iPhone Disassembly - A guide inside the iPhone

A guide on how-to disassemble the iPhone. This guide is provided by PowerbookMedic.com

We've also posted a quick overview video on YouTube.

Do not copy or reproduce any contents of this manual without the express written consent of PowerbookMedic.com.

Step 1: Unpacking the iPhone

Picture 1 :The box. It is very stylish as is usual with Apple products.
Picture 2 : Inside the box. Here you can see the standard packaging and the first look at the beautiful display of the iPhone.
Picture 3:All of the accessories. It comes with a lot of standard items including the dock connector, mini power adapter, manuals, and headphones.
Picture 4: The iPhone by itself. Very sleek.
Picture 5: The activation screen.

Comments

[knexboy586]

it is a distructable

[themetalburrito]

This guy doesn't know what he's doing. It doesn't take too much to know that opening a little gadget with a large tool isn't a good idea. Use a case opener tool.

[fretshr3dder]

okay so some months ago, my dads first gen iphone had water spilled on the screen. no water got in, but within an hour the bottom half of the screen stopped working. then my first gen i touch broke. so we took them apart to switch the itouch screen with the iphone screen. unfortunately that didnt work. now that i put the iphone together, it doesnt work. my question is: do we need to keep the orange and black peices of tape in the iphone? and if so, were could i get some?

[hellyeah]

that is simple , realy hard its my problem , my iphone fall donw and now the superiror part of the lcd dont assume touch , but everything worrks fine...images appear good , but the damm touch on superior part dont work... :( and i dont have garantie.

[j_dog]

if you go to ebay . com you can get the screen and everything. it's for like 100 dollars tho. other than that idk wat to do.

[Kiteman]

I don't get it. It's a phone, so what? Granted, it's pretty, but my first thought when I saw a picture of it was; "that will never survive my pocket" - that screen will never survive life close to keys, coins, and in a container liable to fold in half whenever I sit down. And it's not as if it's easily fixable - one fault or crack in that screen, the whole phone is dead. Good grief, there's "geek" and there's "get a life".

[masterochicken]

Agreed. Touchscreens are a technology without practical application.

[jamnoopers]

let us see how strong the iPhone really is...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8YI

[tristantech]

how could he! this makes me sad

[Skyfinity]

I recently found a editorial cartoon that portrayed the thinker sculpture with a thought bubble the read "i phone therefore i am". It is very true that apple wants to suck in as many mindless rich people as they can, but hey, thats there business. The i phone is a beautiful, sleek, and erginomical contraption. The technology behind it's touch screen is really neat, yet I can see how one may doubt its abiltity to be of great practical use in ones dayliy life. But that isn't the point. We have reached a brand new dawn in the world of technology. The first was a jump from analog to digital and from gears and pulley to crt's and circitry. This time we move from digital to the beyond digital. We are abandoning and breaking rules that have impeded our progress in the past and are opening the floodgates to release a sea of new ideas. The Apple iphone may not be all important, practical, or even functional, but it is an invention, a step forward. Millions are hellping that step reach farther and farther, And with each new idea the stride is lengthed. Is that not the purpose of this site? For minds to create, share, and build apon ideas? So please, don't belittle the iphone; think of some thing new yourself.

[Kiteman]

As the great British philosopher said:

"Ooh, get her!"

[Skyfinity]

_ - 0 0 > ___ What?

[Kiteman]

Sorry, it's camp British humour - you need to have grown up with Carry On films and Round The Horn radio shows to get it properly.

[stranoster]

Don't forget the Young Ones and the Goodies!

[whatsisface]

YOUNG ONES!!!! <3

[Skyfinity]

Me-sa crazy confused!

[whatsisface]

English comedy show from the 80's.

[iman]

- one fault or crack in that screen, the whole phone is dead.
That would be why you get the apple care plan :)

[Weissensteinburg]

That's why you wear it on a stylish belt clip =P

[Kiteman]

"That's why you wear it on a stylish belt clip..." ...so it can clatter against your keys on their extending chain and your slide-rule (which you still carry to check the accuracy of your electronic calculator). >ducks<

[andrewjadams3]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ficharker/sets/72157600594051928/

It's honestly not the screen I'm worried about, seems from those photos it's protected pretty well. However, the iPhone does have a hard drive, and hard drives aren't exactly designed to be carried and bumped around in your pocket all day. A huge number of iPod hard drives fail within a year, and I'm expecting the same thing to happen here.

[Hawaii00000]

I would expect a higher quality frow apple. Has anyone ever dropped their iPhone (or iPod touch).? Does it still working?

[chaoswolf313]

I've dropped mine, twice. and not just a little bump n drop. I dropped mine 5 feet onto concrete. only a few nicks around the edges. second time it went bouncing across the floor. again, minimal damage. its a tough little bugger

[Weissensteinburg]

It's not just the quality that matters, hard drives in general are like that.

