Introduction
If your iPhone 12 screen is cracked, not responding to touch, or not showing a picture when your phone is powered on, use this guide to restore your iPhone to working order with a new screen, a.k.a. display assembly.
The combined earpiece speaker + sensor assembly affixed to the back of the display is paired to your individual iPhone from the factory, so you must transfer it from your old display to your new one during any display replacement. It contains the flood illuminator, which is part of the biometric Face ID security feature. If it is damaged or replaced, Face ID will cease to function, so take extra care not to damage any of these components during this procedure. If damaged, only Apple or an Apple-authorized technician can restore Face ID function.
Note: True Tone functionality is disabled after a screen replacement, even when using an original Apple screen.
What you need
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Power off your iPhone before beginning disassembly.
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Remove the two 6.75 mm long pentalobe P2 screws at the bottom edge of the iPhone.
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Measure 3 mm from the tip and mark the opening pick with a permanent marker.
Got to step 2 and realized the fix kit doesn't include an opening pick! Looks like a guitar pick, and I have those lying around. Is that expected? Looks like the pick is used in many steps below. There's a little blue crowbar that isn't mentioned in the instructions. Perhaps that replaces the opening pick?
Hi! I can't see which guide you were using when writing this comment. Can you reply here with which guide and fix kit you used?
I see you posted this in Meta. I hope it's resolved soon! In the meantime, a guitar pick may work well enough for your repair.
what fix kit?
My fix kit didn't include an opening pick either
My AliExpress refurbished screen came with a pick that has a coin-like circle that pops out, so no modification was necessary
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Lay overlapping strips of clear packing tape over the iPhone's screen until the whole face is covered.
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If you can't get the suction cup to stick in the next few steps, fold a strong piece of tape (such as duct tape) into a handle and lift the screen with that instead.
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Pull the blue handle backwards to unlock the Anti-Clamp's arms.
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Slide the arms over either the left or right edge of your iPhone.
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Position the suction cups near the bottom edge of the iPhone—one on the front, and one on the back.
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Squeeze the cups together to apply suction to the desired area.
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Support your iPhone on something sturdy such as a hardcover book so it rests hands-free and parallel to the ground; this makes it easier to work with in the following steps.
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Use a hair dryer to heat along the bottom edge of the iPhone. The screen should feel slightly too hot to touch.
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Wait one minute to give the adhesive a chance to release and present an opening gap.
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Insert an opening pick under the screen's plastic bezel when the Anti-Clamp creates a large enough gap.
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Skip the next three steps.
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Use a hair dryer or a heat gun to heat the bottom edge of the iPhone for 90 seconds or until the screen is slightly too hot to touch.
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If you're using a single suction handle, apply it to the bottom edge of the phone, while avoiding the very edge of the glass.
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Pull up on the suction cup with firm, constant pressure to create a slight gap between the screen and the frame.
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Insert an opening pick into the gap under the screen's plastic bezel.
This seems impossible. I've been trying for an hour with heat and rocking, and the screen doesn't budge. :(
Don’t give up! Use more heat and a tad more force. I know you may fear breaking it more, but as long as you don’t stick the prying tool too far or tug too hard, you can do it! I have faith that you can do it!
I'm in the same boat, this isn't coming off. I've tried the hair dryer as well as the heating pad from ifixit. Any other ideas?
The suction cup comes off before the screen will
Is there a better tool for this? Just saw a video on YouTube where a kid pryed it open with no heating/etc. in 5 seconds.
I've changed the batteries in probably a half dozen iphones of different models. But 25 minutes of heating and pulling had no effect on iPhone 12
Welp. I finally ended up breaking the screen attempting this. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS REPAIR! Not worth the broken screen and losing the cost of shipping both ways when you return the battery.
thx, I ll go to an apple repair center
Back (and bad...) experience ! Even if you heat a lot, the screen is hardly sticked. Take care, before sliding the mediator under the screen, this one should be moved up, at least 2 mm. On my side i have slided around 1 mm and .... inserted the mediator between the glass screen and the screen structure ring.... result : glass break and screen to change (my initial exercise was the battery removal !). I feel that next time i will visit a repair center...
