iPad Air Wi-Fi Front Facing Camera Replacement

I didn't find this to be as hard as I had built it up in my mind to be; HOWEVER, saying that I need to say years ago I was the local Nokia service center in my town. But many years ago right after they got rid of analog times. Yeah. A classic installer/repairer mistake when starting something they haven't fixed or installed before is picking up the instructions, flipping through them; maybe even reading a section that is new-then tossing the instructions over the shoulder. "I got this." This usually comes right before something major gets broke. And I can tell you when you try to do it yourself and then mess it up horribly then take it to the repair shop. Well we called that "I can do it myself" syndrome and charged extra to put back together what they brought in in the box. Now knowing all this - I can't stress this enough because I am stupid, stupid, stupid. COVER YOUR SCREEN IN CLEAR BOXING TAPE AND READ ALL THE INSTRUCTION BELOW THROUGH TO THE END BEFORE EVEN ATTEMPTING THIS FIX. Take my advise.

I didn't have an iOpener, so I used a wheat type heat bag. If you do this though, make sure you put a layer of plastic between your Mac and the bag, or you'll get condensation in places you don't want it.

I started out using the iOpener but switched to my wife's hairdryer. A heat gun or hair dryer proved to be much more convenient and is a time saviour. You can heat more and the glue becomes more fluid make the next steps with the opening picks much easier

I know this is obvious, but backup your iPad with iTunes before you start. I'd also turn off your passcode if you have one.

Ther first time you heat up the iOpener for this repair when its room temperature I had to heat it up for more than 30 seconds. I remember I had to heat it up for around 45 seconds. However, after that when you need to reheat it again during the repair 30 seconds will be enough.

Not everybody has a microwave. You need to state how long and at what temperature in a conventional oven.

Hi, the microware have multiple power 1 to 9, what must be used ?

Regards,

Cedric

My microwave just died, can i heat it with boiled water?

Taping as shown is impractical when using hair dryer method—tape simply comes off in the heat and gets in way of getting out the shards on the sides. If the thing wasn’t shattered, then taping unnecessary.

I used the wheat bag in a sensor microwave heating up to 65-70 deg C (155 def F).

Get yourself a cherry pit bean bag the size of your iPad. Heat it, put the iPad on it for 3 to 5 minutes or so, reheat the cherry pit bean bag, again put your iPad on it. Then heat the iOpener and start working. The cherry pit bean bag will have to be reheated several times, but it will soften the adhesive so you have less problems with the iOpener

The “Galaxy S8 Replacement Battery” that you are selling with the kit is the wrong battery, the one that you are selling is a 3000mAh (which is the wrong amperage) as the OEM Samsung Galaxy S8 battery is “Model #: EB-BG892ABA / 4000mAh / Normal Voltage: 3.85V / Charge Voltage: 4.4V / A/S: 1588-3366 4000mAh 15.0Wh

The heating can be done very effectively (and quickly) with 3d printer heated bed. Make sure the bed is clean. Set the temperature to 60c, (130f ) and put the ipad face down for +/- 10 minutes. Repeat as needed throughout the “gentle prying” stages.

The iOpener did not work at all for me.

I had to use a heat gun and bring the edges of the case up to ~200 degrees (used an infrared thermometer to measure) before the glue would weaken. This obviously superheated the metal frame, so I also had to wear gloves to handle the phone while prying the back off with the included picks.

Repair instructions worked like a charm. Had to be patient with the iOpener and getting the screen off. I tried repeatedly without success until shifting the suction cup a bit to the left side where perhaps the glue had loosened up a bit more.

The iOpener, in my opinion, is of no help. Many warnings to say “don’t warm it too much”, but the glue doesn’t melt if not warm enough. As a result, a complete waste of time and energy. In addition, too much liquid in it, so it doesn’t lay on the device on a sufficient surface. I took a hairdryer and it worked much much better.

May I know the temperate limit about heating iOpener? (maximum 150 degrees Celsius?) thx so much.

I had to heat mine up for more than 30 seconds. After 30 seconds on high it was only warm. It had to keep trying different times and checking it until it got hot. I think the initial time that I put it in for was over a minute.

