Google Pixel 3 XL Partial Motherboard Separation

Inleiding

This is a prerequisite guide! This guide is part of an another procedure and is not meant to be used alone.

This guide shows how to partially separate the motherboard from the frame in order to access the rear-facing camera.

Remove the 4 mm long T3 screw securing the top-right corner of the loudspeaker.
Removing this screw will give you slightly more wiggle room when removing the motherboard.

Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the earpiece connector from its motherboard socket.
Carefully remove the connector pad surrounding the earpiece socket.

Insert the point of a spudger underneath the motherboard, near the rear-facing camera module.
Pry up gently to loosen the motherboard from its recess.
If the motherboard is not budging, make sure you have disconnected all the connectors.
The motherboard has to squeeze past the earpiece speaker cable. If too much pressure is put on the earpiece cable, the earpiece speaker will pop open. You can prevent this by pressing on the earpiece module with a finger while you maneuver the motherboard out.
If the earpiece speaker pops open (as shown in the third photo of this step), carefully align and press the module back in place.

Don't attempt to remove the motherboard from the phone. It's still attached to the phone.
While you perform this step, take care to keep slack on the antenna cables attached to the bottom leg of the motherboard.
Lift the top half of the motherboard slightly to clear the board from its recess.
Twist the left edge of the board over and out of the phone and rest the board on the right edge of the phone.