iPhone 8 Lightning Connector Assembly Replacement

I already replaced my iPhone 8 battery with one from iFixit and honestly I wasn't impressed. It worked well for a few months, but then I started noticing the peak performance capability dropping significantly thereafter. I followed the initial charging instructions to a tee and only let it drop below 20% once a month. Normal everyday use for me... no intense apps like games, etc. I considered having Apple do it this time around, but for these older models they don't keep the batteries in-stock and you have to give them your phone for up to a week. So in the end, I opted to try another battery from iFixit instead. Hopefully this one will last longer.

How with the gigantic kit do I not have a 3 1/2 pentalobe driver the very first screwdriver I reach for and that I need is not in any of these kits. What’s up with that?

Same problem. The kit comes with a screw driver, but not for this pentalobe screw. This is a problem.

I had to search what screwdriver bit I had to use from the ifixit toolkit; it's the P2 bit. (Maybe it's more obvious if you bought the battery kit, because it only has one type of pentalobe screwdriver.)

My AliExpress refurbished screen came with a pick that has a coin-like circle that pops out, so no modification was necessary

It's not an Ifixit KIT if it doesn't include everything. You'll need to order the opening pic separately. Or head to Walmart like myself and look for guitar pics. Hopefully, this will work just as well.

No pick in mine as well. It’s really not clear that you have to order this separately when ordering an IPhone SE 202/2022 screen repair kit. Is this the case?

Frustrated, I ordered a compact package where everything was encapsulated. Useless suction tools could not separate the screen. If it is unable to decouple the screen, then why sucking suction tools you have provided.

For my kit the triangle pick was stuck inside the box with the screen not with the other tools maybe it's also there for you

Y’all are getting far, FAR too detailed with some of this stuff…. Measuring and marking the pick that you won’t actually use to open the device?!? lol that’s kinda funny. Just heat it up, grab a spudger, and the back just pops right off! The iFixit tech need to stick to the KISS method more often, you know KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID!!! Like l, for reals, I’ve been doing this stuff for YEARS and using iFixit guides regularly and this is just ridiculous at this point!

I laid my phone face-down on my 3D printer’s heated bed, and set the temperature to 60 C. After a few minutes, it was ready to loosen.

If you don’t have an “iOpener” or heat gun, try using an electric heating pad. I have a small $11 pad I got at CVS for my knee. On medium heat it worked fine for removal and with the “pennies” for setting the new seal.

I used a heated tea kettle and a tea towel, it worked!

I put on the furnace vent for 10 minutes to get it warm to the touch but not hot.

I attached it to the after burner of my rocket ship and that worked.

I'm holding mine just above an erupting volcano but I'm still waiting to see if it has worked. How long does it need?

I used a water-filled ziploc bag, heated it in microwave. fast, cheap, worked.

The most effective way to heat up the glue is to leave the phone in full sun - if it's available. In fact I would always wait for a sunny day to repair any glued together Apple device. The heat will be very even and the phone was probably designed to survive anything the sun can throw at it - although it can get very warm. (I'm in the UK) If you leave the phone turned on it will give a warning if it goes near the temperature limit.

I'm sorry but I tried both the hair dryer (for 3 minutes!) and the eye opener (also 3 minutes) and no luck. Not even a hint of loosening the adhesive holding down the display!! Do I send this kit back for a refund or what??!!

No luck, guys. 3 minutes of hair drying and 3 minutes heating up the iopener. What next?

Okay, a half hour later i finally got the screen loose, but not after super heating it for at leat 10 minutes with a hair drying and burning my hand trying to pry it open. Also, watch out for the power button because it inadvertently keeps switching the phone back on while you wrestle with it. More later . . .

. . . and now I need to buy a new phone!!! the cable broke as I was trying to unscrew one of the top screws, so thanks! I FIXed IT but Good!!!!

Nate B's advice was key. I couldn't get the temperature of the display hot enough to break the seal with a hair dryer. A heat gun set to low speed and 550F (287C) got the display up to just over 130F, close to the 60C Nate mentioned.

This part was actually much easier than I thought. I used a hair dryer on max for 2 minutes on each side of the phone, less than half an inch away from the phone, just on the bottom half. It was hot! Screen came right out!