DO NOT USE IN NON ROTATING MICROWAVE! It will pop a hole. I had it in for 45 seconds the first time. It wasn't very hot inside and I saw it started to leak on the paper towel I put under it. Just a fair bit of advice. I think I will just stick with the heat gun. Loud but useful.

I don't own a microwave.

Its again waterproof when you change iphone 7 battery?

I don't have a microwave???

30 sec at which equivalent watts setting and what temperature does iOpener heats up to for 30 secs. Only just bought it so needs info before using it. Thanks

can i use just ordinary microwave???

If I don't have a microwave then I try to use hot air gun so how many munuts i want to heat ?

I heated mine up for 30 seconds, tested, then again for 30 seconds. It felt adequately hot. Leaving it on the left side, per the instruction, for a minute did not loosen the adhesive. I ended up pulling the suction cup hard enough to shadder the old screen. Moral of the story, I don't think it gets hot enough safely to have an affect.

I used a hot water bottle, works well as it covers the whole screen and stays hot for longer.

If I may suggest include your microwave wattage so people can get an idea on time for there own

I ended up using a hair dryer. That iOpener thing took forever.

30 seconds sure isn’t cutting it… 45 didn’t get the screen of my iPad air 2 to budge either… even after resting on the ipad for 4 minutes.

60 seconds in the microwave, the iOpener burst.

I’ll get a new one and try once more with heating it 45 seconds and repeat that for 30 minutes like others have said here. If that doesn’t work it’ll have to be the heat gun.

K

I can’t recommend the microwave. If the the iOpener becomes too hot, it bursts. Better put the opener in cooking water. Dry it and use it. Instead of an iOpener you can use hot/cool packs as well.

Trust the directions! I forgot and left it in the Microwave too long and after 1 minute I had Mt Vesuvius - the iOpener burst and spewed the goodies out. The problem is, the Digitizer can be damaged by a hot air gun, so I had to tough out and remove the glue the hard way. I made it … with lots of patience! Tough lesson.

I also used a hairdryer. I used it on the low setting and I cut a piece of carboard to protect the rest of the screen. The iFixit tool and method is vert tedious and very time consuming in comparison. With the hairdryer method you can literally have the display apart in a few minutes. Using your other hand nearby the area you are heating it should be very hot but not enough to burn your hand. You only have to heat metal part of case near glass edge. If you have a cellular model then you need to be very careful because the black antenna area is plastic. So less heat and work your way up in adding heat just enough to separate around the area but not so much you melt the plastic!

iOpener was the worst part of the kit. Followed directions for :30 in microwave and took 4 trips to the microwave to loosen adhesive on left side of home button. I thought I was figuring it out and it was working well… even set a timer to wait 10 minutes between heating it up. Was on the right side and was on my 12th heat up when it exploded in the microwave. My only tip is that if you set it clear side up, as soon as you see any bubbles or boiling in the liquid, STOP! If you put a pot holder over the iOpener and press slightly to make good surface contact, that seemed to help. I finished heating with a “Corn Sack” that held heat better than the provided iOpener.

Yes, as does a heat gun.

I did this repair. I used a hair dryer, I think it works better: gets very hot fast.

microwave on WHAT WATTAGE ??? 100 W OR 1600 W ??? NOT THE SAME

If you add clear packaging tape, it will create bubbles and the suction cup will become inefficient. To me it was impossible to remove the glass with the suction cup. Since the glass was very cracked, I had to resort to some tweaking with strong tape and pull the this off.

If your digitizer is shattered, the tape will help, but you’re going to need extra picks. Or a razor blade. See below.

Friendly observation that the image on this step is actually of an older ipad model as the side bezels are far too big. I don't know if that matters to anybody but a noob might see it and think this manual doesn't apply to them. : )

I had the same experience. My glass was cracked all the way to the left side and the suction cup would not pull the glass up. The packaging tape also didn't help. The heat caused it to lift. I finally abandoned the tape, used a heat gun aimed very carefully at each broken piece of the screen. The picks did work with patience, but I just pulled off each broken part of the glass. I also found that pulling up on one broken part while heating in front of me would let the next piece pull up. I continued heating and breaking all the way around. Do the right side last. Took about 1 hour to get it off, and another hour to clean the old glue off the frame. BTW thanks to this web site and all the comments! No way I would have done this without all the help here! I am now clean and waiting for my new digitizer. I couldn't free the battery (below), so I left it powered up, and verified it till worked before throwing away the old glass. Vince

Taping with package tape doesn't work. You'll need a very large piece of tape if you go this route.