[Kiteman]

POwerbookmedic says it's not a hard drive - must be flash memory, so pretty safe impact-wise. I'm still not buying one, though.

[powerbookmedic]

It is flash ram (soldered on chips)...No moving parts is the upside, smaller storage space being the downside.

[Weissensteinburg]

Not if you wear a utility belt... |iPhone| |Beeper| |Small Digital Camera| |Fanny Pack| |Keys| |Calc| |Slide rule| |Security Mace| |Pens (if you don't have a breast pocket, which you should)| ...in that order

[Kiteman]

|Security Mace|

Now that really would scratch your phone!

[Weissensteinburg]

LMFAO

[zachninme]

Thanks to your ass falling off, the utility belt fell off and the mace crushed your iPhone... Sorry :(

[Weissensteinburg]

nope, it was worn properly around my hips.

[zachninme]

But the large chunk would cause the belt to go slack and it would fall ;-)

[Weissensteinburg]

I don't wear it around my ass though.

[Vertigo666]

No, you got to put it on a belt around your chest then, you know where the phone is, and you can show off!

[j_dog]

these guys should go deeper. i took out the port and need to replace it. (the port) and there are some parts i need to remove from the old port to put on the new one.

[LinuxH4x0r]

but will it blend? :P

[Einsteins Circuitry]

Yup! :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8YI

[LinuxH4x0r]

It blends! lol iSmoke!

[daniel!]

those videos are hilarious. they had they guy come on that show time warp and they did a bunch of slow-mo's of him throwing random stuff in a blender

[hydrnium.h2]

Can you add memory?

[tomatosandbutter]

http://www.instructables.com/community/iphoneg3-help/

[Gavabc123]

iphone is not even in New Zealand yet (you do know where new zealand is right?)

[lil_timmy1990]

(removed by author or community request)

[andyward82]

I'd happily buy it off you! Or you could swap it for my LG Viewty? How's that?!

[cpotoso]

You did not know how to read the contract?? I bought an iphone (at an att store, no less) and never activated with them. I am very happy using it as a t-mobile prepaid phone. No contract and dirt cheap.

[Hawaii00000]

Thats why I waited.

[bubba77]

why dont you like your iphone? i'll trade with you lol

[lil_timmy1990]

(removed by author or community request)

[bubba77]

i have a sidekick, its pretty nice and wasn't that expensive with the upgrade thing

[rockyt]

now microwave it.

[powerbookmedic]

Ha. No need to do that. The phone still works well...plus no one needs a guide on how to microwave an iPhone.

[paulgeering]

I do. What power setting should I use? Will my iPhone have extra features after I've microwaved it? He he.

[LasVegas]

What power setting should I use?

Use the Full Power setting for 14-16 minutes. Ignore the sparks. They're normal.

Will my iPhone have extra features after I've microwaved it?

Yes! It will activate the all black theme. It will also turn off the aggravating sound.

[toogers]

lol!!!!!111!111onethat is funny

[HamO]

teehee!!!

[TheMadScientist]

I don't care HOW rich you are... your going to DISASSEMBLE an IPHONE?!?!?!?!?

[Dantex]

i don't have i phone, this seems fun but i don't get a point why to do this?

[JamesRPatrick]

First, I would never buy an "iPhone". It's a pice of crap. I think it would be most positive and constructive to sell one on eBay. And use the money to buy a house. It's way overrated. My dad got a phone from T Mobile four years ago that had a touchscreen, Windows, and internet. What's so special about the iPhone?

[wildsurfer]

Hey couldn't you replace the hard drive with a ipod hard drive so now you can get the cheap iphone and have more memory??? That would be COOL

[powerbookmedic]

No. The iPhone uses flash fam meaning it is soldered on the logic board...no hard drive.

[!Andrew_Modder!]

why would you do that?? also, i do not like iPhones >:-| they are to overrated!

[powerbookmedic]

To show people how to fix their own device. It is part of what we do.

[SunShine.1111]

WHY OH WHY would you want to destroy that??? i meen arent you wasting your money?? i dont understand. pretty cool thought. ive allways wondered what is inside a complicated piece of technologie. :P

[powerbookmedic]

No iPhones were killed in the making of this manual :-) The phone still works great after reassembly.

[Weissensteinburg]

(removed by author or community request)

[Kiteman]

Actually, the usage is correct. "Express consent" is consent that has been sought out and acquired i.e. you've asked for permission and got it. "Implied consent" is where the context seems to give permission, but is not overtly stated. For instance, a sign saying "No pupils allowed" gives implied consent for teachers to enter.

[stienman]

This doesn't show steps for complete disassembly of the iPhone - what comes after step 15? What's the LCD logic board look like? Can we get close pictures of the main logic board, as I can't see how they fit everything into one small PCB like that - it's either a PCB stack, or there's another logic board in there somewhere... Also, it would be really helpful if you annotated the photos. Thanks for the instructable! -Adam