Repairing iPhone 4 LCD Backlight Dim spot issue

On an early iPhone 4 I found that the #000 Phillips bit included in the 54 Bit Driver Kit didn't actually fit the screws. However the JIS #000 also in the kit did fit quite well. This is due to the JIS bits "thinner" design to prevent camming out of the slot. Otherwise everything went well. Looking forward to replacing the battery in my other phone that has the pentalobe screws. Glad I got the 54 Bit kit!

Use a vacuum duster and a sharp tool to pry out the dust, this can increase the volume insanely!

What does the park that is gold and next to the 4.8mm screw for the antenna? Looks like I am missing that part and almost positive that is why I can't pick up or connect to any wifi signals. I have the screw and the antenna from another phone that is working and tried it on the broken phone and still doesn't work. Only thing different is that gold metal piece to the left of that 4.8 mm screw. Can I buy that part? how do I attach it?

great instructions did it the first time

For organisation of the parts and for a much easier process of rebuilding i use a big magnetic flat surface with a grid drawn on it. Then I use a dry erase marker to make any notes I need and to number the parts in order as i disassemble . Believe me it saves a lot of time and hassle especially if you drop one of those tiny screws good luck finding it but when your working over the magnet and drop a screw its going to be right where it fell. At first I tried the piece of paper to keep organised but all it takes is one small slip and you move the paper too quick and your left with a jumbled bunch of screws and parts and a painstaking task of putting it all back correctly, aka a big waist of time and effort.

I found it very useful to use a magnet sheet when doing these repairs. I use electrical tape or a sharpie to make a grid, and place each micro screw in a separate box on the grid.

I work directly over the magnet sheet, so that if something drops I have a better chance at not losing it.

If you do lose a screw, go over the work area with a fridge magnet. It will pick it up if it hasn’t popped too far away.

There is a metal bracket that secures the connector, that will be removed before the conector is unfasten

I didn't need to remove the battery !! why would you take the battery away, the motor can be removed easily with the battery in place, and the whole process would take less than 2 minutes if you exclude the battery steps

I was VERY careful but the interior philips screw holding the battery in place but it stripped immediately. I see others have had this problem. What do I do now?!

When removing this L shaped piece, it should be shown ON CAMERA where it came from and the exact position it was in while in the phone, I had to take 2 screws (not 1 like said in the video) out to get to this piece and once that second screw came up I didn't get a chance to see where this piece came from because it popped right out. I was extremely nervous but I believe I got it back in properly.

Putting the antennae cover back in place is impossible without a good photo. I used this link to refer to:

iPhone 4S Akku tauschen

once the iphone restarted, the battery was at 30%.

This i think is the most diffucult part.

Because they use so much glue on it. I have to did this with so much force.

Glad that i didn't kill the circuit board when i took this out.

Piece of cake! The hardest part was being sure the outer pentalobe screws were actually turning and I wasn't stripping them. Battery was glued firmly in, so I loosened it from the outside instead of using the plastic pull-tab. I pre-bent the battery connector neck before putting it back in and had no problems with it fitting in. Getting the battery connector aligned with the antenna piece underneath was a bit fiddly. Got the case back on, put in the new screws, and powered the phone on without problem. Had 40% charge, all seems well. Yippee!

Do NOT use a spudger or similar type of prising tool to try lift up the battery. Instead, just warm up the whole area with a hot air gun or hair drier to soften the glue.

The reason why I say don't use an implement to try lift the battery is because far too many times I've seen punctured & bent batteries come in to this workshop that have to be thrown out for safety reasons. It only takes a grain of sand, or a burr on the spudger and you're risking a potential cell rupture and potential fire.

Just use a bit of heat ( not a lot! ) to soften up the glue and it'll come away with the plastic pull tab.

These instructions don't mention putting the 2.5mm screw back in. I found this very challenging because it is so short, so very difficult to line it up to get it back in the hole, and very easy to drop it inside the phone. Take care.

Adhesive was holding battery VERY firmly, so during this step I used a hair blow dryer on low setting to carefully heat up the device. Then used the plastic tool to gently but firmly pry up one place on each edge. At first it felt like barely anything was happening, but within a few tries the adhesive gave away easily and the battery came right out.

The new battery from iFixit already had the cable properly folded, but before inserting the battery I used the plastic tool to press the fold closer to the battery body.

Before inserting the battery I put the contact clip into position. It has a hooked shape on one side which fits between the socket and the folded battery cable. If you try to position it AFTER the battery is installed the whole process is much more difficult. I used a tweezers to hold it in place while inserting the battery.

