You want to then work the metal piece until it’s almost like a ) that’s used to open locked car doors. Pierce also recommends getting a three-ring binder, taking it apart, and get the a long piece of metal underneath the ring assembly. Photo: Chris BarylickAfter the corner screws have been removed, you’ll need leverage to help get the LCD out.įind a prying tool such as a plastic spudger. Peel the broken glass up, let it rest at an angle and begin removing the four screws at the corners of the LCD, peeling the black sticky tape out of the way to get to the final screws. Photo: Chris BarylickNow it’s time to get the LCD out of the way so that you can remove the old glass from the iPad mini’s logic board and begin installing the replacement glass. Use the plastic opening tool as sort of a wedge/placeholder, finish cutting around the edges and begin gently prying up the screen. A plastic opening tool is perfect for this and sells these in pairs for about $3. Photo: Chris BarylickOnce you’ve pried up a decent amount of the glass, you need to hold it up. This is normal, but just make sure you have your safety goggles on and be careful not to scratch the tablet’s LCD screen as you’re working around the edges with your razor.
Take a strong, steel razor blade and begin working along the top, taking care to avoid cutting the tablet’s camera cabling while reheating the edges with the heat gun as needed.As you work your way around the sides with the razor, the glass will begin to splinter even further. Photo: Chris BarylickNow the scary part begins. You should occasionally stop with the heat gun and feel the tablet once the tablet begins to become uncomfortably warm, it’s ready to be cut open. Photo: Chris BarylickPlace the iPad mini horizontally in front of you, plug in a heat gun and begin heating the edges on a low to medium setting to begin melting the thin layer of glue holding the glass to the surface.ĭon’t overheat the tablet or you might damage some of the cabling inside. Has a good selection as well as a variety of colors if you’re tired of Apple’s selection of black and white.Ĭaution: Broken glassShould you attempt this repair, remember that it’s not a race. If you’re feeling brave or are a neat hand with a soldering iron, this’ll save you some money, but otherwise, opt for the more expensive iPad mini replacement glass. This is a trap to avoid in spite of how cheap and tempting the glass is, as the glass will lack the connector that attaches to the logic board and you’ll have to harvest the connector from the old glass, carefully cut through its eight solder points, then solder the connector onto the replacement glass. In many cases, a vendor might offer to sell just the iPad mini replacement glass. PartsThere’s an appreciable online market for iPad replacement parts, all of varying quality.
The iPad mini uses thinner glass that’s easier to crack should you make a wrong move, so extra care is required as you fix it.Putting on his safety goggles to prevent flying shards of glass (that will inevitably crack even more as he pulls the iPad mini apart), Rory gets to work.
Pierce has been busy lately with this particular repair, citing that the shop handles between five and 15 iPad mini repairs per month, then points to a white iPad mini with a cracked screen that fell face down onto a hard surface.Pierce explains that the iPad mini is a different beast to repair than the standard iPad and is both easier in some ways while harder in others.
Photo: Chris BarylickRory Pierce of Fix That Mac in Berkeley, California.For the answer I returned to in Berkeley, California, and the mighty Rory Pierce for his perspective.
Following up my on replacing the glass on a first- or second-generation iPad, the question came about as to how to repair an iPad mini’s glass in the event that gravity should exert itself on an off day.