Tips for Disassembling Your iPhone 4s

Sad Broken Screen

A couple weeks ago, I (with the help of my dog) broke the screen for my iPhone 4s.  Unfortunately, it is still about 4 months until I can upgrade at the cheaper price ($99 vs $600ish).  The LCD still worked, the touch screen function, everything on the phone worked...it was just ugly and sometimes hard to read.  More annoying than an actual problem.  Maybe I am cheap (sometimes) or maybe I am lazy and hate switching phones (definitely) so I decided to check into fixing my phone.

I did a quick search and found that you can order just the glass for $10 - including a micro tool kit and the cost of shipping.  I also knew that my brother had replaced his screen on his iPhone 3g several times.  My brother and I are pretty handy with electronics and small items (feel free to insert a penis joke here) from our pinball experience.  Google revealed that there were also plenty of articles and youtube videos of people taking apart their iPhones (please note, I didn't actually read or watch them yet...I was just checking the possibility).

I thought myself, "How hard can it be?"  I ordered a screen and wrapped my broken screen in a layer of clear packing tape to hold it together for a few days until my new glass arrived.  A few days later, I head over to my brother's place to disassemble and fix my phone.

Tip #1 - Don't

Do not take your iPhone 4s apart.  It is a much more complicated process than on older models.  It can be done...but the whole process is tedious and frustrating.  It starts off easy enough - you remove two pentalobe  screws from the bottom of your iphone (and your screen kit even came with the pentalobe screwdriver for this).  These screws are small but if you've ever had to wear glasses you are probably intimately familiar with this size of screw - not the easiest to handle, but no big deal.  Then you slide off the back...and Fuck!

Tip #2 - A Clean Environment

Not even the smallest screw that you will have to remove

The inside of the 4s is much, much, much more complicated than the 3g.  Seriously, my accolades to the people that produce these...you are amazing.  And I can't say that it is not well made and designed to stay together.  Those 2 screws you previously took out of the case?  They were largest of 4 or 5 sizes of screws that are contained inside...by a large factor.  Here is a picture of one of the screws sitting on a penny.  It is barely bigger than Lincoln's nose...and that is not even the smallest screw.  It would help to be in a place where there are not kids, pets,  or distractions.  If you drop one and you have to search for it on a hardwood floor, it is nearly impossible to find straight on...but hold a flashlight parallel to the floor and you might be able to spot the elongated shadow.  If you drop it on carpet, I have to think you are out of luck.

Tip #3 - You Need More Tools

Some of the screws you will need to remove

Your kit came with a screwdriver for these tiny phillips-head screws. It isn't too bad taking these screws out,   but a miniature screwdriver that was magnetic would help a lot putting them back in (the one in the kit isn't). There are also a couple flat head screws that need to be removed and your kit doesn't come with a flat head and the screws are so small that almost any screw driver you have at home will be too big...we ended up having to use the edge of a razor blade to get these out (couldn't find any of the old eyeglasses repair kits that might have worked...might, they might still be too large for these screws. There are a lot of screws...more than I would have guessed by a  factor of 3.  There are even screws that screw into screws.  It is literally a ridiculous amount of screws They are hard to see and hard to handle (especially to re-install), I would recommend having an offset tweezers to help you hold the tiny screws and a table mounted magnifying glass to be able to see what you are doing would be a nice touch.

How my hands felt

Tip #4 - You Need Smaller Hands

Even with all these helpful tools, your hands are still too big and disassembly/reassembly process is awkward for your human sized hands.  Even after you get all the screws out, you still need to remove all the shields over the electronics and unhook all the ribbon cables between the various components...and once again these things are tiny.  I normally think of my hands as slightly smaller than the average person and maybe not nimble but at least functional...but working on this phone made it feel like my hand was an over-inflated balloon with polish sausage fingers.  These was some serious Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum feelings on my part.


Tip #5 - Don't Buy Just the Glass

So remember at the beginning where I said that I did a quick search and there were tons of articles and videos on disassembling your iPhone...but that I didn't actually read or watch them?  Well it turns out that you can't replace just the glass screen.  The glass & LCD screen are permanently epoxied together...if you try to remove them, you end up destroying your LCD.  You can buy the glass & LCD as a unit for about $40...but I only bought the glass.

This is useless without the LCD attached

Sadly and a little angrily, I stared with disbelief at the pile of parts that used to be my phone.  I could order and screen/lcd combo but it would take about a week to get here...so I had no choice but to put my phone back together as it was.  This is trickier than it sounds because all the electronics fit in the case very snugly.  When I was about halfway through reassembly, I realized that one of the ribbon cables was slightly snagged on the underside of the screen.  This caused the ribbon cable to be about two millimeters short from connecting to the circuit board...with frustration, I had to take everything back apart and start the assembly process over.