Pro tip for anyone having trouble with this. You have to use multiple rounds of heat and pulling. Use a hair dryer and not the iOpener that comes with the fix kit and get it just too hot to touch then quickly start pulling and wiggling it up and down. Once it cools down grab the hair dryer again and repeat it a couple times until you start to get a big enough gap.
I just did this yesterday and it took around 5 rounds of heating and pulling to get it to seperate enough from the body.It's important to insert the pick under the bezel. I just delaminated my screen. The screen was probably fine, but it was glitching, so I wanted to check for a bad connection. Anyway, now I get a new screen.
Under the bezel, eh.
After reading this almost a year later to the day I last commented on it, I now know that the best way I have found to remove a screen, from pretty much any phone, not just this one, is heat (I use a heating pad on 80 degrees celsius) and before putting the phone on the heating pad, I use 91% isopropyl alcohol around the edges that you will be sliding your pry tools in, and I leave it on for 10 min. I then take it off, add more alcohol, and then put it back on the pad for another 5 min. Also, while I am sliding my tools around the screen, I continuously add more alcohol, and if it takes a really long time, then more heat as well. Heat, alcohol, and patience, lots of patience, and you should be good. Hope this helps, good luck!
Can confirm, this does indeed work. Just keep warming it up, lifting up and down, and repeat when phone goes cold. After around 10 rounds it would move enough to where I could see inside the phone when lifted. You can then insert pick
Tip: You can also try to apply heat and lift the other corner, just enough to make it move slightly. This will ease pressure needed to separate the glue on the other side as-well.
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Use a hair dryer to heat the right edge of the iPhone (the edge with the power button) for 90 seconds or until the screen is slightly too hot to touch.
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Slide the opening pick around the bottom right corner of the iPhone to separate its adhesive.
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Continue sliding up the right edge of the iPhone until you reach the top right corner.
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Leave the pick in the top right corner before continuing.
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Use a hair dryer to heat the top edge of the iPhone for 90 seconds or until the screen is slightly too hot to touch.
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Slide the opening pick around the top right corner of the iPhone to separate the top adhesive.
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Leave the pick in the top left corner before continuing.
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Use a hair dryer to heat the left edge of the iPhone for 90 seconds or until the screen is slightly too hot to touch.
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Insert a second opening pick in the bottom left corner of the iPhone.
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Twist both picks simultaneously until the left edge clips release.
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Rotate your iPhone so the right edge faces you.
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Open the iPhone by swinging the display up from the right side, like the front cover of a book.
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Lean the display against something to keep it propped up while you're working on the phone.
i did this and the shroud with the earpiece speaker still stuck with the phone so its just wedged in there i cant get it out
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Remove two 1.1 mm long Y000 screws securing the battery and display connector cover.
Ouch, I see a broken flat here…
Can I use a y 0.6 if I don’t have y000
Yep! The measurements for Y000 are 0.6 mm.
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Remove the cover.
Hi
On my original display on an iPhone 12, there is no metal hinge as shown here and therefore no place for it when closing the phone. Have double-checked model and the original display - and it is just not there. Is there another model based on serial number?
Hinge marked: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/asztgi60g...
Best regards,
Carsten
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Use a spudger or a clean fingernail to pry the battery connector up from its socket on the logic board.
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Bend the connector slightly away from the logic board to prevent it from accidentally making contact with the socket and providing power to the phone during your repair.
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Use a spudger or a fingernail to disconnect the display cable connector.
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Use a spudger or a fingernail to disconnect the digitizer cable connector.
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Use a Y000 driver to remove four screws securing the front sensor connector cover.
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Three 1.1 mm long screws
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One 1.4 mm long screw
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Swing the cover up from the left until the small clip on the right unhooks.
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Remove the cover.
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Use a spudger or a fingernail to disconnect the front sensor assembly cable connector.
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Remove the four screws securing the speaker/sensor assembly to the back of the display.
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Two 1.4 mm long Phillips screws
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One 1.7 mm long shouldered Y000 screw
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One 1.2 mm long Y000 screw
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Use the point of a spudger to gently pry up the top edge of the speaker.
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Flip the speaker assembly over—down and away from the top edge of the display.
