We’ve been fixing iPhones for about 4 years now and in that time we’ve fixed thousands of phones and had thousands more phone and email conversations with customers. A recurring theme is people not being sure which iPhone they have or exactly what’s wrong with it. A common response we get when we ask what iPhone someone has is: “I think it’s a 3G. How can I tell?” Likewise, when we ask if it’s a glass or LCD repair, our question is often met with silence.
That’s what this blog post is about:
- How to identify which iPhone you have.
- Identifying the different screen components on an iPhone and what exactly you need repaired.
Let’s start with item #1: Identifying your exact iPhone. This part I’m going to hand off to the inventor of the iPhone. Apple has a great help page about identifying your iPhone. Check out this link.
Now let’s move on to the different screen components. All iPhones (and pretty much all touchscreen phones) consist of 3 different parts: The surface glass, the digitizer, and the LCD.
- Surface Glass. This is pretty much what it sounds like – just an inert piece of glass. It’s also what you put your fingers on.
- Digitizer. This is what senses your finger touches. It is glued directly to the bottom of the glass and the two are not separable. Repairing one will always require replacing the other.
- LCD. This is what actually displays the picture on your phone.
Let’s look at the various screen repair options you might need. Before we begin, there is one major difference between the iPhone 3G/3GS and the iPhone 4/4S. In the 3G and 3GS phones, the glass/digitizer combo is completely separate from the LCD. This means if you have a broken glass and/or digitizer, you can reuse the LCD. On the iPhone 4 and 4S, the LCD is glued directly to the glass/digitizer and the three pieces are not separable from one another. This means that, even if your iPhone 4 display seems fine and just the glass is cracked, the LCD will still need to be replaced. The inevitable result of this is that an iPhone 4/4S repair is usually going to be more expensive than an iPhone 3G/3GS repair.
Cracked Glass Only
This is by far the most common case. It’s where the surface glass of your phone is broken but the picture underneath is fine and the digitizer is still sensing your finger touches. For an iPhone 3G or 3GS, all you need is the glass/digitizer combo replaced. Your LCD can be reused. For an iPhone 4/4S, the entire screen assembly will need to be replaced.
LCD Only (Broken Picture)
This is not super common but can happen when a phone is dropped or lightly water damaged. The LCD goes solid white, black, gets a nice rainbow color, or is super dim and can only be seen in bright light. In all of these instances it’s just the LCD that needs to be replaced. In a 3G/3GS, that can be done and your glass/digitizer reused. For an iPhone 4/4S, the whole screen will have to be replaced.
Digitizer Only (Dead Strip or non-Responsive Touchscreen)
Once in awhile we see a phone that develops a dead strip or where the entire touchscreen stops responding but the surface glass looks fine. This can be a result of water damage or just old age on the phone. Either way, the glass/digitizer needs to be replaced. I know this sounds like a broken record now but: 3G/3GS you can replace the glass/digitizer and reuse the LCD, iPhone 4/4S you’ll need to replace them all.
Everything is Busted
This is not common but does happen in some seriously traumatic instances. For example, we had a woman that dropped her iPhone 4 from the 13th floor onto the concrete. In this case, the glass and LCD were both broken and the phone was completely unusable. In this case, an iPhone 3G/3GS are the same as an iPhone 4 – You’ll have to replace the glass/digitizer and the LCD in both cases.