Difficulty
Difficult
Steps
47
Time Required
1 - 4 hours
- iOpener Heating 3 steps
- iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi Opening Procedure 30 steps
- Home Button Assembly 11 steps
- Display Assembly 3 steps
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This guide has been found to be exceptionally cool by the iFixit staff.
Introduction
Follow this guide to replace a broken front panel assembly on an iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi. The front panel or display assembly consists of the glass digitizer on top and the fused LCD underneath. In the iPad Air 2, these two parts are not separable and must be replaced as one piece.
Note that the fingerprint scanner in the home button is paired to the iPad's logic board. In order to maintain Touch ID functionality, you must transfer your original home button to the new display assembly.
This process can fix issues like a cracked glass digitizer, a non-responsive touchscreen, or a broken LCD screen.
Warning: the battery isolation method in this guide is outdated, and may result in irreversible damage to the battery pins of the logic board, effectively destroying it. If you choose to isolate the battery this way, heed all warnings and work extremely carefully. If you choose to complete the guide without isolating the battery, avoid using metal tools except when completely necessary (like when removing screws) to prevent shorting the battery and damaging sensitive circuit components.
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If your display glass is cracked, keep further breakage contained and prevent bodily harm during your repair by taping the glass.
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Lay overlapping strips of clear packing tape over the iPad's display until the whole face is covered.
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Do your best to follow the rest of the guide as described. However, once the glass is broken, it will likely continue to crack as you work, and you may need to use a metal prying tool to scoop the glass out.
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Use a plastic opening tool to pry the bracket off the back of the Home Button.
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Remove the Home Button bracket and peel up the tape connected to it.
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Scrape off as much of the old adhesive residue from the bracket as you can, then clean it with acetone or high-concentration (90% or greater) isopropyl alcohol.
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Secure the bracket with hot-melt glue, superglue, or high-strength double-sided tape. Make sure the bracket is aligned correctly before allowing your adhesive to cure, or the home button will not click when pressed.
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Examine your replacement part, and your original display carefully to be sure they match.
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Your replacement screen may be missing the sleep/wake sensor that is necessary for Smart Cover use. If you want to maintain functionality you will need to transfer the component.
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Desolder the four solder pads from the lower left of the display to remove the sensor assembly cable.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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19 Comments
What about the part soldered to the display to the left of the home button? It's showcased in step 43 but hidden with black tape then missing in step 44? What is the significants of this component or flex cable...
Be careful if you replace the home button bracket, many of the replacements do not have the small silver disc that sits in the recess on the inside of the bracket. If you do not transfer this from the old one, the home button will not work as there will be nothing for the home button to press against
can you describe how to transfer the sensor flex cable assembly (four small solder points left to home button on step 45)?
No use to buy your spare part without this step!
This is one of the harder steps to accomplish I felt. You need to de-solder the four points by heating them up at the same time if possible. They actually have small holes in the center of them for the solder to go through to the bottom pads. Once it is removed you need to clean them off and remove as much old solder as possible without damaging the ribbon they are on. Once you have the new screen in place you need to put the part in its appropriate place and then solder the points. Using an ample amount of flux is helpful but you have to clean up afterwards with IP alcohol. If you have a small microscope or good camera you can zoom in and see if the connections are solid and then you are done.
