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Guides for the Wi-Fi version of the iPad Mini 3 (A1599). Announced on October 16, 2014, the iPad Mini 3 is the successor to the iPad Mini Retina (now known as the iPad mini 2).

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Could a Touch-ID home button replacement ever work?

Hello!

According to itunes error 53 after iPhone 6 home button replacement?replacing the Touch-ID home button will always lead to the ipad being unusable after updating it. (Error 53).

My questions:

1) is this true?

2) has it always been true?

3) would taking the old home button and just replacing the cable work?

The reason I am asking: I brought my iPad to a repair service with broken digitizer and severed home button connecting cable. They told me that replacing the home button with authentic apple home button would work((see question 1). I accepted a 170€ repair and now the iPad is unusable. They threw away my original home button(see question 3). They tell me the issue is a recent one coming with an IOS update and that previous Touch-ID home button replacements have worked.(see question 2) I should wait if there is a fix in the next IOS update.

Thank you for your help

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1 It is true. On devices without Apple Pay, you should just lose Touch ID function but the rest will work. On devices supporting Apple Pay, you'll always end up with a brick, large or small.

2 as said in 1. Apple is very unlikely to go easy on this and maybe even more strict in the upcoming updates.

3 You got screwed. I'm not sure for iPad mini 3 since by definition it is still an iPad mini 2. It uses Apple A7 platform just as iPhone 5s. iPhone 5s will work with the button replaced, but iPhone 6 onwards will not. That's why I'm assuming this is related to Apple Pay. However I did not receive reports that those repaired devices worked with updates before and suddenly don't after the most recent update. So the only explanation is that the repair service didn't know about this limitation. Currently only Apple can repair this by reprogramming the Touch ID system entirely, replacement sources from any other channels will not work. It is unlikely for Apple to "fix" this in future updates, as this can lead to serious Apple Pay security concerns.

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3 Comments:

Tom Chai, thank you for your answer. He offered me to give me the 170€ back, but still he turned my iPad into a brick. So I'd like to know: If he had kept my original home button and just replaced the cable, would it have been repairable?

Also do you have any idea how much a home button + digitizer repair would have cost at a authorized service provider?

Thank you so much

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It is possible in theory however it is exteremely to solder the sensor. For AASP, they don't repair iPads at all, all defective units must be replaced.

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I am able to solder these chips back onto a new flex cable, they are a 20 ball BGA chip, are you saying that this will make the home button sensor work again just by changing the chip?

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stollenm will be eternally grateful.
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