Finally, once it was all back together (well mostly...a couple of the shields were not replaced due to being a huge pain in the ass)...we go to slide the rear cover back on but it will not fit snug down all the way.  Some component is sticking up just a little to high.  I am pretty sure it is the loud speaker/mic unit but I am too tired to care.  We try to force the cover back on but it applies too much pressure on the electronics and causing the phone not to work at all.  Removed cover and adjusted the pressure on components but didn't want to start taking things apart again to fix the slight bulge.  I am totally sick of the project by now and decide the cover will be slightly crooked.  And of course after removal a couple of times the super fine screws pretty much just strip out.  Fine!  The cover will held on by packing tape...to match packing tape on the front!  If I am going to have a ghetto phone, might as well go all out.

Tip #6 - See Tip #1

I figured this project would take 20-30, it took over 2 hours and was just a totally frustrating experience.  I was amazed that my phone still worked once it was back together.  Can it be done?  Yes.  Should it be done?  Probably not.  It would have helped and been much less frustrating if we actually accomplished something...but it would still have been a huge pain.  I wouldn't recommend it.  I don't want to take it all apart again, I am just going to keep using my ghetto phone for a few months until I can upgrade for cheap.  Actually, junk phone is kind of growing on me...plus I know when I do get a new phone, I will appreciate it that much more (and maybe have enough incentive to actually use a protective case).


PS - if you are going to make portable gadgets with glass screens, you really need to make them easily and cheaply replaceable.

Poppin' Tags

Since I have been able to drive, I've been shopping at thrift shops.  Not that I particularly needed to save money, I just found it fun to see what over people would throw-out/donate.  I've never found some of those incredible deals...you know, like the stories where someone will walk in an find a 1950's Stratocaster guitar for $25, or long lost painting by one of the masters for $10.  However,  I've got some pretty good deals throughout the years (at least to me).  Dr Marten boots?  Don't mind if I do for $6.  Laserdiscs in the vinyl record section for $1...that happened several times back in the days when Laserdiscs still cost $50-$75.  Probably the closest thing I ever saw to something amazing (and I just missed it by about 20 minutes...the guy was checking out) was someone's entire wood shop equipment set up for $10 each: table saw - $10, router with table - $10, drum sander - $10, squirrel fan dust collectors - $10, lathe - $10, etc...this guy literally got an entire woodshop for a couple hundred dollars.  Some of the equipment was older, but it was all top tier and very well maintained.  I would have loved it but I didn't really have the room at the time either.

Shopping at thrift stores is not all about great deals.  There is also the "WTF" factor.  Where you see something and you have no idea why anyone would ever own or buy.  Ugly Christmas sweaters abound, but I enjoy the trinket section for a good laugh, there is always something perverted there.

Thrifting does take work - clothes are only loosely sorted according to style (t-shirt, jeans, long-sleeves), you are going to have to look at sizes on anything you think you will like.  Records, CDs, books...all just thrown on their own shelf with no sorting, rhyme, or reason.  To go through and entire store properly could take hours the first time...but I am rarely that committed, I don't like shopping that much.  Subsequent visits every couple weeks will drastically reduce that time for future visits.  My favorite thrift stores (that I usually visit around once a month) I can usually go through in about 30 minutes or hit the highlights in about 10 minutes.  There is a lot of turnover, but enough is the same that I just need a quick glance to spot the newly arrived items that I might be interested in.  I usually only buy something about 30% of the time.  I wish I would stumble across all the old Megadeth t-shirts that I used to have...but so far it is not to be.

A couple months ago, I stopped in at Goodwill since I had some time to kill.  There happened to be a Crosley CR66 5-in-One entertainment center (record player, AM/FM radio, CD player, cassette player, with audio inputs to connect an MP3 player).  It looked like it was in good shape and the record needle looked brand new but the unit was marked "AS-IS." It was only $26 (they sell at Target for around $120).  They are not the best stereos in the world but I had been thinking about getting something like this to hold me over until I decided to build a new component stereo system...this is a cheap system, but for $26 it is a decent deal...I am not expecting miracles.  I wanted to check out a few other things before I left, so I didn't grab it (yep, broke the number one rule in thrift shopping...grab anything you are slightly interested in).  It was a little too awkward  to carry it around and I hate shopping with a cart.  

Ten minutes later, I go to grab it and check out but it is gone.  Oh well.  I go to the checkout to buy a couple CDs and their is a lady in front of me with record player.  She isn't happy, she seems like one of those people that has to argue about everything.  She's already argued that a shirt has a small tear so she needs a discount and now she wants to argue about the price of the record player.  The clerk gets the manager and the customer starts saying that $26 is too much for something that is "AS-IS" and she can't test it.  The manager didn't look like he wanted to deal with her so he dropped it down to $15.  She still wasn't happy. "This thing is only worth $10 and you'll be lucky that I pay that...no one else is going to buy it, it's probably broke.  I'm probably just throwing my money away as it is."  The manager looks very conflicted...hiss face tells you that he doesn't want to go lower, but that he also doesn't want to deal with this woman who is just being a bitch.  

