Your iPhone 4 rear cover may have either two #000 Phillips screws or Apple's 5-Point "Pentalobe" screws (second image). Check which screws you have, and ensure you also have the correct screwdriver in order to remove them.

Remove the two 3.6 mm Pentalobe or Phillips #000 screws next to the dock connector.

During reassembly, we recommend you replace the 5-point screws with equivalent Phillips screws. Our Liberation Kit provides the tools and screws needed to replace the Pentalobe screws with Phillips screws.

Push the rear panel toward the top edge of the iPhone.

The panel will move about 2 mm.

Pinch the rear panel with your fingers and lift it away from the iPhone.

Remove the single 2.5 mm Phillips screw securing the battery connector to the logic board.

• Some devices may have two screws, one of which holds down the contact pad which is located above the screw indicated in red in the photo.

Use a plastic opening tool to gently disconnect the battery connector from its socket.

Use the clear plastic pull tab to gently lift the battery out of the iPhone.

Be careful when removing the battery with the plastic pull tab. On some units, Apple uses an excessive amount of glue, making it virtually impossible to remove the battery in this fashion (with the tab possibly tearing due to excessive force).

For batteries that "stick", you could use the iPod opening tool to assist (take extra care whilst doing so).

You might find it easier to pry the battery out from the right-hand side because no glue is used on this side.

Remove the battery.

Before reconnecting the battery connector, be sure the pressure contact (shown in red) is properly positioned next to the battery connector.

Before reassembly, be sure to clean all metal-to-metal contact points on the pressure contact as well as its contact point on the rear panel with a de-greaser such as Windex (96% ethanol alcohol works well too, but make sure that contacts are dry when done). The oils on your fingers have the potential to cause wireless interference issues.

Use a SIM card eject tool or a paperclip to eject the SIM card and its holder.

This may require a significant amount of force.

Remove the SIM card and its holder.

Remove the following two screws:

• One 1.2 mm Phillips
• One 1.6 mm Phillips

Remove the thin steel dock connector cable cover from the iPhone.

Before reassembly, be sure to clean all metal-to-metal contact points on the dock connector cable cover with a de-greaser such as windex. The oils on your fingers have the potential to cause wireless interference issues.

Use an iPod opening tool to gently pry the dock cable connector up off the logic board from both short ends of the connector.

Carefully peel the dock ribbon cable off the logic board and the lower speaker enclosure.

Do not use excessive force to peel the dock ribbon cable off the logic board. Doing so may tear the cable.

Use an iPod opening tool to pry the lower antenna connector up off its socket on the logic board.

Remove the 1.9 mm Phillips screw securing the bottom of the logic board to the inner case.

Remove the following five screws securing the Wi-Fi antenna to to the logic board:

• One 2.3 mm Phillips
• Two 1.6 mm Phillips
• One 1.4 mm Phillips
• One 4.8 mm Phillips

When re-assembling, start off with replacing the 4.8 mm Philips screw first, then the 2.3 mm. This is to ensure there is no mix-up, and avoid rendering the LCD and digitizer useless.

Also make sure to put the long 4.8 mm Philips back in correctly when reassembling. This is the ground for the Wi-Fi antenna and is often the culprit if you are having bad Wi-Fi reception after reassembly.

Use an iPod opening tool to slightly lift the top edge of the Wi-Fi antenna away from the logic board.

Use the tip of a spudger to pull the Wi-Fi retaining clips away from the inner frame.

Remove the Wi-Fi antenna from the iPhone. Make sure you don't lose the metal clips on the top of the cover where the 4.8mm screw attaches or the 4.8mm screw. That's the primary reason for abnormal Wi-Fi performance after the reassembly.

Before reassembly, be sure to clean all metal-to-metal contact points on the connector cover with a de-greaser such as Windex. The oils on your fingers have the potential to cause wireless interference issues. Do not clean the connectors themselves with Windex.

Use an iPod opening tool to carefully lift the rear camera connector up off its socket on the logic board.

Remove the rear camera.

Remove the small circular white sticker (warranty sticker and water indicator) covering the screw near the battery pull tab.

Remove the 2.4 mm Phillips screw that was hidden underneath the sticker.

Use the edge of a plastic opening tool to gently pry the following connectors up and out of their sockets on the logic board:

• Digitizer cable (pry from bottom)
• LCD cable (pry from bottom)
• Headphone jack/volume button cable (pry from top)
• Top Microphone/sleep button cable (pry from top)
• Front camera cable (pry from top)

Use a small flathead screwdriver to remove the 4.8 mm standoff near the headphone jack.

When reassembling the device, this standoff sets the height of the Wi-Fi shield removed in step 13. If not torqued down, the shield will be above the plane of the frame and the back will not slide into place in step 2. The shield should be flush with the headphone jack.

When reassembling the motherboard, ensure that its edge sits under the circled standoff, otherwise the screws will not fit.

When reassembling ensure that the small rubber spacer attached to the top of the motherboard is in place. Without this part the motherboard could damage the ribbon cables around it.

Carefully remove the logic board from the iPhone, minding any cables that may get caught.

• Be careful not to damage the small gold prong (marked in red, near the top) as it's very fragile.

Use the edge of an iPod opening tool to lift the thin steel front camera retainer off the front camera.

Remove the front camera retainer.

Carefully lift the front facing camera out of the iPhone.

It may be helpful to use tweezers to reinstall the front camera retainer.

Remove the two 1.5 mm Phillips screws securing the power button bracket to the outer case.

Carefully lift the power button bracket out of the outer case, minding its thin and delicate ribbon cable.

The power button bracket is made of very weak cast aluminum and is easily cracked. Handle with caution.

Use a pair of tweezers to remove the power & lock button from the iPhone.