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Repair information and guides for the iPhone 6S released by Apple on September 25, 2015. Models: A1688, A1633

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Why can't you buy a 6s digitizer without the LCD?

Hello. I'm new to repairing phones, so this may be a silly question, but why is it so difficult to buy the iPhone 6s digitizer without the LCD?

I've replaced a broken screen on an old iPhone 3GS, and the replacement digitizer I bought didn't have the LCD attached, I had to transfer it from the old display.

I would imagine that a digitizer without an LCD would be substantially cheaper than one with the LCD, so why can't I find any? Is it impossible to remove the LCD in the 6s? Is there a time period after a new iPhone is released in which you can't buy the digitizer separately? Or is there some other reason?

Thanks in advance.

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There is no digitizer, the touch function is built into the LCD panel.

The front glass is just glass, and it is directly bonded onto the LCD. It's not like iPhone 3GS that there are separate pieces. Unless you have the expensive equipment to peel the glass off and risk cracking the LCD every time, it is not possible to separate them.

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While Tom is basically right, he's not technically right.

There is a separate digitizer for the iPhone 6s. However, its bonded onto the LCD. You can peel it off if you try hard enough. However, the problem is getting a new digitizer on the LCD. The digi is bonded onto the LCD. It is possible that you could use some sort of heat stamping method to get the new digi on, but you have no way of getting it lined up. The process used to line up and bond the digi to the LCD involves a machine that uses x-rays and sometimes lasers to line everything up down to the fraction of a mm. It then bonds it in a special process.

So the quick answer is yes, you could save yourself the extra $30 that a screen with a digi attached would cost. But it would cost about $5,000 in machinery and I don't know how long in time to acquire the skill to get things right.

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Well, iphone 4 and 4s has this kind of 3-layer design, LCD (display cable attached)+digitizer (touch cable attached)+front glass. Since iphone 5, the standalone digitizer is elimitated, the touch sensors are built right into the LCD, there is only LCD+glass.

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take a look at an iPhone 5+ LCD. You'll see there is one cable for digi, one for LCD. Follow the digi cable back to the LCD and you can peel that connector off. Grab a razor and you can peel the digi off.

Like I said...you were right. But sometimes when troubleshooting a touch issue, its important to know that the LCD and digi are 2 different things and can malfunction independent of each other.

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Everyone's right except I have done this repair and replaced glass only...while it wasn't the easiest thing I heated it up and used a super thin metal wire and fishing line to separate the glass from the glue then I used one of theseHere= to line the new glass up the apply LOCA UV glue which has to be cured by uv light but once cured your ready to install So THERE IS NO NEED FOR $5000 IN EQUIPMENT

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I'm guessing its because of the 3D Touch layer on the iPhone 6s.

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