Near the end of February I inadvertently knocked my iPhone off of a countertop. When I picked it back up, I realized that tragedy had struck…the screen on my iPhone was severely cracked. Although I was extremely disheartened about the incident, I was thankful that the digitizer and the lcd were okay and everything functioned properly. Also, I was fortunate in that I had a screen protector in place because this held the broken pieces of glass in place. Here’s a picture of my phone right after the trauma occurred:

Now then, let me back up just a little in my story. Just about two weeks before I broke the screen, I replaced the silicone cover on my iPhone. The one I had been using had ripped. What’s interesting to note is that my original case had thicker, reinforced corners to absorb shock. In the past, I had dropped my iPhone and experienced no problems whatsoever. The newer case I had put on just prior to the incident did NOT have thicker corners and I think that was a major contributing factor to the destruction of my screen.

So, once the shock had worn off after the incident, I called Apple only to discover that my warranty had expired. What did I do next? I turned to Google. I searched around and found some scary videos of people replacing the screens on their iPhones. Videos that showed people with ice picks and butter knives prying glass out. This terrified me. Then, I found a guy on Craigslist that said he could replace the glass for $60 and it would take about an hour. But then, he disappeared from Craigslist and never called me back. That left me with a feeling about this guy that I can only describe as “shifty”.

What did I do then? I turned back to Google thinking there must be another alternative to ice picks, butter knives, and safety glasses to get my screen repaired. Fortunately, I came across a site and a video that finally convinced me that I didn’t have to go out and purchase a completely new phone. I found eTechParts.com and the following video:

After watching this video, I was convinced that I could do the repair myself and ordered the parts. However, I decided to spend an additional $20 and buy the complete assembly that included the screen, digitizer, and lcd. Why? Because I wasn’t comfortable removing the old lcd and frame from my old one and installing it onto the other new parts. I feared that I would get a fingerprint, a hair, or dust in-between the lcd and the other pieces. I didn’t want to be constantly irritated every time I looked at my iPhone and saw it in there. I also didn’t want to have to disassemble it and attempt to remove it.

The parts arrived (yesterday) and I tackled the job. Powered off my iPhone, removed the SIM card, removed the two bottom screws, removed the cracked screen assembly with the very important suction cup, and disconnected the 3 power connections. Installing the new assembly was pretty quick and painless.

While on my way to Best Buy (to buy a new case), I did discover that something had gone awry. When my wife called me, I could not hear her at all. So, upon my return home, I again disassembled the phone to find that I had not properly secured one of the three power connections. Once this was remedied, I reassembled the phone and successfully tested it.

So, I’m back in business with a phone that isn’t leaking little pieces of glass. Yay!

My recommendations to anyone else who finds themselves in the nightmarish position of having a cracked iPhone screen?

1. Go to eTechParts.com and order what you need.
2. Watch their instructional videos.
3. Once your repair is completed, go get a new cover that is more protective than what you had previously. Again, I turned to Google and found the Otterbox Defender Case. Yes, it’s bulky, but it’s also going to offer my expensive phone a good deal of protection. I purchased my Otterbox case at Best Buy here in Coeur d’Alene.

Here are some pictures (I apologize for the low quality…our nice camera was unavailable) of the different stages of my iPhone repair: