Repair iPhone Screen?

AlNipper49

Huge Member
Dope
SoSH Member
Apr 3, 2001
44,855
Mtigawi
Has anyone here bought one of those kits to restore iphone screens? I just cracked mine for the third time (I know...) and instead of replacing it again I just bought a new damn screen.

I now have a 6S that I'd like to be able to use as a backup phone, but it's not worth the time and hassle having Apple do it.
 

IdiotKicker

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 21, 2005
10,785
Somerville, MA
So I think Apple may be trying to get rid of inventory - I cracked a screen on a 6 about a month ago and took it in for repair and they gave me a completely new phone for the cost of the screen. Something to look for.
 

OfTheCarmen

Cow Humper
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2007
5,208
I looked at those kits, but eventually just went to a kiosk at a mall and had them do it. Price was slightly higher, but my sanity after watching some of the videos was worth it.
 

czar

fanboy
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
4,312
Ann Arbor
Not quite sure what you mean by "restore" but in the past I have bought digitizer + glass on eBay, used my electronics toolkit to take phone apart (holler iFixit), swap pieces like mic/camera from old to new, and reconnect/pop new screen on.

I will say that at-home repair was way more cost effective in the iPhone 3/4/5 era where there was less competition from repair shops. You could buy a $20 screen online and an hour of work saved you $120. Now with costs to farm out repair closer to $80 around here and screens costing $30-40 on eBay, it's almost not worth the hassle of buying/waiting/taking apart/putting back together/etc.

One other thing -- buying screens from China on eBay/Amazon/wherever is a bit of a crapshoot. Everyone sells stuff as OEM but you don't know if it is actually OEM and/or if it is a "second." I've gotten a few dud digitizer/screens which have been replaced for free by the seller, but it just adds time/energy to the whole process. If a kiosk or shop gets a bad one, they just toss it and move on to the next in their inventory. So also worth factoring in.
 

PayrodsFirstClutchHit

Bob Kraft's Season Ticket Robin Hoodie
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Jun 29, 2006
8,319
Winterport, ME
Having tried the replacement kit approach, I highly recommend finding a Kiosk and having someone else deal with the headache. Getting that case open without destroying the phone or scratching the shit out of it is not worth the money you are saving trying to do it yourself.
 

AlNipper49

Huge Member
Dope
SoSH Member
Apr 3, 2001
44,855
Mtigawi
Having tried the replacement kit approach, I highly recommend finding a Kiosk and having someone else deal with the headache. Getting that case open without destroying the phone or scratching the shit out of it is not worth the money you are saving trying to do it yourself.
Perfect. All I had to hear.

I had taken it to a kiosk a few months ago and they did a horrible job, but I'll just find another one somewhere.
 

czar

fanboy
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
4,312
Ann Arbor
Perfect. All I had to hear.

I had taken it to a kiosk a few months ago and they did a horrible job, but I'll just find another one somewhere.
Then I'd spend the extra couple of $$$ to take it to a well-reviewed B&M shop that specializes in phone/electronics repairs. The (low) quality of parts and (lack of) expertise at a generic mall kiosk or guys on CL is probably not worth saving $20 unless the phone is a total beater.

It's not a *hard* job per se, but if you are going to pay the extra $40 to have someone do it, might as well make it $50-60 and make sure it's done right.
 

SumnerH

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Dope
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Jul 18, 2005
31,893
Alexandria, VA
I've done it on an Android phone once. It was cool to do once and not all that tough if you follow a good video, but it's kind of tedious. I'd probably pay someone else to do it unless you want the experience.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
I've done it on an Android phone once. It was cool to do once and not all that tough if you follow a good video, but it's kind of tedious. I'd probably pay someone else to do it unless you want the experience.
Yeah, I did it on an iPhone 5 or 6 I think and it was pretty tedious. Like changing your own brake pads or replacing your own golf grips there's a certain level of satisfaction, but the first time you do it it's gonna take about three times longer than it should and then you just pay someone to do it.