I used a tube sock full of about 1 cup of white rice. Tied a knot in the top of the sock. Put the sock of rice in the microwave on 60% power for 1 minute. Kept doing this until the temp felt right. Put the sock of rice down, put bottom edge on sock, then covered w/ other half of the sock/rice. Put a piece of paper towel between phone and sock/rice to absorb any moisture. When lifting up on front panel, I rested the phone on the sock/rice. Worked nicely once I got the temp of the rice high enough.
(threw the rice away later :-) )

“Threw the rice away later” has to be the best advice here. I wrapped my phone in a small heating pad and turned it up to 6 of 8. Worked great in 5 min or less! No need for water bottles, microwaves, heat guns, volcanoes, …. I kept the heating pad later ; )

Get a suction cup pliers. It’ll make this part fun

iSclack EVO opened the iPhone easily even without heating with no fear of accidentally over-opening it like with a simple suction cup.

If you don't have the anti-clamp device, to prevent the screen from tearing open when suctioning it, I suggest some layers of tape around it and the back of the phone (the tape has to be stretchy enough to just minimise the momentum when separating the screen), or some big rubberbands

Be really careful here. I placed a sucker to the front and rear to help lever off the screen. However, the whole thing came away much easier than I anticipated and I ripped the front part completely away from the rear, tearing all three connector cables. New iPhone required.

Note that the opening pick they show here does not appear to come with the kit, which is a bummer! The plunger, the mini blue crowbar thing, these are too thick. I ended up using a really thin guitar pick.

Following careful methods can mostly preserve the seal and reusable. Won’t be as water tight but probably still pretty good.

Bottom edge is pull up with suction + separating tool. Use small precision scissor to cut any tape that gets overly stretched upon initial opening.

- For the 2 long edges, use an exacto knife to separate the seal from the screen. This keeps the tape on the chassis. Go slow along the long sides. Becareful to avoid scratching the paint on underside of the screen’s edge.

- Top corners have a thick sealed tape. Best to just use separating tool to twist it open.

In summary, top and bottom edge use separating tool. Side long edges can use exacto knife to gradually gently separate the seal from underside of the screen’s edge.

4 picks and an exacto knife, plus 45 minutes later, I finally got it to open! Thanks tor the tip!

Intact screen, check. Tool kit, check. Hair dryer hot enough to make the phone too hot to touch, check. Following all instructions, check. Screen still in place and refusing to come off, check.

I heated, reheated, pulled and pulled. I simply could not get it off. Worked at it for an hour and a half, and I’m not a small guy. Yes it is hard to hold, but could get a grip. Just could not get it to budge. Off to the iPhone repair shop tomorrow. Anybody want to buy a repair kit and replacement battery?

After struggling for 30m, I looked up some alternate methods and found this helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25zAK5mG...

- I used a utility knife and pried up right under the home button

- the angle matters! I was trying to go too far down before going in. The top surface of the phone is rather thin, so you go in after barely getting under the chassis lip

- tilt utility knife left to right once you’ve got it under to work it in

- leave the utility knife in, and now add that pick

Pro-tip: don't be an idiot like me. Instead, remove the screen protector you have on the phone before applying the suction cups. Derp.

I struggled with a hair dryer at first and a singular suction cup. However, I tried putting packing tape on the spot where I put the suction job (even though my screen isn't cracked) and I was able to do it first try with ease. Definitely recommend packing tape.

Suction cup pliers. Dead easy

After successful screen replacement, returning to give my thanks here. Excellent tips from you all - if you’re using force, you’re doing it wrong. Heat, very very gentle exact-o knife barely down then fully under the screen below the home button … perfect. Slow and patient around the upper corners, and don’t forget to heat there as well! Thank you all!

The problems with this step are (1) not having three hands and (2) managing to hold the phone in a way that doesn't put reverse pressure somewhere else on the screen. Exacto knife was the best tip. It's a little dangerous. On a misstep you may scratch the screen or jab yourself, but it's what got me in.

sorry, could not lift off the display any nano-meter even after applying enough force I think and heating it up. need to visit a store.

