iPhone 6 Plus Lightning Connector and Headphone Jack Cable Replacement

Before you even start: get the iOpener or hairdryer out. You’ll need it

If a lightning connector won’t provide a charge or needs to be wiggled carefully to provide a charge, power off the device, then try using precision tweezers to scrape the innermost wall of the lightning jack in a pinching motion to check for lint buildup. Pocket lint or other debris can accumulate inside the jack, compacting each time a cable is inserted. This can prevent a lightning cable from seating fully. Clearing the lint may restore functionality without replacing the part.

Don’t waste your time with the suction cup - it doesn’t work! insert the blade of a box cutter just below the lower screen edge below the home button and gently pry just enough to start cracking the seal.

This was challenging. For me, the suction cup could only create a tiny bit of motion and at first, no actual gap at all. You might have to pull the suction cup away from the base a few times just to loosen things up a tiny bit. Eventually, I got my fingernail in, and then after a few minutes got the plastic tool in.

Also, use the plastic tool to gently pry along the sides of the phone once there’s light there. I was afraid of using too much leverage and breaking the screen as per the other comments, but starting at the bottom and then going around the sides slowly worked for me.

your English isn’t the issue, it’s the proposed 60 degree opening space that doesn’t allow for the removal of the screws of the mounting plate where the connectors connect to the main pcb…

if can make a recommendation here; it helps if the can is full and not refrigerated, the weight helps in keeping the phone where it should stay without adding additional tension to the ‘flex’ ribbon cable. it’s called flex for a reason people, if your breaking these the phones already been overheated too much, the cables become brittle and should also be replaced. i replaced my battery without disconnecting the screen, at 90 degrees with a rubber band around an empty beer can. pierced the orig. battery and caused sparks. albeit, i wasn’t in a hurry and it took me a good 30+ minutes, removal of the battery and stickers is by far the most challenging, especially when NOT disconnecting the screen…

it’s not a race, take your time. move slowly but precisely with forethought and persistent force…

Werkt dit ook voor iPhone 7(plus)?

Werkt dit hetzelfde voor iPhone 7 (plus)?

The Phillips bits provided in the kit would not engage the Phillips heads enough to loosen them. Luckily I had my own small screwdriver set that worked like a charm.

Same issue. Could not remove the screw. Dead in the water.

Is this step necessary ?\

@asianay0129 Yes, disconnecting the battery is necessary. You can sometimes get away with skipping it, at the risk of destroying something important and potentially bricking your phone. Not a wise gamble for the sake of skipping two screws.

Magnification is key for many tasks and this is certainly one.

I couldn’t use the iFixit blue opening tool to pry that battery connector. I used the top of the black spudger near the hole where the 3.1mm screw was in step 9-10 to easily pry it open!

The blue plastic board breaker can easily cause damage here. Professionals would recommend using the human fingernail as the ideal tool for this job.

That's what I was thinking.

I skipped this series of steps too. I was very careful when removing the battery and never had an issue with the screen leaning back against the box that this battery shipped in. I even broke half of the third strip of adhesive but used a plastic card to slide under the battery and it slowly lifted out without applying heat.

I'm having trouble with one screw not wanting to come out. Any suggestions to keep from stripping the head and getting it?

which screws are which sizes cause i ordered new ones and cant figure it out

I also did not see the need to remove the display assembly for this repair. However I did place a can of corn against the vertically positioned display and then secured the display to the can with a rubber band.

I recommend removing the display assembly, I didn’t and somehow damaged the home button cable. At least remove the cover to ease the tension on the cables.

I played around with different screwdrivers to get certain screws out. I made sure I wasn’t applying heavy pressure so I wouldn’t strip the head. Apple is crazy for doing this to us lol.

Anyways invest in a magnetized mat to organize your screws. It was really difficult to keep things organized and still, especially with these tiny screws…

Just be really careful remembering which screw is which. I drew a quick sketch of the bracket, then put the screws in the relevant places. There’s no way I would have been able to figure them out otherwise - my eyes can’t see the difference between a 1.2 and 1.5mm screw!

The most fiddly part of the job.

Much easier if you put the screwdriver head on the screw and then insert it into the opening. The slight magnetism will hold it in place. Don’t fully tighten a screw until all the screws are in place. Much like installing lug nuts on a car.

I also skipped steps 12-18 as Danny had suggested. It made this repair quite easy, so thank you and others for suggesting this. I was also very careful to allow the battery to discharge before starting the process.

I question whether Steps 12-18 (separating the display from the case) is actually necessary? The battery can be removed/replaced with the display connected (but standing upright, as displayed in Step 7.

Leaving the display attached obviates the most difficult steps (re-connecting the various control ribbons — 3/4 of ‘em!

I followed this manual completely and the repair was successful. But if I had this to do over, I’d leave the display connected.

