iPad 3/4 Adhesive Strips

My Problem

Somehow the connector broke. Not sure what happened, but the device stopped charging and was therefore completely useless without the dock connector.

My Fix

The repair itself I thought went quite well. It was fairly tricky. I have repaired a lot of electronics before but taking the screen off and on was the tough part. Unfortunately, after I got everything back together there is a strip of the digitizer that is not working (i.e. the touch sensitivity does not work on a horizontal strip in the middle of the ipad. I'm not sure what I did to make it stop working- whether I damaged the cable, or the digitizer itself. I may never know because it was such a huge pain to get the screen off and on that I may not take it apart to fix it. My girlfriend is pretty happy now that the ipad works at all and is not that bothered by this dead strip on the screen.

My Advice

Taking the screen off is very tricky. I used the 'iopener' heating device which was quite helpful. I was very ginger with the digitizer and was surpised that is was damaged. I think you may be better off just buying a replacement digitizer and replacing it rather than wasting time trying to be so careful with it.

My Problem

We shattered our iPad 4 display glass. It was not worth it to buy a new one with Apple so we decided to replace the glass and perform the repair ourselves.

My Fix

I admit I bought the glass from another third party source originally. With a lack of proper instructions I accidentally cracked the glass on the replacement. Lame.

I bought another glass front with digitizer but the provided adhesives were subpar and did not hold.

I went with ifixit to get new adhesive, which I should have originally, and it sealed the deal, literally.

My Advice

iPad display repairs are not easy, but way cheaper than replacing full units with Apple. Take your time and do it correctly.

My Problem

The digitizer broke. Luckily, the LCD is still working (and without a scratch!)

My Fix

As I stated in the title, as long as you are patient and through when removing the broken glass, clean things out with some canned air, this is a simple job.

My Advice

To ensure the digitizer attaches firmly to the case, I placed a weight on the digitizer for 24-hours. There's really no need to rush and get this job done immediately. Take your time, ensure you reconnected the LCD and digitizer ribbons and that they will not be an obstruction when you attach the digitizer to the case.

My Problem

the phone was not holding a charge

My Fix

The teardown was not that difficult using my Pro tool set from iFixit. It took me about 15 minutes to get to the part and remove it. During the removal of the bad dock i noticed a flex cable pop out and did not really pay attention to it like I should. Placed everything back together and function tested the phone. The home button was not working. So, I torn the for down again and remembered to look at the home button flex cable. I found that I did not connect the home button flex cable this was the root cause of the home button malfunction. I but the phone back together and function tested and everything was working.

My Advice

Pay attention to the home button flex cable when removing the wifi cable and speakers. They would have saved 15 additional minutes during the repair but a good lesson learned to take my time.

My Problem

My wife's iPad 3rd Generation fell out of my truck and the front panel shattered. Then I broke the LCD while trying to repair the front panel.

My Fix

I had a difficult time removing the front panel even with the iOpener. This would have certainly been an easier process if my front panel were not completely shattered.

I ended up ruining the LCD with one of the iFixit Opening Picks. The repair guide actually advises caution with these picks, but I got so distracted with trying to pry one of end of the panel up, that I did not realize I was pushing one of the picks to deeply in the device from the other side.

Once I finally got both the front panel and the LCD replaced the device appeared to be working until I tried typing a message with it, and then I realized that the keys Q, A, and shift were not working. Hence, I had to take the device apart again and reseat the front panel cables. After doing this the iPad is finally working like normal again. The whole process took me about 3 weeks, including time spent waiting on the to separate shipments of parts to arrive, and time spent troubleshooting the keyboard issue.

My Advice

I've repaired iPhones before and now an iPad. The iPhone is significantly easier to repair than an iPad. If your iPad's front panel is shattered you can fix it using the guides on this website and parts, but you are going to need patience, and you are going to need to use a lot of caution. Oh, and you also need a vacuum cleaner to be handy because the shards of glass get everywhere.

My Problem

The docking connector was damaged and not able to charge the iPad.