I used a razor blade and plenty of heat, and it somehow worked like a charm at the cost of me cutting myself. Definitely be careful when doing this, I used the razor blade on the left side of the iphone then wedged in a small screwdriver and then used the pick to cut the rest of the material away.

DO NOT LAY THE TWO HALVES FLAT!!! There is a reason why the third photo shows the screen half leaning against a box! This really needs to be a warning in addition to the one about not separating the display.

If you're skipping the screen and taptic engine removal like I did, I suggest you tape the back of the phone to the table, and also tape the screen to the vertical object it lays on, so it stays still. That way you will avoid having to constantly readjust it because of the sliding of the housing of the phone when you're working on it. Be careful where you're putting the tape on the screen though, if you're doing it on the internal components.

Takes a little pressure with the Philips head

Upon this step, I noticed I had no bracket or screws. I had my screen replaced previously and I’m disappointed to find out the repairperson made no effort to replace these parts. I’ll start trusting myself more to do my own repairs.

took me awhile to figure out I needed to use PHOO bit for the 2 -1.3 screws

It is important to keep careful track of the screws' position. Have a tidy workplace -- a few times when I tried to re-attach the very tiny screws with the tweezer, they slipped and flew away and I almost lost them.

can you strip the screws / how can you tell if its strip or not

I cannot get the new battery reconnected to the connection port. Any tips/tricks? New and old battery connections appear similar. It wasn't difficult to disconnect to old battery.

Some reports here seem to indicate that the battery must be the very last connector to re-connect because otherwise there might be malfunction in some display components?

It wasn't difficult to disconnect to old battery. But the most difficult part for me was to get the new battery reconnected to the connection port. I tried many times to carefully position and press it down with my fingertip or the flat end of the spudger but it did not hold its position. Maybe I pressed too weak because I was afraid breaking the connector and the mosfet above (?) it. But finally to my surprise it connected (at that point I temporarily booted the iPhone with the loose display to verify that the battery was connected). Whew, it succeeded!

The connectors have very little "click" to them when they do seat properly, and are covered with soft foam. Very challenging to attach them by feel, and having the screen propped up, blocks light from exactly where you need it.

Make sure the new battery connector cable has similar length and width to the one of the original battery. I got a third party battery and the cable was longer and not folded in a "U" way near the connector, like the one in the genuine battery was, only folded at a 90 degree angle. That "U" actually perfectly fits in the small space between battery and connector port, so the cable doesn't stick up thus making connecting it or closing the screen impossible. So fold the cable, connect it, and while holding it to prevent it from disconnecting, stick the battery so the "U" curve of the cable sits down just between battery and connector port.

These screws did not stick to the magnetic screwdriver. Extremely difficult to get them back in place - but with some patience i succeeded :)

Howards method for removing the adhesive works like a charm. The only addition I made was to slightly warm the back of the iphone on a rice pack (used for sore neck muscles—haha). Going back and forth between hands is really crucial. While on hand gives a gentle pull, the other holds the phone from moving. Slow back and forth. Thanks.

Struggling with the glued down display, then properly cleaning all the remains of the old seal, then positioning the new seal is 95% of this job. I purchased my phone refurbished and it clearly had already been serviced once, there were remnants of an old seal below the current seal due to improper cleaning and prep that made getting the phone open harder than it needed to be.

For my 2nd iPhone 8 battery replacement, I chose not to remove the display completely, or the Taptic Engine and I was successful. You have to pay extra attention and it is a bit trickier to keep the display from moving around too much, but I think minimizing the amount of screws and connections to take out, the better. You can easily lose the screws and you have to mind which ones go where, as there are so many different lengths. YMMV.

In retrospect, I also would have skipped ahead to step 33. I didn't, but my efforts at removing the adhesive tape were also unsuccessful so steps 23-33 were for naught. Ended up applying isopropyl alcohol, then warming the back, and finally just physically levered the battery out. Battery was slightly deformed and became slightly warm, so as soon as I got it out I just put it outside on a brick.

But the replacement worked.

Glad I stopped and watched the video at this point and skipped this step. Totally unnecessary, I used the iopener and heated the back of the phone before removing the battery with a pick and “ifixit card” came out easily. Not my first battery replacement.

I can’t get the 2.7mm screw to tighten down the bracket.. not sure what i did wrong? the 2.9 will tighten in either place but the 2.7mm wont tighten anywhere.

