Gadgetory

if the screen on your iPhone 5s is cracked and it's not under warranty you can either live with it get a new phone or as I'm going to show you fix it before beginning the repair you'll need to gather the necessary replacement parts and the tools the iPhones front panel and LCD are fused together so I recommend buying them both as a single unit now you'll find them anywhere from $50 to $150 online just be sure that you buy the right one for your phone and read the reviews of the people who have installed them not all replacement screens are made to the same tolerances as the original part I also suggest you buy a replacement screen with the front facing camera earpiece and sensor assembly already attached the home button however is another story very few if any replacement screens come with the 5 s's fingerprint scanning home button before installing the new screen you'll need to transfer the button from your old screen to the new one but we'll get to that in a minute as for tools you'll need a few thin prying tools tweezers a Philips triple-zero screwdriver suction cup and a special pentalobe screwdriver for removing the phone's outer case screws now I'll be replacing the panel on an 18 t iPhone 5s but you can use the same basic steps on phones from other carriers and with the exception of the steps relating to the home button on the iPhone 5 and 5c lastly noted by following these instructions you do so at your own risk and remember to back up the data on your phone before starting with all the prep work finished we'll start the repair by ejecting the SIM card next remove the two screws located along the bottom edge and gently lift up on the front panel using the suction cup and a prying tool if necessary take care not to pull the panel too far before completely removing the panel we'll need to disconnect several cables starting with the one for the home button which is covered by a small metal bracket to disconnect the other cables we'll need to remove a metal shield on the upper portion of the motherboard finally we can detach the panel's three remaining cables and completely remove it before we can install our new panel we need to transfer the touch ID enabled home button from the old panel to the new one so first remove the single screw that secures the buttons cable note the position of the small contact under the screw it will need to be in the same position on the new panel next very gently fold the cable down so we can access the metal bracket underneath now remove the two screws attached to the bracket and the bracket itself finally comes the most delicate part of the process very very carefully pry the home button cable away from the front panel followed by the home button itself you may need to apply a little heat to soften the adhesive as you remove these components you may also need to push up on the button from the front of the panel just be gentle and go slowly with the home button removed we can place it on our new panel reattach the bracket and reposition the cable we are now ready to install the new display so reconnect the cables at the top of the panel and replace the metal shield then reconnect the home button and reposition its metal bracket lastly press the new panel onto the frame and secure it with the two pentalobe screws as fixes go this one isn't too tough but it does take a lot of patience and attention to detail for more handy tips and tutorials check out CNET's how-to section and to see more teardown photos of the iPhone iPad and other gadgets go to TechRepublic comm forward slash cracking open I'm Bill Detweiler thanks for watching you