I decide to help out.  I poke my head around the lady and say "I'll buy that for $15."  Relief and joy floods over the manager's face and he says "Please step this way and I will check you out."  The look on the lady's face was awesome...just a stunned look of 'But....but...but...'  20 minutes later, I am at home.  The radio works, the CD player works, but the turntable doesn't.  Sadness.  I pop a C-clip off the spindle and lift the platter...within a minute I have the belt re-seated and everything put back into place.  It all works greatly.  not too bad for $15.  (OK, I haven't tested the cassette player because I gave/donated all my cassettes away about 10 years ago).

Economic Recovery

Even though all you seem to hear about on the news is the doom and gloom of the economy...I feel things are getting better.  Of course, my method of judging the economic recovery is probably a little different than most people's.  I don't look at unemployment numbers, home sales, or trade deficits...my feeling is based completely on my success at cart return shopping.

Cart return shopping is simply finding items and bags of items that people forget to take out of their shopping cart when they place the cart in the return area.  It happens more than you think.  I've found all kinds of things - food, scrapbook supplies, spices, beverages, towels, tools, hardware, CDs, and even a bank bag full of checks and cash (which I was hoping came from a large, evil corporation so that I could justify keeping it, but instead came from a local cheer and dance team...and so was returned to much thanks).

This is not something that I obsessively do.  I don't stake out parking lots and watch the cart return all day.  It is just something where if I happen to be at the store and walking by the cart returns in the lot, I will glance over and see if there is anything there.  9 times out of 10 there will be nothing or just used coffee cups or other trash...but every once in a while you find something worth checking out.

So how does this help me judge economic recovery?  When the economy dropped into the dump in 2008, there was no cart return shopping...nothing was left behind.  People weren't shopping as much, weren't buying as much when they did shop, and were very careful to get everything they paid for.  Only in the past year has cart return shopping started to pick up again.  It is not back to the levels it was, but I have found more things in the past 6 months than I had in the previous 2.5 years combined.  I take that as a sign of progress for the country, people are being a little more carefree with there money.

Tips for cart return shopping:

• Like Wil Wheaton always says - Don't be a dick.  If I happen to see someone actually leave an item behind, I will alert them to the fact.  Even if I don't actually see the act of the item being left behind, I make sure to ask anyone that in nearby if they forgot the item.  If there is any kind of identifying into...like a prescription pill bottle, take it to the lost and found.  You are not trying to take advantage of people.  It it a good feeling helping others out, even if it is just telling them that they forgot a can of tuna.
• Don't be afraid of the items.  I have been told stuff like "That's gross" or "You don't know where that has been."  Most stuff I find is boxed/canned items that don't require refrigeration...you know a 12 -pack of soda (this is by far the most common item forgotten because they are almost always put on the bottom rack) or maybe a bag containing a couple quick microwave lunch things.  I can also say with 99% accuracy that this item has been in the store, in a cart, and forgotten, I just don't see someone tampering with food like this.
• Refrigerated items.  I have found stuff that needs to be refrigerated and there are a couple factors that help me decide.  1) Is it still cool?  Widespread modern refrigeration has only existed for about 100 years, man survived before this...if it is still cool, you are probably fine.  2) How often does your favorite store empty its cart returns?  Mine usually gathers carts at least once an hour, so I know it has probably been there less than that.  3) Do I really like the item?  I will usually pass on milk even if it is still plenty cold because I don't care that much for milk, orange juice on the other hand will be made at home in my fridge.
• Some stores are better than others...and many things go into this including the kind of people that frequent the store, cart design (carts with a nice lower shelf are best), quantity of cart returns (if there are lots of returns, the person doesn't have to walk as far and will be less likely to notice a forgotten item).
• Go when people are busy...and forgetful.  Lunch time or right before closing seems the best because people are usually in a rush.
• You are not taking advantage of anyone (if you aren't a dick), not even the store...these items are paid for.  I have never found anything really expensive and if I did, I would turn it in...but what is the lost and found really going to do with a 12-pack of diet coke?  Would a customer return for this?  I don't think so...and I have seen the cart gather throw everything away that is left in carts, including bags of items.
• Don't keep what you don't need/want.  I don't keep a lot of the stuff I do find...if I have no use for an item - vagisil, baby items, re-fried beans, etc...  I don't take it, that is just something that I end up throwing away.  I leave that for someone else to salvage, I am not collecting junk.

