The iPad Fix

Mijn probleem

So my mother in law broke her ipad screen: I'm not sure how. She claims her dogs jumped on it, but honestly those suckers are 10 pounds on a bad day (she has 3 miniature pinschers). The screen was obliterated, a nasty spiderweb of cracks stretching from the home button into the far reaches of every corner. My roommate had inherited the iPad prior to that one: an iPad 2nd gen with a cracked screen starting in the lower right hand corner. I assumed that screen damage came from a nasty tumble.

Mijn oplossing

The repair went really well. For my roommates iPad, the one I started with since it was second gen and a hand-me-down (so technically free), I used the iPad 2 screen assembly. I didn't have any idea what I was doing or what the tools involved were supposed to do (a bean bag? Seriously?) but I was pleased to find the related guides here on ifixit. I pulled her screen off without too much trouble (a little broken glass here and there, and of course fingerprints on the LCD). Where the hitch was: reinstalling the digitizer plug. The guide here on ifixit said just to follow the steps in reverse in order to install a new front panel.... Well, it didn't say ANYTHING about the black part of the little plug-ins facing up, so I twisted and contorted the digitizer wire around and around until I got it to fit in the way I expected it to go in.. As it turns out, that was upside down. I didn't realize this until after I had secured the adhesive strips, reattached the LCD and gotten the screen all in place... I had about 20 minutes' worth of panicking that I ruined my friend's iPad before I realized I probably just didn't put the digitizer in right. The adhesive was still fresh, so I had no trouble removing the screen and miming the original digitizer setup - then I tested it, and all was well!

For my mother in law's iPad, I used the adhesive strips and home button assembly from ifixit, but got a customized pink glass panel for her screen off of eBay. It went perfectly, no hitches at all (except I had to stare at her former screen to deduce where the adhesive strips went) and she now has a gorgeous new pink iPad 3rd gen with a white bezel and a black home button.

Mijn advies

Make sure you don't beat up your plastic removal tools too bad if you plan on doing more than one repair. Also, make sure you have plenty of adhesive! The wifi antenna isn't nearly as fragile as the guide makes it seem.... But hunt down a video on YouTube for input on how to plug in the digitizer ribbon if you have any doubts about which way it goes. Also do a test once you plug it in, not after you've secured the screen to the aluminum frame. It'll save you a few headaches.