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4-inch iPhone released in March 2016 with similar hardware specifications to the 6S. Available in Silver, Space Grey, Gold, or Rose Gold with 16/32/64/128 GB storage options. Model: A1662 and A1723

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Teared screen cable, does the rumble motor work without a display?

The title is a bit open ended. I attempted to open my iPhone SE and to my rotten luck my hand slipped and the display turned black. At first sight everything seemed mostly fine, the metal shield atop of the touch id connector snapped open but the cable itself didn’t tear, just released / got disconnected. I toggled the ringer mode to silent and back a few times. and the rumble motor brought a smile to my face as the phone was still alive. Yes, I started the disassembly with the phone still on. I fumbled with the phone a bit, disconnect the display assembly only to realize that I probably goofed again because I hadn’t unplugged the battery from the mainboard. I have to admit I’m a bit hazy on the exact ordering of the ribbons connected and disconnected. But while visually inspecting and trying to figure out if the display assembly is truly bonkered and how to proceed, I realized that I probably messed things up further because when I connected the three display cables and battery, the phones motor would no longer offer any feedback. My check consisted of plugging in the phone to a pc, pressing the power button, waiting 15-30sec, and toggling the toggle.

I disassembled the display assembly. It looks like the middle ribbon has a clean tear. So clean, in fact, that you could think you can just plug it back in (sadly that doesn’t work).

Block Image

So before I resume my gun-ho adventure and order an lcd from ali express, I wanted to ask whether no rumble motor with or without a plugging battery and a plugged in power cable is a sign of more serious damage than just a torn display cable. And if so, what would be the next steps to diagnose.

Thanks for the tips. Hope to learn something from my stupidity.


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If you had removed LCD from your phone before unplugging the battery you could damage the back light of LCD (chip located on MoBo/sometimes an diode bypass is enough). You should check with strong light pointed directly on your screen (connect screen THEN battery and turn it on) if anything is shown.

If you can see Apple logo/Phone background then good news - motherboard should be ok, but screen should be replaced.

Ps. Keep in mind to not throw away anything from original screen - replacements often comes w/o plastic parts or metal frame.

Ps2. ALWAYS plug out the battery as soon as you get access to it inside the phone. Always and in any reparir.

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4 Comments:

No signs of life from the panel. Tried straight under a desk lamp and in direct sunlight. No dice. I took out the mainboard to try and see if there are any obvious signs of something going kaput but 7/8ths of it are covered with shielding and before I attempt to remove it I figure I’d check with yall whether that’s something that needs to be done in the first place.

Aside from some staining, no signs of catastrophic failure on the exposed bit.

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It's hard to see from the attached picture, but I will suppose the flex damage. It's most common if you're new to iPhone repairs.

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It's pretty rare for backlight to go bad on the 5 series phones so a new screen should do the job, remember to always have the battery disconnected first if possible when doing any repairs on phones.

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The screen replacement worked like a charm. Sadly I bought a knock of screen. Thanks for the support! :)

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iNub will be eternally grateful.
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