When inserting the battery I started by guiding the folded cable into position against the side of the contact clip, then proceeded to lay the battery in position. This made it very easy to have all parts in their original positions -- no need to fiddle with the battery cable or contact clip afterwards.

When pressing the battery connector into the socket, the first time I pressed from bottom to top. That didn't work because there is a little tab at the top of the connector which must fit into a tiny notch or else the connector won't lay flat properly. Pressing the connector from top to bottom worked easily.

Needle-nosed tweezers were very helpful when lining up the screws. After everything was reassembled I tried powering up the device, but the battery had insufficient charge. I plugged it in and immediately the screen displayed a battery with a thin red line (illustrating no charge). After 25 minutes the device sprang to life and indicated a 10% charge. At 70 minutes the battery indicated 30% charge, and at that rate should be fully charged in under 4 hours. It's fixed!!

Battery is in, phone fires up, charger works. This is the first 10 minute job I've ever completed in 10 minutes, thank you!

Why they didn't say this, I have no idea: HEAT UP THE BACK OF THE PHONE! This helps the adhesive give so much easier, worth the extra 2 minutes to make sure you don't tear anything.

super easy, battery had plenty of glue for what ever reason, I put the screw in 1st then set the battery and was easy to set the new battery. Charge was at 94% strange seeing it next to my Iphone 6 but glad I did it as now I can use it for music and save the battery on the main phone. Thanks for a easy instruction guide.

Strictly speaking re-assembly is NOT the exact reverse of dismantling. In particular do not put the battery in and then try to plug in the connector, Rather, start by plugging in the connector (having straightened the ribbon-wire attaching it to the battery) and only then re=position the battery on its (gluey) base. Also I used a wooden cocktail stick to position the antenna connector correctly (pushing the stick through the hole in the antenna piece and into the threaded base where the screw will eventually go) and then I held it all in place (temporarily) with a tiny blob of Bluetac until I managed to successfully withdraw the cocktail stick and fit the proper screw.

Stuey 25/2/2018

.Heating a towel and wrapping the phone for 3 min did the trick of removal of the battery.

Yeah, would like to know the value of the little blue inductor ... my iPhone 4 doesn't have it any more and I have the worst signal.

I wasn't sure how to carefully detach the antennae. Can anyone offer some insight on how to reattach the antennae? Is it supposed to be soldered to the board? Or is it a pin attachment?

see that tiny little blue thing just to the left of the antenna connector but before the screw? make sure you DON'T knock that out of place otherwise your iphone becomes a heavy ipod touch (yes. this idiot made that mistake while struggling to get the antenna connector back in - which for the record just clips back in). this would have been a handy tip for me while i was reading the instructions, which apart from that little trinket of information, were very easy to follow.

-dan

Get a set of these precision screw extractors. I own a small electronics repair shop and I wouldn't be without them. If you buy them remember that the ends are reversible in case you dull one end. Schraubenentferner-Set

On my phone the "washer" that the 1.4mm screw goes into I think is actually the mounting post that had come detached. I realize afterwards there was therefore no point removing this screw, but I did remove (and put it back afterwards) by holding onto the loose post/washer with tweezers to prevent it turning.

Print this image out (step 13) - trust me, you'll need it later!

The "washer" that a few of the commenters have mentioned isn't a washer nor a broken post. It is a circular nut that helps the WiFi antenna get a good connection to the logic board. It is part of a sandwich: 1.4mm screw head WiFi antenna logic board ++ circular nut. I held it in place with tweezers and then screwed the 1.4mm screw in. Don't lose this nut!

I found that the 1.4 mm screw measured a little less than 1.1 mm on my phone. So don't be confused by that.

I didn't see that small "nut" and the 1.4mm screw is loose. So I didn't install it back. My iPhone is working now but wondering any thing would turn wrong later...

Do you need a different screwdriver for every one of these screws? They all seem to have different sizes.

The second of the Two 1.6 mm Phillips was stripped...or I stripped it? So I got this far and now i'm retreating and putting the iphone back together. Was going to sell on ebay but now I can not. Oh well...

I used an elastic band pulled taught over the blade of a flat headed screwdriver to hold the nut (beneath the yellow screw) in place. Alternatively I was thinking of carving the eraser on the end of a pencil into a wedge shape to do the same job when tightening the screw on reassembly. Just needs something to grip it in place to stop it spinning.

