Yes, the iPad 2 is Repairable, but Just Barely
A couple of weeks ago, iFixit programmer Tony Gines aimed a hair dryer at a bunch of broken glass in his living room. Then, armed with only bare fingers and some plastic opening tools, he pulled the glass apart, shard by shard. Is it any surprise that, in the process, he severed a tiny wire that got in the way? (Here’s the wire next to a thumb, for comparison.)
The iPad 2 is light, compact, and has an intuitive user interface. Apple says, “When you pick up the iPad, it becomes an extension of you.” iPad users I know echo Apple on this point — they say using the iPad feels natural, like it’s wired into your brain. So people carry it around everywhere. But it’s also slick. So people drop it. When they drop it, the big glass panel on the front sometimes cracks. Dropping the iPad is not covered under warranty, of course; that’s pretty standard. But did you know that Apple charges between $199 and $419 (plus sales tax) to replace the front glass on an iPad 2? If you break your iPad 2 and stick with Apple-approved solutions, you’re left with a pretty unappealing choice: pay an arm and a leg, or lose your brain extension.
When the front panel on Tony’s iPad 2 cracked, he chose something off-menu — self-repair. I talked to him today about his experiences:
Elizabeth: When you took off the front glass, did it all come off in one piece?
Tony: It did not. It came off in many, many pieces. That took the most amount of time and was the most dangerous. There were pieces of glass popping off and breaking.
I was using a hair dryer, but by the time I got to the broken glass, it had cooled. I found it easier to take the glass off the glue when it was a little bit cooler — more pieces held together. Plus, I didn’t like blowing shards of glass off the counter.
In the process, I ripped through the Wi-Fi antenna. Luckily, I’d read a lot about people ripping the antenna and purchased one before I got started, figuring I would too. The Wi-Fi antenna ended up being the hardest part. I nearly had to take all of the inner pieces out to get to its connector, which, without the iFixit guide, I would have never known how to find. I also had to remove the home button for the glass replacement, which was another guide. So in total, I used three guides, and it took about three hours.
Elizabeth: …To install just the glass, which was much easier to replace in the previous iPad. How frustrating.
Tony: Yes, very frustrating. Apple is definitely not making these things easy to take apart and fix yourself.
Elizabeth: What did you use to secure the new screen? Strips of double-sided tape?
Tony: I actually used fiberglass carpet tape, double-sided. It had the strongest adhesive I could find. It’s better than regular mounting tape because it’s much thinner.
Elizabeth: So, we gave the iPad 2 a 4/10 repairability score when we first tore it down. But since making our repair guides, we’ve considered downgrading it to 1/10. What do you think?
Tony: Well, it’s a tough call, because it IS repairable… but definitely difficult. If you have the parts for it, you can definitely do it. It’s not easy though, that’s for sure — maybe it should’ve scored a 2. However, I don’t want to make it seem like you’d be better off buying a new one. I spent $45 repairing an $800 iPad 2 that would have otherwise cost me $200 or more to send somewhere to fix, or have Apple throw away.
Tony’s right not to be discouraging. We’re always in favor of repair. But the iPad 2 was not designed with repairability in mind. The very thin front glass is held on by a strong adhesive, which means you can only get into the device with heat and careful prying. It’s pretty common to break the glass accidentally while trying to get inside the device.
If you decide to repair your iPad 2, Tony has a word of caution: It will be a long process, it will be difficult, and if you’re not very careful, you might damage other components. By using glue rather than the clips that held the original iPad together, Apple has made the iPad 2 significantly more difficult to repair. From a responsible product design perspective, that’s disappointing.
Photo Credit: Tony Gines
Comments
This is an excellent review on the iPad 2 glass front panel replacement. I’m about to do it myself, and I’ve been trying to figure out what to use to re-adhere the glass front to the iPad. I see I got my answer. I’ll try my hand at the standard 3M strips that people use, and see how it goes. Great article. Thanks for it!
