Resurrecting my iPhone 3GS
The iPhone 3GS has always been my favorite one. It’s design is timeless, it looks georgeous even today. I had this laying in the drawer for years now — since 2011 at least, as that was the last date on a picture I’ve taken with it.
And before that time it fell on ground so every often. Oh my, I replaced a shattered glas at least three times. Gladly, this was the (last?) iPhone were you could replace the front glas and the screen separately, so you’d only have to buy the front glas plus the integrated digitizer (the circuit that tracks the finger touches).
Cost were around €20 if I remember correctly, a bargain compared to the entire glas and screen which were 4x the price that time.
Unfortunately the last repair didn’t end well. I guess I broke the connectors, or something in the screen panel. The panel was super touchy since then and displayed random stripes when you touched too hard or in the top corners. The phone was already old by then, so I just got a new one and put the 3GS in the drawer.
2016, while looking for LED strips on AliExpress I stumbled over iPhone replacement parts and saw the complete screen and glas for 20€. Bargain. I couldn’t resist. I got the complete resurrection package, including a new battery, back cover and Chrome bezel.
My plan was simple. Take it completely apart, and do everything in reverse order, using the new back cover.
I had concerns this wouldn’t end well, as I remember the inner guts of an iPhone are quite intimidating with its super small size. But hey, this phone is old, its paid, worst case is that I break it, but still earn some learning experience.
It was nowhere as hard as I thought. The various parts are logically connected and easily to remove. I’ve checked all iFixit guides beforehand so opening the case wasn’t that surprising either.
You don’t need much tools; a small Philips screwdriver (PH00), a little plastic putty knife which usually comes with the replacement parts, and a pair of tweezers. No magic, no soldering.
There isn’t much to say about the process. I took all the guts out, cleaned them with alcohol pads and put them back. The buttons took me forever, I guess half an hour at least until they were seated firmly.
Unfortunately I couldn’t place the power button back the same way it was before. It works but it doesn’t give you solid feedback or a click when you push it, it feels rather spongy. I couldn’t figure out what the mechanical problem is, so I left it as is.
There it is now. Fully refurbished. Apart from the power button everything seems to be functional. I couldn’t test the GSM yet as I don’t have one of those big SIM cards anymore.
But, I don’t know what to do with it. While it works fine, and even the software still does, there’s no real usage for it. I guess I could sell it, but I simply like it too much. Or I get an old white plastic Macbook as well and show off in a cafe as some retro Apple hipster? Dunno.
So … I guess I put it back in the drawer then.