I skipped the steps 12-18 as well and thank goodness I did so I won’t have to worry about issues with any of the cables.

my panel is different from what is pictured anyway ‘cause I have one screw in the middle like what Herbert said on the first comment.

I realized too late just how handy the magnetic mat is that they have in their shop. So I organized the screws with a piece of clear packing tape. On the smooth side, use a sharpie to draw spacious circles with “R” “O” and “Y” inside each circle to represent the color coded screws and then use the sticky side to keep the screws in place. I found that using the tweezers to take them off the screwdriver helps you stick them head first to the tape better.

Try starting at one end instead of in the middle. It's to easy to bend a connector and this way, I can get a safe start and go from there.

could it be the replacement screen? test with your old screen and see if you have the same problem.

To ++mattmay002++  Did you power cycle the phone? Check out the comments on the previous step for a how to.

I had issues with it too. When connecting this cable, make sure to rock finger side to side after connecting. It’s a wide connector so try to listen for 2 clicks on this one connector. That’s how I fixed mine

Re-attaching this cable is the only tricky part to replacing the battery on my 6+. It had a bow on the middle that I had to flatten out before pressing the connector on with finger first on one edge and then on the other. I had white tire tracks on the screen and no touch screen until I connected it correctly. The front has to rest in just the right place on the back while attaching this thing so the cables aren’t strained the front doesn’t fall down. Small fingers would be a plus at this step.

Reseating these connectors on reassembly is definitely the most difficult part of this repair. It took me several attempts before the lowermost connector would seat properly and I did accidentally bend it slightly in the process. Fortunately I was able to get it straight again and get it to click in. The other three went in fine though and no lasting damage seems to have been done.

Another thing - These cables can become overlapped in the wrong way and make you think they are in a different order than they should be. Eg. it’s easy to mix up the ones from step 15 and 17. You can actually unravel the cables and re-layer them on top of each other in any order, so remember this! They look like they’re one solid mass but they’re not.

I never removed the last digitizer connctor. I removed the first three connectors, left the screen propped at 90 deg tied to a box and removed the battery, there is minimal movement. In fact when I reattached the connectors, only the first and maybe second connector feels taut, so it’s necessary to only remove the first connector if you can be gentle with it. Less headache. And my guess why so many people had issues is that micro dust gets into the connectors and cause connection loss. You be surprised how little dust can cause havoc.

And forgot one thing, keep a can of air duster woth you to remove as must dust as you can see. A camera air blower will also do nice.

I haven’t removed my screen in past battery replacements, I found it easier. However, this time I followed the instructions because my old battery was very stuck, and I needed the screen gone to get the battery out…

When I replaced the screen, at first it wouldn’t even boot/start up. (Yes, I inserted my own testing step, as someone here suggested, before final reassembly).

The screen would just show a fuzzy image, and the board that all the cables attach to would heat up, then it would turn itself off. I tried reconnecting them carefully 3 times, and even made sure to get a little “click”, all to no avail.

The final try, I used my fingernail to really press down on the back side of the digitizer cable. I heard more clicking, though I thought I might be tearing the cable too. With nothing left to lose, I continued across the back, and heard several more clicking/tearing sounds.

This worked, and it booted after that. It still had white lines, but those faded away overnight.

About the digitizer connector: its flat cable is so short that the when I attempted to seat the next connector, its flat cable pressed on the digitizer cable, which can pull on the connector and dislodge it. That happened several times for me before success.

Robert Bernard 27 Nov 19

Nous n’apercevons pas bien les nappes et l’ordre dans lesquelles elles doivent être replacer

When disassembling the iphone at this point note the cables, and there placement/orientation.

Be really careful with the step after this. Do not commence until you have read all the comments. You need to get a good hold of the plastic strips preferably before they double over on themselves. You have to avoid puncturing the battery at all costs. Slowness and caution here will save you a lot of long term pain.

I completely agree with Tommy and Bob as I have encountered the same issue. The little rubber piece became lost when doing the replacement. I managed to find the same little piece at an iPhone repair store where they luckily had some of extra of these and they just gave me one. Still nowhere on the internet, I can seem to find a proper transfer video of this little rubber part. It would be very helpful to add the steps in the replacement.

totally agree with the comments above! thanks so much for pointing that out. i would have lost it. please add this to the replacement guide!

Iv’e seen this happen a few times as well so I just wanted to post a comment about it. The mic ribbon is very thin and if you do not gently separate the mic from the frame there is a chance that the ribbon will tear. It does not take much force for that ribbon to tear.

Beside the earphone jack gasket, also watch out for the lightning port covering that would probably be attached (via adhesive) to the original lightning port and headphone jack cable. Be sure to migrate that part also, otherwise there will be a gap between the iphone’s lightning port opening and the actual lightning port itself.

My original bottom mic stopped working, and the replacement works, but the volume is low. I should be good to get a few more years out of the iPhone.