-Tommy
I’m always looking for an easy way to do things,
It seems that no mater how much you think you know , If you are willing to listen or read you can always learn more.. This was a very good article, I’m glad I read it
Interesting perspective. I’ve personally repaired hundreds of iPads… 1st an 2nd gen. I prefer fixing the iPad 2 because it doesn’t have the clips. For someone who has never been in an iPad before, I could see how the 1st gen would seem easier, but removing the LCD from the broken mid frame assembly and transferring it to the new assembly is time consuming. If everything goes perfectly, I can fix an iPad 2 in 15 minutes… Or less. On the 1st gen, that bumps to 30 minutes.
Once again, iFixit tells the truth. Makes me want to be very very careful with my iPad2. Thanks. You guys are great!
Please don’t use this text color because the contrast between this kind of gray and white is very low in Google Reader.
You could rather use bold and non-bold styles without altering color.
This will fix the unreadable gray-on-gray text/background color scheme:
http://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/the-zap-colors-bookmarklet
We appreciate the heads-up! Tony made some changes; it should be readable now.
Well I have to agree to that Wi-Fi cable. I replaced two of my friends iPad 2 and was bitten twice by that cable. On the 2nd iPad I thought I had learnt where was the ‘booby trap’ but I failed again. Lol. But no worries as I bought extra antennas for future ‘traps’. ;P
Just an advice, make sure you cleaned the micro dust off on the LCD before sticking the front panel back in. Once you’ve placed it in, you wouldn’t want to open it back again!
I fix Apple devices as a company and I tell you, iPad 2 isn’t hard to get open without cracking the glass… It is actually very easy, you just need patience, otherwise it can crack easily.
And a word of advice? Guitar picks are your best friend when it comes to opening the iPad 2 ;) The ones that are thick help keep the corners lifted and getting constant pressure, and the small ones help loosen the adhesive.
Cracked screens are actually harder to take off than perfect screens believe it or not… Only thing with cracked is that heat guns don’t matter as much as they already broken so no point in getting worried about breaking it more.
4 Points to look out for on 3G models and 2 points for WiFi models.
3G the top 2 antennas, volume flex and wifi cable.
WiFi is the same except the top 2 antennas.
this is my first time ever visit this sight, I love what I see and what I read. I I love computers, but I don’t know how to repair them. Can you teach me how to become a fixitman, I am ready to learn.
My name is Howard Morrison you can call me if you need to:647-827-9882 I have the time, please show me how.
Thank you.
Just a note for Tony and others trying to remove broken glass (iPad, or even house windows):
Stick some duct tape over the break, it’ll help keep the shards together and stop bits from flying.
Hope you wore eye protection as well? Much easier to replace the iPad retina (screen) than it is your own…
Where did you find a digitizer and a replacement antenna for $45?
Yea, it’s pretty tough, but doable. I think, a machine that heats up the pad, and slides around the edge, being conscious of the wifi and other parts, may be the best solution (if you have thousands to pay an engineering firm!)
In attempting to replace the digitizer screen, I managed to break off a couple of the cable clips that hold the ribbon cables in place. No clip, no good contact and the iPad doesn’t work right. Does anyone know where to buy replacement clips and how to install them? How about an alternative way of connecting the ribbon cables?
Can anyone here vouch for the quality of third-party iPad 2 replacement screens? I’ve read that they aren’t as sensitive, but would like to hear from some of you technically-minded folks.
Our panels our original (OEM) glass panels. Most of the issues regarding iPad 2 digitizers are usually related to cosmetic quality. There can be scratches, bubbles or imperfections with the glass. The iPad glass is also oleophobic, meaning it is resistant to transferring the oils from your fingers onto the screen. A lot of 3rd party panels do not have the oleophobic coating so your panel can get dirty fast. I have not heard of touch sensitivity issues on 3rd party parts but I would not be surprised if it is an issue.
My mother in laws iPad 1st gen screen flickered when touched, and now glows black. The screen is not cracked, there are no dents anywhere on her I pad. It slid off a chair and landed on her foot side ways. I think a wire may be loose, or the LCD behind the digitizer broke. I have replaced numorus iPhone 3G, 3GS screens. How difficult to take apart, and repair? Should I just take to a repair store, or should I crack it open and work on it?
Yea.. I agree with Kevin’s question… where in the world did you find the digitizer and the antenna for $45.. that’s what you mentioned your repair costs were. Seems somewhat unbelievable. The least price I have seen on the digitizer is $89 at direct fix.