Just finished successful repair. I would add this: most folks will be here because of cracked screen. This is not easy; believe the 'complex' rating on this repair. I put tape on my screen because it was badly cracked. This made the suction cup useless, because it just sucked the tape off the scree.n. I used the razor blade technique which worked great, it should be used in the demo, and a good blade should be in the kit.

The iOpener doesn't work because the heat isn't strong enough. I used a hair dryer which proved to be much more efficient.

The iOpener didnt work for me either. seems like it gets hot enough but it must not. I spent 30 min with the iOpener, then tried a hair dryer.

“At least a minute.” Bullshit. Get the iOpener good and hot, place it on the area you’re going to work on clear side down, and cover it with a towel. Walk away for 2 minutes. Make yourself a drink — you’ll need steady hands later.

I've done this with an iOpener and at least in my case, it worked fine. You may have to modify the heating instructions though, since not all microwaves are created equal.

ii i just did this and it took a while but i figured it out it is true this thing doesnt get hot enough BUT heat it 2 times and then the 3rd time when u place it on the ipad put the ipad box on top and then maybe a second ipad on top of the box so it kinda smashes i down but not too much for it to break and then wait for it to turn warm THEN use the succion THEN the gap appears. the glue is super strong on the ipads so yea it will take some time lol

Doesn't work. Perhaps include more copy on exactly how to do it?

The iOpener does not work. It simply it is not hard enough to soften the glue. The heat hair dryer method does not work either.

The goal is simply to weaken the glue enough that you can use your suction cup to open up a tiny gap under the glass, so you can insert an opening pick and slice through the adhesive. It doesn't actually take all that much heat; the picks will do most of the work once you get them in there. iOpeners, hair dryers, heat guns all work fine in my experience—the iOpener is just a bit more foolproof because it won't get hot enough to cook the display panel underneath.

I used iron..surprise!! yeah pretty fast tho…put a layer of fabric (towel in my case) ontop, along the edge of screen and start ironing..

:-)

If using a hair dryer or heat gun make sure it is not too high heat. My heat gun has two settings, one 750 degree and an 1100. After using it on high I discolored the digitizer and warped the LCD slightly (only shows on pure white backgrounds). Low worked for the rest of the repair just fine. Also using a razor blade or something besides the pick works nice for the initial pry. Once you have a gap big enough, insert the pic and you’re all set.

I don’t have an iOpener, my heat gun wasn’t handy. The last time I did something like this it was a 90-100 degree day, so I just put it out in the sun for a while, and it worked great. This time it’s fall, so I used a 420W halogen Light that I have for photography. (A standard heat lamp would probably work too, but might take longer.) I held it close to the light until it felt hot to the touch, just a couple minutes, then I left is sitting about 16” below the light for 5-10 minutes to sink in and warm uniformly. It worked great.

For me, steps 8-31 were basically one step "Carefully pry off the digitizer glass with the plastic tools" took all of 30 seconds.

Don't assume anything!! I thought I was pulling on the screen connector and I was pulling on an antenna component instead. Didn't ruin its connection range but I sure remember doing it and now my iPad has a little internal flaw only I'm aware of.

Correct me if I’m wrong but the LTE version apparently has 2 antennas on each side of the front-facing camera and it’s not shown on this post to avoid prying. I just scratched one of them following these instructions.

In this picture above, the glass isn't cracked at all so it helps the suction cup to be effective as it is hermetic. With cracked display, it won't work.

Suction cup would not work for me. No amount of heating with iOpener or hair dryer would allow even the slightest gap to form. I ended up looking at some YouTube videos and used a razor blade. I put the razor blade perpendicular to the top glass, right at the edge of the glass and pushed down until the blade went down 1/4". Then heated some more and pried up the glass enough to put in an opening pick. I spent a lot of time working with the suction cup. Glue was just too strong.

