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2nd Generation high performance tablet computer released by Apple on June 2017. Model A1670.

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Backlight Not Working after Screen Replacement

I recently Replaced the Screen on an Ipad Pro 12.9 2nd Gen. After replacement the screen is very dark, it seems like the back light is not working. How can I look into this and figure out what is the problem. It does seem to charge and work correctly otherwise. Thank you for the help.

Update (03/05/24)

I will be pulling the Screen back off to double check my connections for the screen. I did noticed that the step for the battery was missing when disconnecting everything So I had followed the instructions from the Battery replacement and had it disconnected when doing the swaps. Once I get it tore apart more Ill update this as well. Thanks for the advise

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Hi Justin,

I'm curious as to whether you used the iFixit guide for replacing your screen or not. Going over the instructions, it seems there are steps missing with regard to disconnecting the battery. Here's the guide I was looking at; it's the "Featured" one.

iPad Pro 12.9" 2nd Gen Screen Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

Anyway, if that's the guide you used, the instructions for unplugging the battery are mysteriously absent. On Step 26, it does have the following warning.

However, there are no other references to inserting pieces of a playing card under the battery connector to cut power to the display prior to replacing it. Hopefully you caught that in your replacement process and did disconnect the battery, because as the warning clearly states, unplugging the display cables with the battery plugged in can cause fatal shorts capable of killing your screen.

So if you go to the iPad Pro 12.9" 2nd Gen Battery Replacement Guide, jump to Step 28 and follow those instructions through Step 31 before unplugging the display, and don't reconnect the battery until after the display is fully reconnected.

Anyway, keeping our fingers crossed that your screen isn't toast, what we want to do is go double-check your work. Those long FPC connectors can sometimes be tricky to get plugged back in, so it's entirely possible you just need to reconnect those plugs and it could fix the problem. So follow the guide(s) and get the display unplugged again. Use a magnifying glass and a bright light to check the pins on both connectors since we don't know which is the digitizer and which is the display, and look at both sides; the one on the motherboard and the one on the flex cable. Verify there aren't any bent or broken pins there - bent pins can sometimes be straightened with fine tip tweezers.

Once you're happy the pins are okay, clean both sides with 90% or higher concentration isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, give it a minute to dry, and carefully reconnect both display connectors. Again, pay attention to the caution note on Step 30 of the screen guide.

Make sure they're both in securely, then before gluing everything back together, reconnect the battery and see if it's working. If it is, button it all back up and congratulate yourself on a successful repair! Otherwise you'll have to figure out if the new screen is broken or defective; at this point the best thing would be to try plugging the old screen back in and see if the backlight works on it. If it does, you've likely either blown the backlight circuit on the replacement screen or just plain gotten a defective display.

If it doesn't work, that could mean problems with the backlight circuit on the logic board, the repair of which is beyond the scope of myself and iFixit's guides.

So try reconnecting the display then come on back here and let us know what you find and we'll figure out what your next step should be.

Update (03/06/24)

Just wanted to let you know that I've updated the guide to put the battery disconnect information back in. However, the change has to be approved by iFixit, so until that happens you'll see a notice at the top to this effect:

Click on the link to go to the one I've changed.

Electronics Skills Image

Guide

Recognizing & Disconnecting Cable Connectors

Difficulty:

Easy

8 minutes

iPad Pro 12.9" 2nd gen Battery Image

Guide

iPad Pro 12.9" 2nd Gen Battery Replacement

Difficulty:

Difficult

1 - 3 hours

iPad Pro 12.9" 2nd gen Screen Image

Guide

iPad Pro 12.9" 2nd Gen Screen Replacement

Difficulty:

Difficult

1 - 3 hours

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Justin White will be eternally grateful.
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