Kann es sein das dieser Schritt falsch ist? Ich habe einen Y000 Schraubendreher aus dem Iphone 7 Set. Der passt aber nicht bei der roten Schraube.

The new part I received had two Phillips screws, so when you're doing the reverse, you may need to remove the screws from the new part before putting the old screws in, everything fit together otherwise

I really hope you guys not to skip these steps. it is really hard to pull out string with taptic engine. 4 of 3 strings were cutted when I treid to detach batteries with taptic engine. So, I really recommend you to get rid of taptic engine before you start this step. But if you skipped and strings are cutted, there is a way. Use hair dryer 90 secs as maximum hot behind the battries and detach the batteries. It worked to me.

The Y000 screw has an extremely shallow head and the screwdriver provided in the kit I used couldn't grip it at all. I skipped the entire taptic removal and was able to remove the adhesive with it in place by warming the phone then wrapping the end of the adhesive strips around a small screwdriver and gently rolling them out and away.

You can totally skip removing the Taptic Engine. Even with broken adhesive strips, I was still able to get the battery out with some patience. I removed it once before on a replacement and the strips still broke off, so removing the engine was kind of a waste of time anyways.

I skipped removing the Taptic Engine (this was my second iphone SE replacement). In both replacements, 4 tabs broke off at the top and bottom of the battery (no matter how slowly I pulled). I found the best success using 91% Isopropyl Alcohol in all 4 corners of the battery to dissolve the adhesive. I took a clear straw and put one end of it in the bottle of alcohol and covered the top end of the straw with my finger to create a vacuum to hold the liquid in the straw. I placed about 1/4 inch of alcohol in the bottom of the straw by keeping my finger on top to keep the liquid from leaking out of the straw). I placed 1/4 inch of alcohol at each corner of the battery and let it work it's magic for about 5 minutes dissolving the adhesive. I repeated this process a second time just to make sure all the adhesive was weakened sufficiently. I used the flat end of the Spudger to carefully pry out the battery. Do not pry in the top left corner as there is a cable embedded under the battery you could damage.

I was following this for replacing the loud speaker. I found that during reconnecting the antenna flex, I slightly rocked the taptic connector and it came lose. I was frustrated because my pre-close up test had everything working, then I shut it down, made sure everything was connected and put it all together (including a bang-on job on the display adhesive!!) and wham - no taptic responses.

Just finishing reseating it, fought with the antenna flex, then ensured the taptic connector was seated properly underneath. All good now.

i cant get the small screw to tighten to hold the bracket in place. it just spins. the 2.7mm screw that is supposed to go into the lower left bottom. the 2.9mm screw that goes in lower right bottom will also snug down on lower left. I somehow messed up the hole I guess. can i use an extra 2.9mm instead of 2.7 mm ? if i can find one ? thank you

I just used a sharp knife for the orange one

I broke (twice) the ribbon cable on the tapic engine while trying to reinstall the taptic engine. I ended up taking the loudspeaker out which gave my finger a bit more room to press down and connect the cable to the phone. It was a royal PIA.

Such a nice kit, great instructions, and then not include the standoff bit…what a miss…

I used a 2.5mm flat screwdriver for the standoff (orange) screw.

During reassembly, I inserted the stand-off screw by holding it with the provided tweezers and pushing it into place with the pointed spudger. While still pushing down with the pointed spudger to keep it from falling over, I turned the stand-off screw using the tweezers until it was firmly seated enough to let go of the spuder without the screw falling over. Then I was able to switch over to my 2.4mm flathead screwdriver and tighten it down. Otherwise the screw was jumping all over the place, magnetically attracted to the other components.

Disappointing that the stand-off screw bit was not provided with the kit. I expect better from iFixit.

I agree with the previous comments. What I suggest is to do not remove the taptic engine. It's very frustrating to put back the connector, you have a very little space. If you don't remove it, you still have the space to work with the battery.

!!!!!!! ATTENTION !!! à faire à la toute fin, avant l'étape 59.

la prise de la nappe d'antenne, et collée à la nappe du convertisseur de l'antenne (dernière étape 71).

J'ai arraché la nappe du Taptic en essayant de la déconnecter...