My Fix

The repair took a LOT longer than expected. The iopener heating device was marginal - I had to use a hair dryer in conjunction with the iopener heating device to loosen the adhesive. The plastic opener tools supplied in the kit did NOT work. I could not get either tool in between the metal case and the glass. The edges of both plastic opening tools blunted over at the ends when trying to insert them - I could not get either to work. I had to use a fine bladed paring knife to make the first entry. After that I was able to get the triangular opening picks in and continued with the opening with heat and rolling the triangular opening pics (which worked great. I successfully replaced the docking connector using the supplied screw divers which worked great - it was very helpful having the screw drivers magnetic which helped remove and insert the small screws. I then removed the old adhesive and reassembly the unit less the top glass. Then added the new adhesive strips with great difficulty - I should have put in the adhesive strip while the iPad was disassembled. I finally installed the glass cover and powered/checked the unit out - success!

My Advice

The plastic opening tools should be made with a harder material. The heating device was difficult to use because it was round - at least one flat surface on the device would made for better placement and stay put. The heating device did not supply enough heat to readily melt the adhesive. Also an instruction/notice to add the new adhesive strips while the unit is disassembled would be very helpful to make their placement easier. I had a hard time finding the right place to lift the locking tabs on the ribbon cables. I would suggest better instructions/illustrations of how/where to lift the small locking tabs on the ribbon cable connectors.

My Problem

The screen shows only snow.

My Fix

The iFixIt repair components worked fantastically! I was able to use the heat gun to melt the adhesive holding the touch pad digitizer to the iPad frame. i used: the set of picks to help separate the digitizer from the frame without damaging the plastic ring around the case; I the screwdrivers to remove the LCD; the plastic pry tools to open the LCD ribbon cable connector; the tweezers to reseat the ribbon cable; the replacement adhesive to reassemble the unit. The iFixIt tools and supplies were perfect! They worked as advertised and made the daunting task of opening a seemingly impenetrable iPad easy (I really mean easy). Unhappily, the problem was not a poorly seated ribbon cable. my iPad unfortunately seems to have other problems. Likely a failed integrated circuit.

My Advice

It's worth opening these iPads 'just in case' there is something 'dumb' that can be fixed, like a cable that has become loose due to dropping the iPad or jostling it in carry on luggage. Mine has seen about 300,000 frequent flier miles in 2 years, so maybe it did as well as can be expected. Although having it fail 8 days after the warranty and AppleCare expired was not pleasant. The iFixIt videos and tools are an absolute MUST of opening (and closing) these sealed products. Opening my iPad went so smoothly that you CANNOT tell it was opened: no scratches, bent plastic ring, cracked glass, etc. One idea is that you should always wear gloves so you don't leave fingerprints, and you should have some canned air handy to clean particles off the LCD and back of the digitizer. Sometimes even with the best effort, something cannot be effectively repaired as in my case. But, it was worth a try.

My Problem

My friend dropped his iPad down a set of stairs. it took a direct hit to the corner when it hit the tile floor at the bottom. Yhe Retina display stopped functioning. fortunately the touch screen survived. Using the manuals on this site I was able to safely remove the touch panel and see that the issue was in fact only the screen.

My Fix

I received the screen in excellent shape, I am very happy with the quality packaging. the installation went very well using the iFixit tool kit I had purchased a while ago. I followed the instructions on the site, I like pictures. The job was done within 15 minutes and the iPad was back playing minecraft in no time.

My Advice

I wish I had known about iFixit a year ago, could have made some other friends happy with their broken devices they ended up paying a fortune to have repaired. Thanks iFixit.. you have a new loyal customer.

My Problem

Bought an iPad, dropped it a couple times (on accident obviously) and ended up messing up the LCD display and it wouldn't turn on anymore. APPLE said they can fix it for $300

My Fix

Went super smooth. It was easier then I thought and didn't run into any problems. ifixit says it difficult to replace the iPad 3 wifi LCD but it's not difficult. More like Inbetween easy and moderately difficult.

My Advice

Buy the kit that includes the I opener. Made it super easy to loosen up the glue and get the whole kit that comes with the tools and picks so you can pry open the iPad front screen. And always be patient. Don't rush anything.

Also follow ifixit Guid! Perfect!