The suction cup is useless if your glass is shattered. Use a new, sharp razor blade, and insert it vertically between the edge of the glass and the metal back of the iPad. Don’t worry about pressing too hard — there’s a lip that stops the blade from going in too far and damaging anything. You’ll probably have to do this several times, but eventually the blade will “bite” into the edge of the glass well enough for you to pry it up. Insert a pick underneath the razor, then remove the razor and continue as directed.

After having to read several comments on this screen removal and the clear packing tape, I too have to agree that the tape method does not work well at all if your screen is already shattered. I combined several methods, with lots of patience to remove the screen on my iPad Air 2. What I found it very helpful was the heat gun used for paint removal. The heat gun generates a lot of concentrated heat at lower air velocity, unlike generic hair dryer, so you must be very careful not to ruin the electronics, and risk burning your hands and anything around it. My heat gun that I purchased from Home Depot had a nozzle to direct and focus the heat on a small area. That was helpful in working small area at a time. This method work thoroughly well.

It would work if you leave iopener in microwave for 1 minute.

Don’t trust the instruction from ifixit.

you can put iopener in microwave for 1 minute without any harm.

Note. you have to make sure that it is in cold position before you put it into microwave.

Suction cup didn’t work for me either, went the razor blade route (using an exacto knife blade) with very minimal damage to the aluminum shell. Be warned, if your screen has cracked along the edge (as it almost 100% certainly has if you’re reading this guide), the screen will continue to shatter and splinter as you make your way around the edge. That’s when having the screen taped up well will be to your advantage. There’s also a good chance you’ll have to re-insert the razor blade on the other side of a fracture and start the lifting process again, but keep going, being sure to avoid the points called out in this guide and you should be fine.

Also, do not apply the suction cup to an area of the screen with cracks and no tape. If you’re near the edge you run the risk of brutally shattering that area of the glass if the glass gives before the suction cup.

In order to get this to work for me I had to heat the IOpener to over 104 C - I needed to get the screen over 40 C before the adhesive would loosen.

Also I had to put the ipad on a towel - the granite countertop it was on was sucking the heat out too fast.

This step was brutal on my nerves - read about too many people ruining their iOpener and I don’t have a heat gun. I had to keep heating the iOpener incrementally hoping I wouldn’t pop it. … but if you’re patient, persistent, and cautious, you can definitely tell when you’re seeing separation. The iOpener ended up being WAY hotter than 30 seconds was getting me - borderline scorching my hands.

I found it much easier to use a single edge razor blade instead of the pick. After getting that inserted, it was easy to slip the pick between the blade and the case. Disclaimer - Razor blades are very sharp and you could easily hurt yourself or your iPad if you use one.

This is an amazing tip! After trying for 10 minutes to use the pick with no luck, I grabbed a small razor blade and that worked perfectly to get me started!! Thanks!!

The suction cup also didn’t work to create a gap - it cracked the screen when i tried to lift (the screen was already cracked). This was after rotating between the iOpener and a microwavable hot pack for food. The iOpener was around 175 degrees, it brought the surface of the iPad to 130. I was finally able to lift the glass using a razor blade and then the picks like donprius. I continued to use the iOpener to loosen the glue around the rest of the iPad but I think a heat gun would have been more efficient.

You have to heat the glue really much, or you will, as i did, crack the glass.

Best bet is to mark the pick with a sharpie line on how far your maximum limit is so you don’t damage the LCD.

How do you slide the picks when the glass is broken? Even with the glass taped, it pulls away from the tape rather than the housing. I've just further shattered the glass with my attempts.

This gives a false illusion to the difficulty of these repairs when you guys make guides using perfect devices. What about devices with dinged corners? A reader is gonna slap on a new screen and shatter it the second they apply pressure thinking it will fit into a dented corner lol

I managed to get a couple of fingerprints on the LCD.

What's the best way to clean 'em off?

What's the safest way?

My digitizer WAS ok and I was only replacing the battery I wasn't careful enough when coming around the side with the pics and got a hold of the cable just enough with the pic to pull it off the underside of the panel. The battery replacement went great other than now I have to replace the digitizer. :(

BE CAREFUL WITH THIS STEP!!!

And if you are replacing the digitizer, you have to reuse the fingerprint sensor home button. I sliced through mine and now I’ll not have fingerprint sensor. Each home button is matched to the main board and if switched out you will loose that sensor ability.

