⟐ Answered december 18, 2023 at 10:37 MST

⟐ Commented mei 17, 2019 at 5:49 MST

⟐ Answered augustus 09, 2026 at 9:02 MST

A week or so ago I managed to replace the battery on my 41mm series 7. Hurray! Or so I thought.

I initially powered it on without reapplying the screen's adhesive, and unfortunately when reopening it things went wrong and I ended up bending some of the display pins, which resulted in the display not turning on.

I ordered a new display from iFixit, followed the instructions to replace it (disconnecting the battery first), and after putting everything together the display still remains black while the watch is on (I see its battery in iOS and I can mirror its screen with the accessibility settings.

Anything obvious I should look for? I double-checked and the screen connectors seem to be fully in (see images).

Additionally, just want to make sure I got this right and the connector with (1)

should go in-between the taptic engine and what seems to be the housing of the crown? (2)

Thanks in advance!

⟐ Commented augustus 09, 2026 at 0:33 MST

I’m experiencing an issue with my Apple Watch after performing a repair. I’ve replaced both the battery and the screen, and while my iPhone still displays a battery percentage (around 50-60%), the watch itself remains completely unresponsive. There’s no vibration, sound, or any sign of activity when I attempt a forced restart using the buttons.

I’ve inspected the flex connector for the screen, and everything appears to be correctly connected, with no visible damage or misalignment. Despite this, the screen stays black.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue? Could the watch be effectively “off” even though the iPhone shows battery information, or might there be a problem with the new screen, the flex connector, or even the logic board? I’d appreciate any insights or suggestions for further troubleshooting.

Thanks in advance!

Before the repair, the watch’s display had intermittent issues. Sometimes, it would turn off completely and then turn back on by itself after a while. The touch functionality was also unreliable, occasionally failing to respond properly. Eventually, the screen stopped working altogether and remained black. That’s why I decided to replace the display. I also replaced the battery because it was old and inexpensive, and since I was already opening the watch, I thought it was worth changing both components.

Regarding the flex connectors, I initially left the latch open, but I have now repeated the process completely. I removed the battery, reconnected it, and this time made sure to properly close the latch on the flex connector. After that, I connected the display, ensuring the correct order (battery first, then display). Despite this, the screen remains unresponsive.

What could be the next possible cause? Could the issue be with the new display itself, or could it be something else on the logic board?

⟐ Commented augustus 08, 2026 at 11:00 MST

⟐ Commented augustus 07, 2026 at 19:44 MST

Before you answer, please, take a look at these pictures.

I recently replaced the battery on my S6 Apple Watch LTE following one of the repair guides here.

Everything ok, the watch is working fine.

However! Upon reassembly, I found that brownish/reddish film both on the case, and on the display. On the display side, it was already partially unglued.

So I thought: ook, maybe it's just another adhesive strip I need to peel off... Which I did. I removed both strips from the case and from the display. And replaced everything with only one adhesive strip, the one that came with the battery replacement kit.

Something like this.

So, it was a seal on the display with a brownish/reddish film on top of it, an identical one on the case (you can see it in the picture above), and some glue (the transparent one you can see in the pictures) in between them. Well, it was the same glue on all of them, but yeah.
So:
Seal on the display
Seal on the case
Glue in between the two
And glue under each brown strip.

Now, aside from the fact that the display didn't stick and constantly pops up of the frame, when putting back everything, I noticed the display was sitting a tiny little bit under the edge of the frame. It made kind of a lip of some sort. It's not noticeable unless you look really close, or if you run your finger over it.

Other than that, everything works fine, as far as I can tell.

However, now I wonder:

1. 1. should I have removed those strips (they felt a bit harder to remove, but I just thought it's probably just a harder glue to remove)?
   
   Funny enough, before removing those strips, I asked Google about it, and the first answer was: don't remove it, that's a 3D Touch Sensor. And I was like: what 3D Touch Sensor? Series 6 doesn't have that! And of course, it said: you're right, my bad. So I removed it, and now I'm confused.
2. 2. is there a 3D Touch/Force Touch sensor on the Series 6?! Cause, as far as I know, there isn't!
   
3. And if so, then what the hell are these sellers sell on sites like AliExpress (here), as "3D Force Touch Sensor Gasket For Apple Watch Series 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 SE Gravity Induction Sense Coil Flex Cable 38mm 40mm 42mm 44mm"?
   
4. For Series 1-5, yes, there is a 3D Touch sensor. But with Series 6, as far as I know, there is no such thing. So...what the hell is that?! A wireless sensor? There is no connection to the motherboard! How would that even work? Is it just a simple waterproof gasket....?
   The replacement they're selling seems to be similar to the thing I removed. So I'm thinking it's probably a multi-layer kind of sealant (is it?).

1. 3. do I need that? If so, is that supposed to replace the regular adhesive strip? Do I need to add both? I'm so confused!

What's even more confusing is that the guide I followed didn't seem to have any of that neither on the display side, nor the case side. So I thought: ok, he might have removed it. So here I am, removing it as well and cleaning everything up so that the new seal can properly adhere to the watch.

Can anyone, please, tell me what the hell is going on? Cause I'm completely lost at this point.

EDIT:
Apparently, there are different kinds of adhesive strips. And yes, as far as I can tell from this video here, that is supposed to be a lot thicker than what I got.

EDIT2:

See the Solution.

⟐ Answer edited augustus 06, 2026 at 0:06 MST

⟐ Commented augustus 01, 2026 at 20:01 MST

⟐ Answered augustus 01, 2026 at 9:20 MST

⟐ Commented augustus 01, 2026 at 4:49 MST

⟐ Commented juli 28, 2026 at 19:06 MST

⟐ Answered juli 26, 2026 at 1:45 MST

Thanks!

⟐ Answer edited juli 18, 2026 at 3:14 MST

I bought Apple Watch (45 mm) Series 7 screen adhesive. After an extremely thorough cleaning of the metal frame and the screen borders where the factory glue was applied, the adhesive appeared to fit perfectly. I clamped the screen and frame with four clamps for 48 hours, and it seemed fully bonded. However, after about two weeks, the bond started failing on one side and eventually the adhesive let go on roughly half the screen.

I removed the failed adhesive and reattached the display using a black gel adhesive commonly used for phone screen replacements. It has held securely for about one month and two weeks so far.

The adhesive I received was branded Tesa. I chose it thinking it would be a cleaner option, but in the end I had to switch to the messier gel method. I originally selected it because I was also replacing the Series 7 battery, and the battery replacement works great. The screen adhesive, though, did not.

⟐ Answered juli 13, 2026 at 11:01 MST

⟐ Answered juni 27, 2026 at 13:29 MST

See the display and cable photos.

Thanks

⟐ Commented juni 18, 2026 at 1:32 MST

⟐ Answered juni 16, 2026 at 2:33 MST

I have a third party band that’s stuck on my Original Apple Watch. Apple wants to charge >$200 to remove the band, which is worth far more than the watch at this point. The release button won’t press down with this band on. Is there anywhere in the San Francisco area or via mail that I can get this repaired?

Thanks

There is no visible damage. The only symptom is that the release button barely budged when trying to depress it.

The Watch, aside from the stuck band is in full working order. I would just like to get this band removed so that I can change bands again.

Thanks

⟐ Commented juni 11, 2026 at 16:55 MST