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Use a hair dryer or heat gun or prepare an iOpener and apply it to the top front of the display for 1-2 minutes, in order to soften the adhesive securing the sensors.
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Use the point of a spudger to lift and separate the ambient light sensor from its notch in the front panel.
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Continue sliding the spudger underneath the ambient light sensor and its cable to separate the adhesive securing the cable.
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Use the point of a spudger to lift and separate the microphone from its notch in the front panel.
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Use the point of a spudger to lift the proximity sensor and flood illuminator module out of its notch in the front panel.
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Remove the earpiece speaker and front sensor assembly.
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Proximity sensor
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Flood illuminator
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The module must be positioned so that these components are not obstructed by any adhesive.
Beim Testen des neuen Displays ist zu beachten, dass der Hell- Dunkelregler nicht funktioniert, solange der Lichtsensor nicht auf das neue Display montiert wurde.
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Compare your new replacement part to the original part—you may need to transfer remaining components or remove adhesive backings from the new part before installing.
To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.
Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting, or ask our iPhone 12 Answers community for troubleshooting help.
Compare your new replacement part to the original part—you may need to transfer remaining components or remove adhesive backings from the new part before installing.
To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.
Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting, or ask our iPhone 12 Answers community for troubleshooting help.
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8 Comments
i am trying to source a replacement screen for my iPhone 12 that needs a new digitizer and battery. My main concern is since I cannot purchase an original part from apple and have to resort to eBay they have several option;
Lcd / Oled soft / Oled hard / Incell lcd??
I asssumed the 12 came with the oled screen and I’m worried that if I put a non original type screen it could damage phone after awhile?
what digitizer should I get?
Hi, I would recommend looking at places like Fixez.com rather than Ebay. Their prices are lower and they have a LCD buyback program which is very helpful. They have a wide ranging variety of LCD's. On a scale of best to worst LCD's its ranges: OLED Soft,OLED Hard, Incell LCD, LCD. I hope this helps
Hi there,
I have read that by installing an aftermarket screen, I would get a non-genuine display message. Has Apple addressed this issue?
Than
Genuine components have chips that allow the phone to identify them - third party ones frequently do not. The phone is doing what it is designed to do so there isn’t really anything for Apple to address. Much as anything it’s to stop companies refurbishing iPhone’s ‘in-house’ and selling them as having genuine parts. The non genuine part message is t inherently a bad thing, it’s an advisory rather than an error.
Hi, I lent my grandson my iphone 12 and I got it back with a broken screen and a broken back glass. I have another iphone 12 for parts. I was going to swap out the screen and the back glass. My question is do I have to remove all these parts as described above or c an I just plug the new screen in ? Second question my iphone has a Qlink wireless SIM card in it and it works perfect. The same SIM card will not work in my other iphone that being said would it be easier to somehow take my other iphone and use the parts from my broken one so the SIM card would work in it? I don't know what it would entail to do such a thing but if you would possibly know what I would have to do to make this happen please let me know... Otherwise I will take the screen and back glass and continue to install them on my own phone. also which procedure would be easier to do?? Kudos to you on this article I followed it to the letter and everything worked perfect I removed the screen without any problems. GREAT ARTICLE! Thanks Jeffrey
Great guide.... I was able to successfully replace the screen. However, the step to apply the glue sheet is missing. I had to undo what I spent 40 mins doing correctly just to get the adhesive sheet applied and redo it.
Friday March 8,2024 United States Iphone12
Old one had white lines on the left > Put the new one>turned it on and my finger prints would not allow it to open it and did two soft reset up,down and hold power button on until apple logo appears and no success. So next was removing the film that comes attached to it on the back side of new screen , plugged it back in and no success. So then i plugged the old one but only connected two connectors pretty much was lazy to take it all apart lol. Last was put that tiny screen protector that came with the 3rd party screen and sure enough it WORKED!! I also was studying about the motherboard but it did not seem to go that deep in it. Oh and the facetime works as well . I am going to update and let it scan my face for facetime . Don't give up it . You got this.
Do you sell the waterproof seals separately or are they included in the kit?
Heather Furnas - Reply
Do you sell the waterproof seals separately or are they included in the kit? (I would like to know this as well.)
CaliforniaGunner - Reply