iPhone X Disassembly

Written By: Mandy

Comments: 43

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

4 hours

Introduction

Basic disassembly tutorial for iPhone X.

Tools

Step 1

Press the wake button and volume down button to turn off the phone.

Step 2

Use the Pentaloble screwdriver to remove the charging port screws. Heating the phone with a heat gun will the phone easily to be opened.

Step 3

Undo 5 screws shown in the picture below with a tripoint #Y000 screwdriver
These screws are all different sized so keep track of where they go
Release the battery/LCD screen/digitizer/ear speaker connectors with a spudger.

It’s an OLED screen, not LCD..

Sverre Siggerud - 17/11/17

need the screw sizes if anybody has them

Alan Kmiecik -

Hi Alan, you can find the screw sizes in step 13 of our screen replacement guide.

Adam O'Camb -

Hello, I need help please Is the same screwdriver used for all 5 screws? that is to say the Tri Point Y000

Imanol Tanta -

Step 4

Undo 3 Y000 screws and heating the flex cable with a heat gun, we can remove the ear speaker easily

Step 5

Remove the 2 Phillips #PH00 screws and remove the metal plate, release the rear cameras connectors.
These screws are also different sizes

Remove SIM card and tray.

Dani G - 14/08/18

WE need a picture of all the part that need to be removed here… if the rear cameras (the square silver shapes) need to be removed before the motherboard, direction as to that is needed.

liznewkirk - 14/10/20

Motherboard does not need to come out yet

Notice the screw furthest left in picture. There is a connection to the front-facing cameras that need to be gently popped up to remove the antenna.

Alan Kmiecik - 11/08/21

the leftmost screw in the picture is the longer one

Cire Ekratz -

Step 6

Release all connectors on the motherboard with a spudger
Undo 3 Phillips #PH00 screws on the mother board then we can take out the mother board.

I feel like the last ribbon cable towards the top of the board needs to be addressed here. It's the cable right under the IR sensor for facial recognition in step five. It completely hid itself from my view and I feel like this can happen to someone else. It would be awful to destroy that cable or anything else.

Felix Robinson - 30/04/19

I can’t get the motherboard off because of that hidden flat cable at the top of the phone! I see no way to disengage it. Am I screwed?

liznewkirk - 14/10/20

So, yeah. This step in particular is missing about three more steps, without which you are in danger of tearing the IR sensor. So here’s the missing info. After releasing the connectors from the board:

* remove the two Phillips screws, under the top lip of the phone chassis, holding the front camera assy in place.

* Pull the camera assy forward just enough to loosen the IR cable that lays across the board. No need to un-stick the ribbon cables from the chassis.

* use a spudger to disconnect the antenna cable from the board, directly under the IR cable.

* gently remove the laminate board while carefully pushing the ribbon connectors out of the way with a spudger.

Jim Thorpe - 16/12/20

the leftmost screw (in the picture) is longer than the rightmost one

Cire Ekratz -

Step 7

Undo 8 screws on the retaining plate then remove the plate taking care to not break the small connector on the plate that connects just under the taptic engine
Remove the loud speaker and the taptic engine.

Remove 9th screw that hold small metal plate in place on top of the speaker connector.

Dani G - 14/08/18

Step 8

Pulling out 4 battery adhesives with a tweezers then we can remove the battery.

Step 9

Heating the front facing camera with a heat gun will make it easily to be removed

Step 10

Release 4 screws on the frame shown in the picture
Heating the charging port flex cable then we can remove it easily

Don’t forget to unscrew the two screws on either side of the port and the two in the side wall next to the port.

Bonrad C - 04/04/20

What size and type of screw is the one on the side that holds the interconnect cable in?

Jonathan Weinraub - 04/11/20

Step 11

Release 7 screws on the Wi-Fi flex cable
Heating the flex cable with a heat gun make it easier to be removed

which screw driver its been used

momenal01 - 25/05/19

the same you use to unscrew the display’s screw

neax - 06/04/20

need screw description, and tiny piece placement (three)

Alan Kmiecik -

Step 12

Release 3 screws on the power button
Heating the flex cable with a heat gun then it can be removed easily

Is it possible to use a normal hair dryer instead of a heating gun? Tanx!!