Living Dangerously

I love it when I come to a soft drink vending machine and there is a label missing on one of the buttons. That mystery button calls to me. My mind races. What could it be? It could be anything! Having a blank button on the machine basically does the exact same thing that hanging a big "Do Not Push This Button" sign would do...I have to push it. I scan through the rest of the labels:

Mountain Dew - Check

Diet Mountain Dew - Check

Pepsi - Check

Diet Pepsi - Check

Cherry Pepsi - Check

Mug Root Beer - Check

Aquafina - Check

Orange Crush - Check

????

What's left? Could it be or Grape Crush? That would be awesome. Strawberry Crush? Amp Energy? The possibilities! Maybe it is something I have never even heard of...or maybe if I push the button maybe I will be warped into an alternate universe. It is like Christmas morning and seeing a big present with your name and you haven't a clue what is inside. Only a $1.25 to find out. It is worth the risk.

Most times when I have tried an empty slot it has been either another place for Mountain Dew or Coke...whatever the best seller is. Once I was very happily surprised by Mr Pibb. Bottled water was my biggest disappointment ever.

This time I was a little disappointed that it was Sierra Mist. This little set back won't stop me from trying the mystery button next time I come across it.

A Lesson on Money

I am not going to tell you how to save it or invest it. But I will tell you how to spend the almighty dollar...at a vending machine. I learned this from several years working experience at an arcade. If the bill acceptor is not taking your bill and you have flattened it at least once - STOP - instead do the opposite, wrinkle the bill up. I can almost guarantee you that the acceptor will then take it without any issues at all. It may seem like it is against common sense but it works. And acceptors do not jam like they used to. The only thing that really need to be flat are the corners. Change machines / Vending don't like extremely flat bills because they can reflect too much light to the optical sensors...these machines are expecting used currency so they think your crisp bill is counterfeit. Whenever I see someone at the pop machine here at work having trouble, I grab the bill from them and crumple it before their eyes. They get mad until it works perfectly. So I just thought I would share this tip...crumple away!

Surviving the Dentist

I have always had bad teeth. My teeth are soft and chalky, they break, chip, and get cavities easily. Why? No one is sure - just a random genetic fluke, being born premature, growing up on rural well water, etc... No one can say right off hand. I brush quite a bit but never as much as my dentist would like (4+ times a day is just too much for me), but I do what I can. Besides normal brushing, I also follow up brush with a special high fluoride gel, and use Listerine style mouth wash. I try to floss but hate it so much that it is a rarely accomplished. This has all helped some - now instead of 15 cavities and chips every time I go to the dentist, I only have 2 or 3. I know the people out there who are lucky and have strong teeth are cringing and can't believe 2 or 3 fixes per year is good...but trust me on this, it is! And I think it will continue to get better as I cut more sugar out of my life...my dentist put it this way "If it takes most people one pound of sugar to get a cavity, you would probably take 1/2 cup." So I am trying...but I have always so loved sugar. I drink mostly diet soda and it has been almost a year since I have had a "candy only day".

My dentist does a great job with what he has to work with (I just wish it didn't cost so much!), but it hasn't always been easy for me. Over the years, I have developed many guidelines for myself to help me get through dentist appointments.

1. Always get Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) - it may cost extra, but by god is it worth it. I have never done any other drugs or even been drunk in my life, so it is hard to me to tell you how it compares but from hearing potheads talk, I would say it is similar to marijuana. I mean it relaxes you so you don't care nearly as much about someone sticking needles and drills and other instruments of destruction into your mouth. Just being high makes going to the dentist almost worth it.


2. Close your eyes - you might think that you want to know what is going on so that you can prepare for it or something. You do not. Close your eyes, let the professionals do the work that they are highly trained to do. I remember when I was a kid that I would always watch exactly what the dentist was doing in the reflection of his glasses or the overhead light and watch as tools are being lowered into my mouth. It makes you very anxious, it makes you expect pain (even when you are numb if you see a needle being jabbed in your gums you feel it in your brain). Close your eyes. You really don't want to know what's happening and you don't want to know what your teeth actually look like on the inside.


3. Don't listen to music or watch TV - this one is a little counter intuitive. Instead of distracting me, it made me even more aware and tense. Why? My brain would notice each time that the drill, suction, etc... would start up and it would make me tense about the situation all over again. I was constantly being reminded that I wasn't just watching TV or listening to music and that was even worse that just letting it all happen. Also I was always so afraid of missing some vital instruction - that my brain was also constantly straining, listening for my dentist's voice and it made appointment seem so much longer than it actually was.


4. Get an afternoon appointment & don't go back to work - I always tell work that I will not be back. It is not much but looking forward to an hour or two mini-vacation as a treat to yourself for surviving the dentist really helps. Plus you don't have to deal with all your co-workers when your mouth is half numb...you can stay at home and slobber all over yourself.

That's it, with those 4 easy tips, you should survive your dental procedures without too much harm done.

Please note - picture above is not my tooth although I have several like it. It is used for illustration purposes only.