What on earth is the secret to reconnecting the Taptic Engine?

I have been messing with it for hours.

On re-assembly, the taptic engine might not work. Before panicking, ensure that the taptic engine connector didn’t get dislodged when fighting to get the antenna flex reconnected.

A hint for reassembly: carefully crease the ribbon cable upwards along the edge of the connector so the stiff ribbon doesn’t touch the engine, pushing the upper connector too far away from the engine to line up with the lower connector. Once the cable isn’t interfering, you don’t have to worry as much about breaking it or having it get in the way. It’s still tricky to get the connectors lined up. I had luck by using one set of tweezers to hold and stabilize the short sides of the upper connector (silver rectangle). I used another set of tweezers (spudger would also work) in my other hand to finesse the connector alignment and push the connectors together. Look carefully at the first photo in this step: the connector is almost exactly centered below the taptic engine screw.

my phone is doing a squeeking sound everytime i press the home button and sometimes if i press long on the screen.

something is off with the taptic engine i think.

any idea how to fix it?

Any suggestion on why the 2.7 mm screw no longer holds down the bracket. 2.9 mm screw works in either hole .but the 2.7 mm no longer secures the bracket, can I swap it out with another 2.9 mm screw?. And where do I find one. Will it work if it’s missing that screw? Space. I have an old iPhone SE maybe I can find 2.9 screw in that . Thanks

Re-assembling the Taptic Engine connector is difficult. After struggling unsuccessfully for 45 minutes I ended up bending up the metal tab on the right side of the phone with tweezers, then with the Taptic Engine tipped on end (not positioned in phone) I could get the cables connected. With the tab on the phone bent upward I was able to slide the mounting tab on the left side of the Taptic Engine under the tab on the left side of the phone case and then bend it back down. This needs to be done carefully to avoid damaging the cable on the Taptic Engine.

Be careful -- there are two cable connectors stacked on top of each other here, and you want to attach the taptic engine to the bottom one. When reattaching the taptic engine connector, make sure that the antenna connector is pulled back -- it is designed to sit right above the connector for the taptic engine, and just by memory it rests back in the same spot. Without reviewing the previous step in reverse, it would be easy to attempt to connect to the top socket, potentially causing damage.

There’s two cables here that are almost impossible to separate. I put some effort on the haptic cable and it immediately sheared off. I have no idea how you’re supposed to properly separate them

The reassembly is very difficult. The connector needs to be closer to the taptic engine than what the stiff ribbon allows. I had to bend the ribbon a bit with tweezers to narrow the gap between the connector and the taptic engine so that the connector would meet with the slot... after I spent half an hour trying to coax it.

I agree with the previous comments. What I suggest is to do not remove the taptic engine. It's very frustrating to put back the connector, you have a very little space. If you don't remove it, you still have the space to work with the battery.

Be careful the taptic engine cable is less then paper thin and tears with less resistance then a peice of paper, use extreme caution!!!!!
i ripped mine and after taking it out and testing the strength of the cable it took less force to tare then tearing a sheet of paper.

there is plenty of room for this cable to be three times as thick with no interference, this is just anti repair design.

Taptic engine is hard to put back

Having the phone orientation taptic at the bottom, I used a pick vertically to the right of the connector (to the right of the stand off screw) to align the connector to the right place, then press it into place, glad that the pick is near the exact thickness needed to align the connector

Very difficult to reattach haptic ribbon into socket.

You have to use spluger tip on one side of ribbon connector (wedge on edge of connector) and push it towards the Taptic Engine.

Once the connector pushed against it and while the spluger is still in place holding it in position, then use other hand to gently push connector down to connect

I used a 1.5mm flat screwdriver to do the one with the standoff bit.

Buried 1.8mm Phillips easily located under the gasket material by zooming in on the photo to see position relative to connectors. Material is fibrous, so be patient.

I’ve been searching on internet about the black stickers on those parts in the phone and I found nothing about them, what are they? Electrical Tapes? Does it make any differences if we remove them? If yes is, there anything else we can use to replace them? We’re they are for any specific purposes? Thanks in advance if anyone can help me understand

Used a 2.5 mm flat screwdriver for both of the standoff screws. There was definitely black adhesive covering the 1.8mm Phillips. As Ben Sandness said, take your time, keep working at it.