Like others, I damaged my digitizer cable while doing a battery replacement. It would be a good idea to use some blue tape to mark the spots to avoid during the glue slicing procedure.

This step needs a BIG CAVEAT to not insert the pick far enough to damage the home button/touch ID cable, as it is DIRECTLY above where you’re directing people to insert the pick. I just ruined a ribbon cable by following this guide too closely.

You will end up having to scrape the outter ledge to remove the old screen. I bled and got glass shards everywhere. Good luck!

Detailed pictures that better indicate the difference between the remaining adhesive and the two mylar cables (the very cables you are trying to avoid damaging!) would be much appreciated. On my unit the two were VERY hard to distinguish.

This step does not need to be performed here. I cut this adhesive once I had removed the lcd and display cables. This makes it much easier to avoid damaging anything. Just prop the glass up on something while you perform steps 31 - 42, then cut remaining adhesive and remove.

It looks like I have the same or similar question: the “hinge” part of the digitizer cables (the flap portion) looks like it is supposed to tuck into the crevice between the LCD panel and the side of the aluminum body - my replacement (from iFixit) has sticky contact on the upper side of this flap, making me think that its supposed to adhere to the side of the LCD panel, but the instructions do not make this clear - is my assumption correct?

Or, does the flap adhere to the underside of the front panel’s right edge?

I attempted to put this protrusion underneath the LCD, and it kept coming up above the LCD. As there were no instructions, I put it as best as I could underneath the LCD as I cannot imagine that it folds up against itself?

Use the provided replace screen case's square compartments to place your screws into as you remove them. Really helpful and you likely won't mess up.

I tape a stripe of double sided tape on my workbench. You can place the screws on the tape on the location where the screw would be if it was in the screen assembly. In this step, your screws would be in the four corners of the tape stripe, with the longest screw (4,8mm) in the upper left corner. The other screws from the next steps can also be placed on the tape this way.

! went to Office World bought 4 packs of bluetac stuck them on a sheet of paper to give approximately size and shape of iPad put it in a flat cardboard box

Got a cracked screen from toddler stepping on the iPad. My repair went well, everything worked. Except I scratched the LCD. It seems to scratch easily.

At this step, be careful when folding over the screen, as it may scratch on the aluminum frame (third picture). When they say “soft lint free surface” that is needed, specifically where the LCD meets the frame. Place a thin cloth like sunglass cleaning cloth over the edge of the frame.

Not having the isolation pick, I used 2 thin guitar picks instead, which did the job fine.

I couldn't disconnect the battery connector - I applied some force, nothing happened and I was afraid of applying too much force - so I just left it connected and I was very careful not to short out any terminals with metal tools. I completed the repair without any other issues and the iPad now seems to be working fine.

A little explanation here would be nice. Also, there wasn't a battery isolation pick in my kit. You should address this.

Mine was missing. Made one with scissors but still didn't do the trick. I just worked with the batteries still plugged in.

try lifting the board and not blocking the connector. If you block the connector there are pins that could be damaged.

Be careful when re-installing screws on reassembly. I mistakenly put the longer screw from the battery connector in the outboard hole, and wound up twisting off the lug that is only lightly soldered to the metal below. Still have 2 screws and system seems to work fine.

Does anyone know where I could purchase a replacement display cable bracket?

Note:Be rly carefule with unplugin homebutton-connection.

The plug-connection (Homebutton) is not similar to the plug connections the basic-plugs got.

The homeputton-plug-connection is sensetiv and cant unplug easly.

Andddddd continue this iFix folks! It's not a matter of working backwards. Most people must have cracked screens and end up having to rip the screen off and won't have a chance to inspect connections.

He is far from complete…..if lcd is being replaced its probably because top screen is busted too. He didn’t show anything about how to remove the cables for that.

I totally skipped steps 39-98 I didn’t see any need to remove all these components and the logic board just to get the battery out. I gently pried up the board where the battery connector goes in, slipped it out, and slipped in the new one.

I got through the repair, only to have the new screen give me problems that I can not find solutions to any where. The digitizer is working on its own without my input, it will start apps, switch windows, etc. I have pulled up the new screen and checked my ribbons and cables seem to be fine. ANY IDEAS??

