step 12: Install the front assembly on the new display

• Line up the front assembly with the display and gently place it into position. 
• Use a tweezer and press down the ambient light sensor into its connector. Place the bracket on top of the ambient light sensor and set it in place. 
• With the thumb, press down on the ribbon cable to make sure it is aligned correctly.
• Flip the front earpiece speaker assembly onto the ribbon cable. 
• Secure the front assembly and the earpiece speaker in place using the four screws removed earlier.

 

Step 13: Reconnect the display and front assembly cables

• Once the front assembly is properly installed in the new screen, reconnect the two display ribbon cables and the one front assembly cable using a spudger or a tweezer. 

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Step 14: Reconnect the Battery cable

• Use a tweezer and grab the battery cable. Align the cable with the connector and press down on it with your finger until you hear a click. 

 

Step 15: Re-attach the metal plates

• Re-attach the two metal plates covering the battery and the display cables. The L-shaped battery metal plate has three screws which need to be secured. The metal plate covering the display cables has five screws which need to be tightened.

 

Step 16: Attach the new display to the iPhone 

• To attach the display to the iPhone, align all four corners of the display with the frame. 
• Once the display is aligned, press down on all the corners to make it flush with the frame.

 

Step 17: Re-attach the two pentalope screws

• Re-attach the two pentalope screws located at each side of the charging port to complete the repair. 

 

FAQs

What is the cheapest way of replacing the iPhone screen?

The cheapest way of replacing the iPhone screen is through a DIY repair. With a DIY repair, users can save labor costs and pay only for the screen parts needed for the repair. This ends up saving the users a lot of money which they could pay to get the repair done otherwise. 

What happens when you don’t fix a cracked iPhone screen?

If you don’t fix a cracked iPhone screen, the crack can spread through the screen. Dust can also penetrate through a cracked screen and damage the LCD beneath the glass display. Therefore, a cracked screen should be fixed as early as possible to curtain collateral damage to the iPhone. 

 

 

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