there's nothing more irritating than
subscribe and cracks on your tablet you
don't have to live that way for long cuz
today I'm gonna show you how to replace
the front panel on your iPad Mini hi I'm
going to 'ln with iFixit and for this
repair you're going to need an eye
opener spudger tweezers pix phillips
double-0 screwdriver plastic opening
tools and a small suction cup warning
this repair is extremely complicated
lots of components are adhered and can
be easily broken please proceed with
caution and remember to follow each step
on the guide on our site I have all the
parts and tools I need in my eye opener
kit and my pro tect tool kit and I never
do a repair without my magnetic map
Before we jump in I want to warn you
that some of these steps sound
complicated but are pretty simple you
may want to watch the upcoming step
before you try it yourself and as always
use our step-by-step guide as a
reference having a picture to zoom in on
can be very helpful when you're deciding
on what piece to work on next okay let's
get started first off you want to make
sure your iPad is off and completely
disconnected from any power source and
to open this bad boy we're going to use
our iOpener which heats up and softens
all the adhesive holding the front panel
in place but keep your pics and opening
tools handy because you're going to need
those to keep the glue from resetting
after we've softened it now get your
suction cup and place it on the bottom
right corner of the front panel glass
just above the lower bezel and near the
right edge of the mini pull up on the
suction cup enough to open a small gap
between the front panel glass and the
rear panel
using a plastic opening tool begin
prying the glass up and away from the
bezel it can be hard to see but you want
to make sure you insert the tool between
the bezel and the glass as soon as
you're able to open a small gap insert
the first of your picks to prevent the
panel from reattaching to the glue you
may even want to hit it with some more
heat from your eye opener if it gives
you some resistance one quick warning
before you start you want to be wary
when you're using the pics at the bottom
section of the iPad the Wi-Fi antenna is
attached to the bottom right edge of the
rear case work carefully and slowly
making sure not to sever this cable now
you're going to make your way up the
right side by starting with heat and
then sliding the opening tool up the
edge and adding another pic once you get
to the top right corner repeat this
process from the bottom right corner to
the bottom left corner but be careful
because you can sever the digitizer
cable and the Wi-Fi antenna now it's
time to move from the bottom left corner
to the top left corner once that's done
you can finish from the top left to the
top right you want to stop once you
reach the camera at the top because you
can damage the camera or its cable if
you slide a guitar pick over the camera
so just slide up to the camera and pick
it up on the other side when planning
the pic you want to make sure it's never
pushed beyond the black bezel of your
iPad if you ever see the pic through the
glass you're in way too far
having the pic in that Park can
potentially get adhesive residue on your
LCD or damage some of the internal
components
holding the iPad by the top two corners
rotate the front glass away from the
iPad don't just pull it off because the
front panel is still attached to the
logic board now you can remove the small
thumb tape covering the screws securing
the LCD to the rear case there's a small
piece of tape covering the bottom and
top right screws and the top left LCD
screw might be covered by adhesive tape
from the front panel you can use your
tweezers to remove those and once you
have a clear view of all for LCD screws
you can get to work on them with your
Phillips driver first we have a few
things to take care of before we can get
to the LCD metal shield we're going to
use a pair of tweezers to peel up the
small piece of tape connecting the LCD
frame to the right speaker then we can
pull the top of the foam tape
surrounding the LCD with the foam tape
out of the way you should be able to see
the tape that's connecting the LCD frame
to the LCD use the tip of your spudger
to separate the tape time to turn our
attention to the shield plate the LCD is
glued to the shield plate so we're going
to use our picks and start at the gap
between the LCD in the rear case near
the top and left side of the LCD
now you can vend your pic slightly just
enough to create a small gap continue
with your pic in this way down the left
side and then the right gently
separating the LCD from the rear case
you may have to repeat this a few times
until the LCD is easily moved left and
right
now that it's loose you can use the flat
end of your spudger to separate the
adhesive beneath but be sure to get the
spudger between the LCD frame and the
backing plate and not beneath the plate
prying up on the plate will damage it
because it's screwed down to the rear
case beneath the LCD let's start with
the top right side and once the flat end
of your spudger is in the correct
position we're going to slowly push our
spudger all the way along the side in
between the LCD frame and the metal
backing the goal is to separate the
adhesive not to pry the LCD up so keep
the pointed tip of the spudger as low as
possible to prevent bending the LCD if
you see the LCD bending in any way
stop this step and go back to loosening
it with your pics before coming back to
this
repeat this step along the top and left
side and then try to lift it a couple of
inches from the rear case once you feel
it loosened you can flip the LCD on to
the front glass but don't try to remove
the LCD because it's still attached by
the data cable
there are 16 screws that need to be
removed from the LCD shield plate so get
moving now we can pry the shield away
from the rear case with a flat end of
our spudger and remove it on to the
battery connector remove the three
screws holding the connector shield in
place and remove the shield but be sure
to make a note of where these screws
came out on your magnen butt or wherever
you're sorting your screws you want to
make sure you don't put any other screws
here upon reassembly as longer screws
might strip the screw holes and result
in irreparable damage to the logic board
moving on we need to use our opening
tool or spudger to disconnect the
battery and LCD connector from the
sockets on the logic board
you would think the LCD would be free by
now but wait there's more tape to deal
with so to deal with the tape that
connects the LCD to the rest of the iPad
we just need to grab the LCD in one hand
and insert the spudger between the LCD
tape and the iPads right side slide the
spudger to separate the tape and gently
lift the LCD repeat on the remaining
tape moving left and just like that the
LCD is finally free and can be lifted
out now you can focus on the front panel
first up disconnect the digitizer cable
from the logic board and the digitizer
cable board from the rear case once
those are safely disconnected you can
remove the front panel make sure your
new digitizer cable is folded over onto
itself and press firmly to secure the
adhesive you'll also need to transfer
the smart cover magnets on your old
front panel to your new front panel for
reassembly we recommend you follow the
step by step guide on a fix-it comm in
Reverse and if you're in the mood to see
a reassembly video check out our iPad
Mini GSM reassembly video on our channel
you can find all the parts and tools you
need for this and many more repairs at
ifixit.com and let us know how it goes
you can find me on twitter at Gwendolyn
gaye and follow i fix it at iFixit don't
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