As you know by now, I enjoy and prefer doing things myself when I can to save butt loads of money. I investigated the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) process of repairing an iPhone and successfully repaired my iPhone 4 with zero problems and figured I'd blog about my findings! This blog entry is for anyone else who unforutnately shatters their iPhone and wants to know their options about getting it repaired.
DISCLAIMER: If you follow my advice to repair your iPhone on your own, you do so at your own risk. I am not liable for any resulting damage, injury, or expense. I am not a professional in any sense and this blog is solely for informational purposes.
Repair Option #1: Go To Apple
Your first thought when you shatter your iPhone screen is probably to take it to the Apple store to get it fixed. Well unfortunately, your warranty doesn't cover accidents such as water damage and shattered screens. However, they do have a "Out-of-Warranty Replacement Program" where for $150 you can get your phone completely replaced with a new phone. Your new replacement phone is not completely brand new though; it's built from remanufactured parts that are like-new and fully tested. FYI, I have one of these replacement phones from when I dropped my phone in the water and it is fine with no problems and looks brand new.
Repair Option #2: Third Party Repair Shop
This is a good option if you are not confident in your abilities to repair your iPhone on your own. I called "Blue Ridge Wireless" in Tucson AZ about screen repair and they will do it for $115. They can get your phone fixed in an hour. You lose your warranty with Apple if you choose this route.
Repair Option #3: Do-It-Yourself Repair
For the iPhone 4 and 4S models, you will need to repair BOTH the glass screen and the LCD touch screen digitizer. I don't suggest just buying the glass even though the digitizer works fine, which is what I tried the first time I opened my phone. On eBay, you can find brand new OEM parts for your iPhone, the key is to make sure you buy the part for the right model. I personally bought a "OEM LCD Touch Screen Digitizer Glass Assembly Replacement For iPhone 4G AT&T GSM" for $30, which matches my iPhone 4 model. You can look at the back of your phone for the model number, e.g. A1332, and use Google to determine what part you need. Most screen replacement parts you buy off eBay will also come with handy tools to help you take apart your phone.
Once you've received your new glass and LCD screen, it's time to take apart your iPhone. For instruction, I used phonedoctors.com's video on Youtube to follow along. However, the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S are surprisingly very different inside. For example, my phone didn't have the same vibrator and had a few less screws, but with some intuition, it's pretty clear what you need to do to take apart the iPhone. The last thing that I recommend is the ScrewMat, which is a mat that identifies and helps you keep track of the screws you take out of your iPhone. It's really helpful to have this because the screws are all very small and very different and you need to be very organized when it comes to the repair. You could buy one for $20 off their website or just do what I did, which is Google image search and print it out.
I opened my iPhone twice. The first time I did not have the right replacement part...I only had a glass screen, which was completely worthless (waste of $7). It took me about 2 hours to open the iPhone using the aforementioned video's instruction, realize that I didn't have the right parts, and then put the phone back together. When I finally got my screen + digitizer, I took apart the phone and replaced the broken screen in 40 minutes without even needing the video. So in conclusion, if you trust in your electronic and engineering abilities, I strongly suggest the DIY option for repairing your broken iPhone screen...you'll save a ton of money and it'll be a very self-rewarding accomplishment!
Future Protection:
I learned my lesson from 1) dropping my phone in my toilet and 2) shattering my screen. My co-worker Yijie at IBM told me "it's not a problem fixing your iPhone, it's a problem fixing you." I always used a case that didn't cover the phone completely or there was no screen protection and I paid the price twice with my iPhone 4. I've actually gone through 5 iPhones believe it or not (three 2G models and now two 4G models). So got a sweet case for my iPhone: the Otter Box Defender Series. This is the case I have for my iPhone now and I love it. It's not completely waterproof, but it helps a lot. There's a also a plastic cover to protect the screen. The entire unit as a whole is non-obstructive and pretty lightweight. If you're interested in getting one, I would go to your carrier's store (AT&T, Verizon, etc) and purchase it from them because you'll likely get a 20-25% discount since you're a client.
Anyways, I hope this blog entry is informative for anyone who encounters a shattered iPhone screen! Good luck out there!!!
