I must have crossed paths with a black cat or something, because I’ve had the worst luck lately. I’ve managed to break two different iPhones over the course of a month. I’ve dropped my iPhone plenty of times since owning my first iPhone years ago without getting even the slightest crack in the screen. Now I’ve managed to break two! The first one I dropped onto the tile floor in the kitchen, while getting into the refrigerator.
I broke the second phone at Starbucks. As I walked in the front door my phone rang and I whipped it out of my back pocket. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a good grasp on the phone and I managed to hurl it at the front counter like a frisbee. The barista was frozen in horror as she watched this all unfold. She felt sorry for me and gave me my usual (Iced Americano, no room) for free, but I still had two broken iPhones.
After breaking the second phone, I called AT&T to see what my options were. They said I had a few months till I was eligible for a new phone. I knew my wife wasn’t going to let me pay full price for a new iPhone, especially after my recent track record. I also knew that even though the phone still worked with a cracked screen, a bloody ear was not a solution I could work with for 3 months (yes, I really did get a bloody ear from this mess).
It was going to cost $199 for a screen replacement through Apple. I found a few companies online that claimed they would do it for $75-$125, but I’d be without my phone for days and it still seemed a bit pricey for not even getting a new phone. Then, I found a blog that shared this guy’s experience of a DIY iPhone screen replacement for under $10. It perked my interest so I read the reviews, watched the video on YouTube and decided to purchase 2 new screens. Later that same day I ran into a guy that noticed my broken iPhone and raved about how his son fixed his for $10 from Amazon. At this point I was super excited to get the replacement screens and see if all the talk was true.
Well, the replacement parts came in the mail today (5 days shipping time including the weekend) and I thought I’d share this time lapse video of me repairing the screen. One word of caution that is not mentioned in the video.
[box style="warning"]Be very careful when you remove the LCD from the front of the phone. Be sure not to pry it out from the top or bottom only the sides.[/box]
Watch my time lapse video of me completing the repair. [button link="http://vimeo.com/22381741" color="default" target="lightbox" size="small"]Watch Here[/button]
Take as much time as you need with this step as it can damage the LCD and make matters worse. If you can get your hands on a heat gun it will save you alot of time although the hair dryerer will work. This is the link I used to purchase my kit http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-iPhone-Screen-Digitizer-Adhesive/dp/B002A9PVAI. It included some tools to make the job easier, too. Leave a comment if you have any questions or tips for other iPhone Screen DIYer’s.
[box style="note"]Just a follow up to this review. Shortly after the replacement of my screen, the home button became difficult to use. The speaker won’t work when you place it to your ear (I have to us a headset or speaker phone) and the gps seems to malfunction 90% of the time. Do these be problems that stem from the drop or from the screen replacement? Who knows? Either way, I don’t feel like the money for the replacement screen was a waste. My iPhone looked good for a couple months while waiting for my contract with ATT to come up for renewal, and I saved my ears and fingers from glass cuts. There are plenty of good reviews on this product and I would still recommend it to anyone with a broken iPhone… as a short term solution at least.[/box]