A note about screw management: ALWAYS remove screws from left to right if you are just putting them in order of removal on a magnetic trey, it helps with re-assembly. If you can, I recommend getting a magnetic white board and writing the size of the screws on it and categorizing by that, it makes it way easier and you won't ever have to worry about putting the wrong size screw in anywhere ever again.

the nut of the yellow screw falls be careful ...to re install it again

Just to clarify, the little tab on the side of the camera does not go under the motherboard, it goes under the cables. This misunderstanding is common for those new to mobile repair. Always make sure you take notes on the small things like this!

Danger! Since the last screw I took out before is the 4.8 mm (step 13) it can happen that one messes up the order and uses this one instead of the 2.4 mm! This will break the new Display again. I'd add a distinct warnig here to use the right (short) one.

Now I'll a order a new display...

I agree with Ed Williams: no screw under the sticker on my phone.

When re-plugging the yellow connector (the leftmost of the 3 connectors that you disconnected from the top) put the cables behind and not before the metal part with a hole where the EMI Shield 2 clips in. Otherwise you will not be able do step 13.

Be carefull of a very small component soldered near the yellow connector. It can pop off and make your front camera irresponsive.

When reassembling, the various connectors have a leading plastic lip that allows you to align and then slowly snap in place. i pushed on the pads on top of the connectors with the flat tool provided in the kit. Also, the first time, i did not press the LCD cable very well, so the phone was working, but no display showing. once i snapped this in place the second time, it worked like a charm.

After reassembly, when I changed to the front camera, the display got stuck in shutter mode. The website bellow suggests I lost a microscopic jumper that enables the front camera. I am guessing this happened when I disconnected the 3 connectors. The dang jumper is so small I never even noticed that I lost it. Oh well at least the rear camera still works... After replacing screen camera app now stuck on shutter?

I ran into a not workin front camera after a screen replacement on Iphone4. I found out that I had broken the tiny jumper on the main board when I pried off the headphone plug. That jumper is next to the right upper corner of the headphone/volume button plug (yellow marked in step 17 of relacement guide), you can see it in the picture as two silvery dots. If your prying tool sits on that jumper when levelling the plug off, it is history. I took a ampoule of conducting silver liquid, but instead of shaking it I took some of the sediment out with a thin wire and aplied a tiny blob over the two remaining soldering pads left. And alas, it worked ! Front camera is ok again. Thanks to those who found out about that jumper.

When reassembling, ensure the ribbon cables for the connector are between the silver metal and the circuit board. the wifi antenna plate clips into the silver metal.

Didn’t see the comments about the rubber strip until too late - severed the digitizer ribbon cable on the edge of the board! Screen worked fine, but no touch control - had to buy a new screen and do it all again…! :(

Missing rubber guard can causing touchscreen sensitivity & accuracy problem.

Note that when re-installing the logic board, do not forget about the antenna connector near the bottom of the phone. Make sure that it does not get trapped under the logic board when you are placing the logic board in the case.

Ear piece metal connectors: You can see them on step 22. If those are not bent up enough (laying flat) you won't have contact with the logic board... and no more audio from the ear piece. This is what happened to me. I had to unmount it again to bend them and hop the ear piece worked again!

This was a very tricky part. Just make sure that you don't put pressure on the login board to get it into place, take your time and ease it in. There will be a bit of spring in it when you push down which is a combination of the folded LCD and Digitizer Ribbon Cables and the two copper contacts underneath.

This was absolutely the hardest part - had to do it over many times. The digitizer ribbon cable kept insisting on folding up under the logic board. Tip: do not let the cable fold up, even it that's how it naturally wants to go, it will be too short.

hi, the small gold prong (step 19) in my phone is fragile what should i do? what function from that small gold prong? thank you

I found it easier to do step 19 after removing the screw (step 20)

I broke off the right-most one (closest to the microphone) and after reassembly my signal strength was poor and dropped easily. I replaced the antenna/speaker unit with one from a 4s (the cable was a touch longer; but, solved with some bending) and made sure to really clean the contacts (and not break any)... long story short, intact fingers and cleaning has resulted in better signal strength than prior to the repair! go figure!

I agree they are very fragile! I broke off 1 EMF finger by pressing it down - wish i had read comments 1st! Phone still seems to work Ok, but gave me a scare.

hi,

what do i do if i have lost that screw i droped it and now i cant find it does it matter if i dont put it in?

