if you're like me you loved your iPhone
4s for many years unfortunately mine
shows ouch
so today I'm going to show you how to
replace the front panel in your iPhone
4s for this repair you're going to need
a P two pentalobe screwdriver SIM card
eject tool Philips triple zero
screwdriver plastic opening tools a 2.5
millimeter flat head screwdriver and an
anti-static project tray this is just an
overview so be sure to check out the
step by step guide on ifixit.com when
you do your repair when you're ready to
reassemble your phone we recommend
working backwards on the same guide
first step is removing the pentalobe
screws on the bottom of the phone on
either side of the charge port once
you've done that and organized your
screws on a magnetic mat or tray turn
your phone over and pop off the back
panel to do that we're just going to
hold it in both hands and use our thumbs
to release it and lift it from the phone
now you can see the battery there's a
bracket attached to the connector and
it's held in place by a couple of screws
let's remove the two Phillips screws and
then get to work on the connector use a
plastic opening tool to gently detach
the battery connector from its socket
the battery connector comes off
vertically from the logic board do not
apply force to it sideways pay attention
to the pressure contact underneath the
top screw of the battery connector this
may come loose while prying the battery
connector from its socket now that the
battery is disconnected we can take it
out of the phone to do that we're just
going to insert the edge of our plastic
opening tool between the battery and the
outer case then run the plastic opening
tool along the right edge of the battery
two completely separate it from the
adhesive securing it to the outer case
now we can use the clear plastic pull
tab to peel the battery off the adhesive
securing it to the iPhone and lift it
right out onto the dock connector first
unscrew the two Phillips screws holding
the connector bracket in place and lift
the bracket away to disconnect the
connector we're going to use an opening
tool to pry it from the logic board
there's a little adhesive holding the
cable down gently peel it away from the
logic board
let's stay in the same area and
disconnect the cellular antenna using
our opening tool and then de route it
from the logic board now let's move to
the top of the phone and get to work on
removing the rear camera we have a cable
cover to remove and it's held in place
by four screws each of these screws is a
different size so make sure you're
taking good notes when you take them out
so they go back into the correct place
once they are removed you can lift the
bracket from the phone last up with the
camera is just disconnecting the
connector with our opening tool and
lifting it from the phone before we can
move on to the logic board we need to
remove the SIM card get your sim eject
tool or paper clip ready and then turn
the phone to the left edge insert the
sim eject tool into the tiny hole and
pop the sim out time to tackle the logic
board and everything attached to it
disconnect the headphone jack volume
button cable front-facing camera cable
digitizer cable display data cable and
finally the power button cable that's
underneath the headphone jack volume
button cable move over to the right and
get to work on the grounding clip just
remove the Phillips screw holding it in
place and lift it from the logic board
now we have a stand off screw to remove
we can use a flathead driver for that
and then grab your opening tool to
disconnect the Wi-Fi antenna only a few
more things before removing the logic
board first remove the Phillips screws
securing the logic board near the power
button if you don't see the screw
immediately it's because of this piece
of black tape covering it finally remove
two Phillips screws and a standoff near
the bottom of the board and then lift
the logic board from the end closest to
the speaker enclosure and slide it away
from the top edge of the iPhone just be
sure not to lose the small grounding
finger for the rear-facing camera near
the power button you're going to need
that for reassembly the vibrator is next
to come out of the phone it's glued down
so you'll just need to use your opening
tool to pry it up to tackle the speaker
enclosure we will just need to remove
these two Phillips screws in
corner bracket once that's out of the
way and organized on your mat we can get
to work on the display there's one screw
in each corner let's start by removing
those there are three screws on each of
the inner edges for a total of six we're
going to loosen those but don't remove
them from the phone now it's time to pry
the display around the perimeter with
your opening tool if you're getting
resistance from the edges you may need
to loosen the screws inside just a
little more that's the repair but before
we let you go we want to give you some
tips for reassembly first you're gonna
have to move your home button over to
your new display this is outlined in
step 37 of the iPhone 4s display
assembly guide on ifixit.com
once your new display has a home button
and is ready to go into the phone it's
time to get it resituated this is a very
important step the cable to your new
display are very fragile and can easily
tear I've torn a few myself and let me
tell you there is nothing more
frustrating than getting this far into a
repair and then having to stop and wait
for another display the reason these
cables tear is because they need to fit
back through this hole also they won't
reach the logic board unless they've
been pulled all the way through this is
what it should look like inspect your
cables before you reassemble the phone
for any tears and make sure that they
aren't crimped anywhere go slow and have
patience with this step it really is the
most important part of this repair
you'll find all the parts and tools you
need for this and many
repairs that ifixit.com good luck and
let me know how it goes you can find me
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