My Problem

Picked up a used iphone 4s.. white.. 64GB.. good price. Camera wasn't working and the battery didnt hold a charge for very long. Couldn't resist the urge to see if I could fix it. If I couldn't fix it, I could give it back to the original owner, no charge. If I suceeded, I could replace my wifes old 3G.

My Fix

The repair went great. First, I followed the ifixit instructions and took the phone apart to see if anything obvious was wrong, and to see what I was getting myself into, since this was my first iphone repair. Cleaned the camera contacts, put it back together and the camera (and the phone) worked! Camera cut in and out a few times after that, and the battery was weak, so I decided to take a shot.

Ordered the camera and battery, and a few tools I didn't have. When I had questions, ifixit was great to chat with by phone. Great support.

I'm glad I got the magnetic project mat. I was able to mark what parts went with which step as well as the position of all the screws and parts. Plenty of room to support my verbose note taking style. Never used any of the spare screws I ordered, but enjoyed the peace of mind of knowing that I had spares in case I blew the screws all over the place like I almost did first time I cleaned the contacts!!

My Advice

If you can change a tire or a hard drive, you can fix an iphone. If you're a tinkerer, you'll probably enjoy it. It really wasn't that tough. Nerve wracking for a first timer, but not difficult.

Another tip: don't overtighten screws. They're really tiny and it would not take much to strip a screw or attachment point.

The magnetic project mat was great. And I liked the idea of having a set of spare screws. Cheap peace of mind.

I find myself hoping I can find another phone to fix now that I've got the confidence I can do it.

My Problem

The rear camera on my ~1 year old, 16 GB iPhone 4S stopped working suddenly. I was still running iOS 5.1.1, but the update to iOS 6 did nothing to remedy the issue. Every time I pulled up the camera, the shutter would remain shut and the buttons all grayed out. During one attempt, I was able to switch to the front camera, and it worked fine.

My Fix

Very smooth with the following exceptions;

(1) Step 5, Battery Pressure Contact

Hopefully I did not damage anyting, but I never saw this feature. I was able to cleanly remove and reinstall the battery without this being an issue.

(2) Step 11, Cable Cover / EMI Shield

The shield that covers the camera's flexible leads and connector is not trivial to remove. I was able to pry the tabs out of their slots on the EMI shield as the instructions state, but the cover does not then simply come out; there is another tab that reaches down and under a vertical flexible harness that prevented me from removing the shield. I did not want to damage the other harness, so I managed to move the cover aside far enough to unplug and remove the camera assembly. Installation of the new camera was performed the same way.

My Advice

I think you can't go wrong emphasizing just how VERY small the fasteners are. Any one of these would have been very easy to loose or damage during reinstall due to overtorque.

My Problem

My iphone fell of of a car roof while in a mophie juice box case. it destoyed the mophie and smashed the front glass. I opted to have the front professionally installed (would do it with ifixit now).

My Fix

The back glass was fine but the force shattered one of the rear camera's lenses. after looking into it I decided to try to fix it myself.

The directions were fantastic, very detailed. I bought the recommended tools (do this). I was nervous, but dove in. Don't do this in a room with carpet if you can help it. the screws are impossibly small. Ifixit recommends buying replacement screws for the pentelope screws that open the rear glass. I got them out and back in with no stripping, but could easily see stripping these or the philips head screws inside. Track your screws as they are almost all different lengths and perhaps widths.

My Advice

use strong even pressure on all the screws and keep the driver at a crisp 90%. Place the screws in a clear order of removal.

My Problem

The camera's flash shorted out and would remain on constantly.

My Fix

Quickly and Easily

My Advice

Download and watch the videos. they are in depth and easy to follow along.

My Problem

During a photo shoot in the river I forgot I had my iphone in my shorts pocket. While shooting a water level perspective I realized I had my phone in my shorts pocket that was underwater for about 5 minutes. I dried it out, got most of it working. One of the items that didn't work was the rear camera auto focus. After searching the web on solutions I found ifixit.com and decided to replace the camera using their instructions.

My Fix

Once I got the parts it was a quick process to replace the rear camera. I pre-read the instructions so I knew what the steps would be. The hardest part was getting the battery out with all the glue they use to keep it in. The plastic opening tools worked great for that. Surprised how small the screws really were so it was important to keep them in order, I used a white sheet of paper and wrote on it where the screws came from which was an over kill, didn't really need to do that. All and all a pretty easy process and it was successsful - my rear camera is now working, I can live with the other items not working until the iPhone 5 comes out.

My Advice

The tools from ifixit.com work great. The plastic opening tools really came in handy to get the battery out and to remove the connectors for the battery and camera. The instructions were right on so follow them and you should have any problems.

My Problem

The rear camera on my iPhone 4S was partly out of focus, and the autofocus mechanics did not work at all.

My Fix

I followed the description given by iFixit, and I felt the process went smoothly. It took me about 30-45 minutes to complete the whole job.

The guide: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-i...

My Advice

I would recommend to use a "screw chart" to have a place to "store" the disassembled parts and screws. This can save you a lot of time when you reassemble the phone.