New flex cables may not have a black sticker on top. When reversing these instructions, now is a good time to transfer it from the original cable.

Transferring the antenna connector was by far the trickiest bit of the entire repair for me. Getting it aligned and click back into place took ages, all the time worried I’d damage the fragile coax connector.

Well, I thought this was going pretty well, but I’ve just destroyed my new part and the antenna cable trying to mate them together. Not sure this repair is “moderate” enough for me.

This part sucks. I got it on once with a nice click, but it flew off when gently touched by another piece. After that, it seemed to not go on again, no more reassuring click. I tried for hours to line it up. So I got it to where it seemed to connect close enough and hot glued it. Terrible, but it works.

My microphone isn’t working when I talk through earpiece or more it’s super muffled, but I sound clear as day when on speakerphone, is there something I can do to fix that? Did I put the lightning connector wrong?

I've been attempting for the last few hours to replace this part. Honestly I cannot describe how mad I am at iFixit for not selling the lightning connector with the antenna converter already attached. It's impossible to attach. What a rip off.

DO NOT: install your RF connector before you’ve installed the lightning connector assembly.

DO: install the Lightning connector assembly into place first, then with a pair of blunt tweezers position the small antenna converter into the general place (not necessarily aligned) and adjust as necessary. I used touch to feel it was positioned correctly, then with bright light and magnification I verified the position. I squeezed the connector into place with the tweezers. With one side of the tweezers on the connector and the other side behind the phone I squeezed the connector into place.

I broke one assembly in the process. Not easy.

I spent an hour or so trying to re-install the antenna converter cable to the new Lightning connector, without success, though it snapped back onto the old part just fine. The new part's lack of ANY 'feel' of the coax aligning set off my alarm bells. I did not want to push straight down too hard and do damage. I removed the sponge pad on top of the coax connector so there's something a little more stable to push on, and using a .093" dia. punch to get a good vertical, square push - nope. Nothing to lose now, so I tried the suggestion to install the Lightning connector assembly first. Nope. The square end of the cable's flex sure looked centered over the coax on the new part, so I slowly increased pressure. Now the new part's coax looks worn and mangled, and never STARTED to seat. Sure looks to me like a diameter mismatch between Apple's OEM and this aftermarket part's coax. VERY DISAPPOINTED. My phone is toast without Lightning AND wifi! Should I risk buying another kit?

After a couple of failed attempts, I realized after careful examination that the antenna converter cable still had parts of the old part’s coax on its connector. I removed this with a pair of tweezers and succeeded in connecting it to the new part with less trouble than expected after reading this comment section. Might help someone!

The microphone adhesives includes a center white layer. I didn't successfully transfer the white layer that covers the microphone. I assume this is for waterproofing? Consider modifying the guide to include this part as being optional:

IFIXIT Item # IF371-025-1 "iPhone 8/SE 2020 Speaker and Microphone Mesh Set" ~$3. to get the magnifying glass shaped adhesive covers.

The worst part of the repair was transferring the coax antenna. It took 60m the first time. 10min 2nd time.

1st attempt, the microphone(s) failed, everything else was ok and would reboot about every 2m 50sec. I bought a second cable assembly and repeated the process. On the 2nd attempt, the coax antenna was easier, but still difficult. Here's what I did. Install the cable assembly and align it. When you get to step 58 to replace the speaker, now bend the antenna cable to a gentle 45 degree angle and hold with tweezers. Use the spudger tip to push down the center of the connector. Good luck, it's still very difficult!

About cable alignment: see Step 64's picture. Start with the lightning port centered and in-place. Shift the battery side mic and able generally into place. Shift the speaker side cable generally into place and tuck it under. The new cable assembly should generally be equally centered around each edge screw cutout, but may not be perfectly centered vertically on the top middle hole. You can alternatively align the cable pretty well using the black/gray space edges near the tip of the L curve. The new cable assembly is likely the exact same dimensions in the corner of the L, so ideally Step 64 would have another picture describing alignment or would ask the user to take a picture.

Beware, if the cable isn't nearly perfectly aligned, you may (or may not) need to buy a second cable and try again.