Moses Roman

Same exact problem that I have. I think it has something to do with the glass touching the ipad. Something like on the iPad mini, where you had to cover some areas beside the home button.

I would love to see a real solution, as im stuck with unhappy customers and frustrated me :)

I had mine replaced TWICE by a local repair shop. Soon noticed both times that the iPad would soon go haywire after a few minutes use with random clicks, ghost typing, opening apps, etc.

The iPad Air's such a poor quality, un-durable product anyway. I only had my screen replaced in the first place because it cracked with no apparent drop or trauma and Apple wouldn't replace.

I have also the same issue, does anyone know what the problem is?

Please give us some feedback.

Have seen this with multiple repairs where the digitizer was replaced. In each case it was a problem with the digitizer cables where it gets tucked under the glass near the edge of the frame. Not yet sure if they are badly made digitizers or if the cable gets damaged trying to tuck it under frame during installation.

THIS PICTURE IS PERFECT AND PERTANANT TO THE NEXT STEP REGARDING “GHOST OR PHANTOM TOUCH” - See that foam around the edges? For some reason, the ifixit replacement digitizer doesn’t come with it (but it does come with new adhesive applied already.) With your screen, also purchase their “tesa tape” : Tesa 61395 Tape / 4 mm - it comes in different widths fyi. I choose 4mm as advised by a staff member.

I didn’t receive any of the two sided tape…I assume it needed to be ordered separately??

So, when I removed the glass, the bottom cable tore and I have to replace it. The video is not as clear regarding replacement. The old button had a round rubber gasket but the new one does not. No inst. how to re-use it. I can’t attach and keep in place the new button.

In your conclusion, which doesn't have a comments area, you say to reverse the procedure - simple enough, BUT what about the sticky adhesive residue along the edges of the (a) the just-remove-glass (if re-using) and (b) along the 'inside' edges of the iPad chassis? Typically Apple says to remove the adhesive residue (careful) with alcohol wipes (lint free & 98% isopropyl). Thanks for the instructions!

the hardest part of this repair for me is actually aligning the ribbons (especially on the aftermarket version) so they don't jumble and cause the glass to mush away from the adhesive leaving a gap. Would would be very helpful to see how to fold the ribbon cables back on the aftermarket digitizers. They are slightly different than the originals, or at least they appear different. This repair is super useful but we could really use a step 44 because re-assembly has a sequence and a folding technique.

The ribbon cable is a little tricky to figure out. But if you look closely at the old ( Broken) screen you will see they stick to the underside of the screen thin the remaining ribbon slides down into the ipad between the display and ipads frame.

I used a heat gun and suction cups to loosen screen.

This was a very good ifix ii

Reassemble huh? What about how to move the home button to the new panel?

It is not as simple as reverse disassembly steps, the ribbon cables need to be tucked into the pocket on the side of the iPad. There is tape on them that has to adhere to the side of the digitizer too. Mine did not make it all the way down into the gap, and stuck on the other adhesive, now I have a gap by these two cables. To tuck these into this area is difficult at best. I now need to remove the glass, hoping it does not shatter and purchase more tape.

Other than this the task was not bad.. BTW: YES People use the capton tape

I’ve read that people are putting glue at each corner. I haven’t figured out what glue. One person said Glue Dot 1” 16lb, another said rubber cement, 1 video shows 5 min epoxy… Heard that some sort of glue (not super glue) needs to be used to avoid the glass lifting later on. And to use 3m red tape along the edges. I’ve been searching for which glue because I still have an ipad air to do screen replacement on.

Would be helpful if the tape were listed in the master supplies for the guide. I got the whole kit overnighted, but then had to wait a week to get the tape from Amazon (since I wasn’t going to shell out another $50 for overnight shipping). Otherwise, it’d be nice to know if the displays through iFix it included the foam or not—mine didn’t.

what is the difference between the right and left antenna?. My right antenna is damage and cant find a replacement. Can I use only the left one?

I did not realize that aftermarket screens (besides the one ifixit sells) do not come with adhesive strips. Well worth the time to figure out what kind of adhesive you’re going to use to re-adhere the glass before you begin. Stopping while you’re so close to the end of the repair (or having to open the ipad up again after the screen doesn’t stick back down) is slightly frustrating.