iPhone 3G Front Panel

My Problem

Wife dropped her old iPhone 3GS that we only use to listen to books on CDs, and the glass broke in a couple places. Display worked fine. I should note that this was a replacement phone for one that was stolen. I bought this one on eBay as a 16GB 3GS. However, the back said it was a 16GB 3G and the guts said it was an 8GB 3GS. So I wasn't sure if the panel was a 3GS or 3G, so I ordered both.

My Fix

Using the suction cup to open the front (after removing the 2 screws) was a problem. The front panel was pulling away from the display assembly as the sticky wasn't strong enough. Must have been removed before and proper parts weren't used. Had to push a little with a dental pick through the screw holes to get the display assembly to start to come out, then I could use the metal spudger to pry it fully out.

Everything else went just like the guides said. When I got the old panel off, I compared the connector (and part #s on the cable) to the two I bought for the repair. It was closest to the 3GS, so that is what I put in. But the differences are very slight, with only a slight mechanical change in the connector. Had to use a 10x loop to see!

Reassembly was easy. However, I apparently didn't get the front panel connector properly seated as at first the touch screen wouldn't work at all. So I reopened and reseated the connector until it properly sort of snapped in and was seated. Then everything worked perfectly.

Absolutely could not have done this without the great words and pictures in the guides.

My Advice

Even though I am a retired system engineer who fixed a lot of military electro-optical equipment for work, I was nervous to try this repair. But the guides are great. Do not force anything! And make sure alignment of parts is correct before fully assembling pieces.

The guides are very correct in what they describe. The hard part is visualizing what they are saying before you actually perform the step if you haven't done it before. Move slowly and carefully.

I also upgraded the hard drive in my wife's iMac following the iFixit instructions - went smoothly and works perfectly!!!

My Problem

My Iphone fall many times and this times the front panel was very broken.

My Fix

I took almost 1h30 to repair my front panel with your really great pictures and explications

Your explications was perfect for me and now my phone seem like new.

My phone work perfect.

I am extremely satisfied about your product and for your explication step by step.

Thank you for all.

My Advice

Juste take your time to do it because this work is very precise.

My Problem

Phone was dropped twice breaking the front panel glass at the top and the bottom

My Fix

The repair was easy, however getting all of the old glass and adhesive off was a little tedious because the front panel was shattered. The online step by step by was right on the money. The total repair time was maybe a little more than an hour.

My Advice

I did not read well enough when buying this kit. I did not purchase the front panel kit because I already had the tools and assumed that was the only difference. In my haste to order and get the phone repaired I did not order the adhesive and was left to cut my own two sided tape pieces. This worked for my application but surely the already precut adhesive would have made the process much nicer - outside of that the online guide is spot on and the repair is very easy for a competent person.