My Problem

My iPhone 4S dismounted from my bike when I ran over a rumble strip and it bounced into the travel lane where it was run over twice leaving me with a functioning device that had lost its screen protector and home button, which were torn off by the initial tire contact. The monster glass shattered into a mosaic of a few hundred pieces that still responded to my finger touches (with some 'cutting' complaints) and the underlying display was pretty much unaffected. Aside from the glass, the only anomalous behavior was the battery recharging. It still seemed to recharge, but with a declining maximum until it eventually (after about the 3rd recharge) wouldn't stay above 2%. I suspected that the battery was compromised from the crushing force and I was advised (after posting here) to stop recharging since I might find circuitry damage causing shorts that would only do more damage while plugged in.

My Fix

At first I thought since the screen/digitizer was sold as a separate part, I would be able to replace just that along with the home button since they LCD appeared unharmed (and it cost less), but I learned that it takes some specialized skill and probably requires specialized tooling as well to successfully replace just the glass bezel. So after that failed, I orderd a full bezel/LCD replacement, along with the home button (incl. gasket and metal insert) and a fresh battery. I simply followed the full breakdown and replaced the relevant parts.

One area that is tricky and bears mentioning, since this issue has occurred on more than one screen replacement (I've also fixed my daughter's 3GS broken screen), is the two ribbon connecters for the LCD/digitizer that thread through the the front side of the top panel to access the mainboard sockets mounted on the back side of the panel. It is easy to think that you've adequately pulled them through only to realize after you've tightened down (with 10 screws) the bezel/screen caddy, that there is a fold that leaves too little ribbon to seat the connector.

My Advice

I dare say that among today's consumer-grade smartphones only the iPhone could have been resuscitated from such an assault. Only its metal frame provides the kind of strength and ruggedness to withstand 4 tons of crushing force and live to eventually tell the tale.

My Problem

replaced broken screen

My Fix

perfect; part was a perfect fit.

My Advice

just have to take your time and use diagram for part.