REASSEMBLY TIPS:

The adhesive strips that come with the iFixit battery have no labels to say which goes where. Look at them carefully and one side has a blue protective cover that runs the length of each strip. This faces up and is to be removed at the last moment when you’re ready to stick the screen down permanently. One strip has a narrowed section in the long length to clear the glass touch screen cables, so stick this one down first to avoid mistakes.

Before removing the protective strips, close the touch screen and boot the iPad. Test both cameras, wifi and speakers. (I found the rear facing camera connector hadn’t bedded properly which was easily fixed). Clean the screen and remove dust from LCD before bedding in touch screen.

The iFixit site has updated battery calibration instructions which differ from the card packed with the battery:

Charge it to 100% and keep charging it for at least 2 more hours.

Then use your device until it shuts off due to low battery.

Finally, charge it uninterrupted to 100%.

CAUTION - there are two ‘hidden’ screws holding the lightning port that face the battery. Hold the iPad vertically and look down to see them. I almost broke the cable trying to remove it thinking it was just stubborn adhesive. Yes its mentioned at Step 82 but its a confusing illustration and easily overlooked.

Yes this is a deceptive image as the battery and connector strap seem to be missing. Hold your iPad vertically and look down at the lightning port and you’ll see these hidden screws.

A note about the multiple image thumbnails - roll your mouse over them to get an animated effect, rather than clicking on them individually

Pull the ribbon horizontally out, not up

At this point I’d use paper tape on the margins of the screen to mask off areas where you should use caution with the pick. Its just a visual reminder not to run the picker too deep in these areas. They are: the camera lens, lower right hand side and where the two antenna are along the base. Step 6 third image highlights these areas.

I spent an hour trying to lift the screen of an iPad Air first gen. The trick I found was that its a combination of lifting the screen a millimetre and then wiggling a razor blade vertically in the slot between the screen and the metal frame (yes its a microscopic slot). I used a hair drier on a section of the edge of the middle of the screen as above. The middle area allows for a bit of flexibility in the rail - we’re talking 0.5mm which is just enough for the razor.

So hit a section of the screen edge with the drier till its hot to touch, do the suction cap thing as above, insert the blade vertically and wiggle it *ever so slightly* in the slot as you don’t want to break anything. Keep repeating this until you see even the slightest rise in the screen under the cap. At this point, remove the razor and insert the blue pick. It should easily dig in and under the screen, but no further than the black border.

Remember, small wiggly steps will avoid breaking anything. Better a number of small heat and wiggles than a lift and snap.

…sometimes there can be a slight bend or flex tension in the cable which means its off centre and hovers at an angle, so won’t align with the pins when you press down, as happened with mine. After two hours of fiddling I purchased a monocle magnifier and it aligned and snapped in in a few mins. The alignment is that delicate. The monocle is also good to check you’ve not bent any pins.

Its deceptive in this photo but it is paper thin and parallel to the bottom end of the battery. I didn’t see it until I removed the battery the hard way

This is indeed a devil to reconnect. The cable flex means it won’t easily align or go down vertically.