Mikayil -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Mandy

Member since: 06/12/14

9494 Reputation

24 comments

It's good

Chalak Chomani - 10/11/17

excellent guide!!!

Andy Lee - 14/11/17

The iPhone X assemble video: https://youtu.be/E5jyuxgpE_g

Mandy - 15/11/17

What About the backside ? I heard that when the backside is shattered, it’s almost impossible to repair, because of the glue that holds the backside and parts together ?

Arnoud - 02/12/17

Hi avdk, we don’t tear down the back glass but we will pay attention to this question. If there is a definite answer, I will reply to you .Thank you.

Mandy - 04/12/17

The back glass is heavily glued down, and sandwiched between the metal chassis and the rear camera cover (which are welded together). So far as we can tell, there is no practical way to replace the back glass. If it shatters, you’ll have to either live with it, or remove every component and replace the entire enclosure. If you take it to Apple, they will charge you for an out-of-warranty repair (roughly half the original retail price of the phone) and simply replace the entire phone. Check the teardown for some images of the back glass coming off.

Jeff Suovanen - 05/12/17

You can replace the back glass cover of the iPhone X. We do it at work. It takes like 2 hours of heating though but its changeable.

Cristell - 29/11/18

Now there is a machine for remove the iPhone 8/8P/X back glass. Also there are many videos on YouTube about how to remove the back glass easily.

Mandy - 30/11/18

Where can I find your work surface? It looked really organized and had spots for your screwdrivers?

Mike Turrell - 15/12/17

Hi Mike, you can get it in Etrade Supply. Here is the links you need:https://www.etradesupply.com/catalog/pro...

https://www.etradesupply.com/catalog/pro.... May this can help you!

Mandy - 16/12/17

What are the specs for each screw in the iPhone X?

David Ballantyne - 14/03/18

is there any adhesive or glue needed during assembly? seems not needed, but why need heating when disassembly the LCD…? who can give answer? many thanks!

kevin - 28/04/18

It need adhesive during assembly like battery adhesive, the digitize frame adhesive.

Mandy - 28/04/18

Hi, can you tell me where are located the liquid damage indicator? One is on the display assembly, I can not see the second.

thanks

ciaomarco - 25/05/18

Its located on the Mother Board inside the Phone.

Cristell - 29/11/18

Thank you. I love the resources that you guys put together and the detailed instructions.

While the E-Trade Supply video is fantastic, anybody tinkering with the phone may also want to have a look at the video on JerryRigEverything (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c97ILI7T...) to reinforce their understanding of the tear-down process.

Noam Xia - 09/02/19

Thank you for this. This is my first time to DIY with my iPhone. I wasn’t able to figure things out without the second video. One issue is that the tools recommended for this repair are incomplete. I ordered a toolkit that met the requirements - but it did not include the tool that has suction cups on both ends to open it easily. That wasn’t on the list. It was only in their video.

ja.hinton - 01/06/20

Not a complete guide to follow. Seeing other teardowns, I notice steps are out of logical order and / or missing. The descriptions lack clarity and left retracing my steps to remove parts not previously mentioned. Then there was not caution of the tweezers possibly poking the battery or by removing the volume flex cable from the wireless charging coil requires re-micro-soldering or replacing the charging coil + flex cable.

Brian Crink - 20/09/19

What can I do if the iPhone X no longer recognizes the SIM card?

wmetzger - 06/11/20

what about the bluetooth antenna

Alan Kmiecik -

Hi,

Auf der Innenseite vom backcover, direkt unter dem Logic Board befindet sich eine schwarze klebe abschirmung.

Wozu dient diese genau? Bzw. handelt es sich dabei überhaupt um eine Art Abschirmung? Was für Auswirkungen hat es, wen bei einem komplettem back cover Tausch dieses klebe pad nicht übernommen wird? Strahlungs schutz folie? Oder doch abschirmung des logic Board bei verwendung der Induktions Ladestation?

Mfg marvin

Veit marvin -

Tankx for the guide!! Excellent and very easy to follow all the steps.. :)

Mikayil -

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Jimmy Dean -

What type of heat gun do you use and what temperature is needed?

Gannon Bjerke -