Ipad 2 Digitizers are about £25 ukp ($39 usd) on Ebay
And wifi antennas around £3 ukp ($4.70 usd)
I would always recommend checking the ebayers feedback (before purchase lol) , to check for quality/none delivery or broken items received. If there selling sh*t products people will complain.
Most Digitizers come with a “fitting tool set” which for one time use is very helpful.
Hope the info helps
James :-)
What brand of fiberglass carpet tape did you use?
My wife just purchased one for me in Feb and today the menu button is not responding correctly. I just did a system rest but and it seemed to work but I think I am going to take it in no mater what because it is still under warranty.
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My ipad2 say’s no sim card but the sim card works fine in other devices. How do I fix it. My cellular data button doesnt work either.
Any comments would be helpful I can only use wifi now my 3G isn’t working.
Anna, I’m not sure why that would happen. But you will probably have better luck asking your question at http://www.ifixit.com/Answers.
Does anyone know why my repaired screen keeps popping out in the left hand bottom corner? They’ve already fixed this problem twice and I’m wondering if the repair people know what they are doing. How should they avoid this problem?
Popping out on the bottom left is because the digitiser ribbon cable hasnt been tucked in properly or the casing is bent
Hi, can anyone point me in the direction of a reputable repair place or person in north London. Have managed to crack the screen on my ipad 2 and not feeling brave enough to have a go myself.
Many thanks in advance.
i just repaired my ipad2..before reading ur page..
now ipad2 is not detecting wifi… when i put ipad2 close to router than only it detects my ntwrk…
pls help..
chandan_tr@yahoo.co.in
thanks
Chandan,
Did you make sure you did not damage the wifi antenna? It’s very fragile and ifs its not making contact, you will have connection problems.
how can they justify charging $00 to change the screen, that’s an outrage.
I just replaced the shattered glass on my iPad 2 and got bitten by the wifi cable (grrrr!). BUT, the Apple logo started flashing while removing the glass. Is that due to cutting the wifi cable or something else I boogered-up
Can I just put a layer of glue or clear nail polish to hold the shattered screen in place?
I replaced the screen/digitizer on my iPad 2 today but before adhering it, I noticed that the screen does not light up when I press the Home button. It lights up, but I can barely see it. It was working fine after I dropped it (off the roof of my car! Yikes!) but the screen was demolished. Now, I can barely see anything on it when I press the Home button. What did I do wrong?
I forgot to post my site earlier…still looking to find out what I might have done incorrectly when replacing the glass screen/digitizer. Anyone?
I recently caught my puppy taking a bite out of my ipad 3 screen, and now it’s cracked. I purchased a replacement and am now waiting for it to arrive. The repair seems straightforward to me. How do I avoid my wifi antenna though?
I cracked my ipad2 (32GB wifi only) digitizer screen. I replaced the screen (yes wifi antenna too, and the platsic trim gasket). Everything worked fine (after needing to do a couple of re-boots before wifi worked again). However, once my charge ran down, I find I am no longer able to re-charge the iPad. Is there a connection to the charging port that I may have misaligned or otherwise jostled to cause this? My home button worked fine before I depleted the charge. Has anyone else encoutered this problem after screen/wifi fix?
How are you I’m from Manila Philippines. I Save almost for a year to buy me my iPad. unfortunately for my seat the iPad glass broke. and bring it to the store for me to fix it and the store want me to pay 70% of the original cost for them to replace the entire unit. I can not pay much over again. I just want to pay for the broken glass bcoz I don’t have more money. What you can recommend me that I have to do? Thank you.
Jose, Look up on Amazon, or google, iPad 2 digitilizer. Also, you will need the black digitilizer frame (like $3 USD). I just swapped mine out for the first time following a youtube video…took me about 90 minutes start to finish. I did not purchase the black frame and have parts that do not sit flush and have a few cracks. I just purchased the black frame as well as extra double sided tape (you may need more just as I did) and plan on re-doing everything again once they come in. Amazon had great prices. $30 for digitilzer + 3M tape shipped, $3 for the black frame shipped and $5 for 5 additional sets of 3M tape. All in all, for $40 this can all be done with patience.
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