Referring to the exact screw that is circled in red, I cannot seem to get this particular screw to thread properly during the reassemble process. I have found that I had to add another 15-20 min to my assembly/dis-assembly due to the fact I have to remove the earphone jack and the antenna that is in this corner, too. Any suggestions on how to get this screw to thread w/o doing the extra steps? Need of help, Please

The small rubber piece The Talent mentioned is actually mentioned on Step 18, the last bullet (pin) point there.

i couldn't get all the large headed screws out, two where stuck. So i gently removed all the other screws in the following steps, and pulled the front cover gently out by moving gently and breaking some parts of the front screen (which i throw away anyway) After that the remaining screws became looser, and were able to screw up and down.

My glass refuses to budge ! I broke two ipod tools trying to get the glass off ! Reassembling phone, will try again some other time... There has to be an easier way to get the glass off...

If you use a hair dryer to soften the glue, it seems to do the trick. Just dont hold too close to melt anything. Did this with an Atrix a few times.

Definitely use a hairdryer to loosen the glue below the power button to get the spudger started.

Since my screen was shattered, let's face it which is the main reason to replace the screen, it completely came apart around the button. Use of a hair dryer would have been a useful tip, however I don't blow dry my hair and so don't have one. A warm towel just doesn't cut it.

I just need it to work for a few more months until the iPhone 6 comes out.

The square piece your are referring to is the rubber piece that fits on the logic board. It seats on the logic board between the orange circled screw and the green circled screw in step 13. To date, I had one fall off during my third IPhone 4 screen repair. Needles to say, I had to part the entire phone out due to one stripped screw in the corner that was holding on the bracket to the screen. Luckily the screen and LCD was already missing and all that was left was the backlight.

My screen wouldn't budge, nothing I tried couldn't get the plastic spudger started, even having the whole phone heated to loosen the adhesive. The way I worked it through was to *gently* push a small (2-3 cm) blade around the power button into the edge between the screen bezel and the steel frame. The hard steel blade started a small crevice, then I could work my way around with the plastic tool as described.

Hope that helps if your screen is as stuck as mine.

use silicone baking pan, or a new ziplock (1/2 gal). Fill it with boiling water, then place it on top of the screen for 90 sec. Then remove it and place small suction cap near the top of the screen. Apply steady pull to the cap while holding the frame with other hand.

Sounds dumb but make sure you remove the (usually blue) protective sheet from the mirror surface on the interior of the new display. I didn't and I had to redo the whole process!

CAUTION! When rerouting the LCD and Digitizer cables, DO NOT PULL ON THEM! I tried to re situate the Digitizer cable in order to mount onto the speaker enclosure, which broke the digitizer right off.

This is the only part that was a little tricky for me. When I was reinstalling the LCD panel it took me a few tries to get the connectors and cables through the holes correctly, and not pinched by the frame. Take it slow and be gentle.

My bf claims I have to replace the LCD if I take it off. Is that true?

This part was very tricky because you need to make sure you have enough slack from the LCD and Digitizer cables. Take your time to make sure that the cables are fully through, even the slightest pinch will be enough for this to not reach and you have to redo it again (a massive pain if you've already started the reassembly. - A good way to test this is to before you reassemble try placing the logic board on top where the LCD and Digitizer cables will fit into, if they reach fine then you are good, if not then adjust the cables again until you know they are through completely, this saves you having to disassemble again if its not correct. - Good Luck and Take your time!

It's easy to get the digitizer cable caught and sandwiched when reassembling, make sure you carefully feed it through. I got everything almost assembled and then the digitizer ribbon cable wouldn't reach the connector! I was stuck for 45 mins till I figured it out.

For some reason when I put the phone back together the screen is dark on the upper left corner. The touch sensitivity works perfectly and the button replacement went well.

I ripped the LCD cable pulling it too hard, is it fixable?

At this point make sure that you don't have any broken glass left on the phone. I had, and the screen wouldn't go all the way down.

CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK THE RIBBON CABLES BEFORE YOU PUSH IT DOWN! It really is very easy to mess the whole thing up here...I did! Even when you think you've got both cable through, check from the side, there's a little square bit that catches. If you damage the ribbon at all it's time to buy a new screen and learn from your mistakes.

Im at the steap where you have to put the lcd screen and the frame together but at the beginning of this steap removing it! 2 small pieces felt off and I can't find where they belong any one

Don't forget to change the adhesive strips if they're dirty or not enough sticky or your screen will break more easily. :(

Does both cables (digitizer and screen) go through the same route (hole)? I did not pay attention while opening the phone and now passed them through the same area. Now the digitizer cable does not reach the board! What should I do?

be careful how you re install them cables one of them might stuck on the board ..