I recently had to replace the screen on my wife’s iPhone 3GS and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to show you guys how its done. It’s really a very simple process, and very inexpensive. I would think that most anyone could do this repair even if you have never worked on any computer equipment in the past. All it takes is some patience, a few tools, and a $7 kit from Amazon.com.

This is the second screen I’ve replace, so I was able to do it quite a bit faster than the first time. You should definitely take your time if this is your first shot at it, but if you’ve done this before, then you’ll know the ropes and be able to breeze through this pretty easily without any issues or mishaps.

The kit I purchased cost me $7 — yes, $7. Its amazing that having your screen replaced at an Apple store or somewhere like MacAuthority will cost you close to $100 if not more, and you can do the same thing yourself for a near $7 (and that includes shipping and tax!!).

Lets get started:

Ordering the right kit

The first thing you want to do, of course, is go on Amazon.com and order a screen replacement kit. As soon as you go on Amazon and attempt a search, you’ll see that there are hundreds of iPhone screen replacement kits. I’m not sure which one is the best, and you can try which ever one you fill most comfortable with, but I used a kit from “The OEM Shop“. <– That’s an affiliate link, just FYI. The price of the kit is a mere $1.34 and shipping is $5.99. Sounds crazy and even a bit sketchy, but its a great kit and everything worked fine.

Here’s the kit once I received it. As you can see, we’ve got a new screen and digitizer, two yellow pry tools, two screw drivers (one standard and one phillips) two guitar pick style pry tools, a suction cup, and two 3M adhesive strips.

iPhone 3GS Screen Replacement Kit

Removing the old, broken screen

Removing the screen is one of the easier parts, but you want to be pretty careful while doing this because there are wires inside that you don’t want to rip out of their place.

1. Before you get started pulling the screen out, you’ll want to remove the two small screws at the bottom of the phone next to the connection port and the speaker/microphone.

2. Once these screws are removed, place the suction cup on the bottom area of the screen close to the home button. Be sure the suction cup isn’t covering the home button because you won’t be able to get a good suction.

Suction cup on broken screen

3. Now you want to hole the phone with your middle finger in the suction cup and the heel of your hand on the ear-piece section of the phone. Use your other hand to hold the sides of the phone. Using the heel of your hand as a hinge, pull up on the suction cup until the screen pulls out of its slot and you can see the inside of the phone.

Inside the iPhone 3GS

4. Now you’ll see some wiring bands that you can pry out with the pry tool. One of the ribbons will need to be released before you pull it out. You’ll see a black piece that lifts up and a white piece that stays put. Lift the black piece with the pry tool and remove the ribbon.

iPhone screen connectors

See the white connector with the black clamp raised

5. Once you have the screen disconnected from the phone, you’ll begin removing all of the screws along the outside edges of the screen harness. You’ll then be able to remove the LCD panel from the screen.

After removing the screws, slide the LCD towards the bottom of the phone and lift up.

6. Next you need to remove the glass from the black plastic casing so that you can adhere a new screen to the casing. For this you’ll need a heat gun or a hair dryer. I don’t own a heat gun, but I’m married and my wife has a hair dryer so I opted for that route. You do want to be careful not to leave the heat on the casing too long or it could melt or simply become misshapen. This is the part of the repair that takes some patience and care, but it will be worth it. Try not to get too rushed, you’re heating and messing with some serious components so if time is all it costs you, its worth the wait.

LCD removed

Halfway through the heating/removing process

Glass completely removed from the casing and ready for new adhesive

Adding the new screen

7. Now that the glass and old adhesive is completely removed, you need to add the 3M double sided adhesive strips. These are easy to apply, just be sure you get them straight. Good part is they are already cut to fit the shape of the area.

Adhesive strips in place

8. After your adhesive strips are in place, its just a matter of lining up the screen with the frame and letting the adhesive do its work.

New glass and digitizer in place

9. Now you’ll pretty much be reversing your steps and putting the phone back together. Once you have the LCD back in place, you can replace all the screws and begin hooking the wires back to their spots. Don’t forget to push the black clamp back down on the ribbon cable once its slid into place.

LCD back in place ready for screws

Conclusion – Wasn’t that easy?

I’m pretty sure that’s the best $7 I’ve ever spent on an iPhone and considering the end result, its amazing that it only cost me $7. This is a great kit and a fairly simple repair. If you’re unsure about something, let me know and I’ll see if I can help out. If anyone else has experience doing this, I’d love to hear from you. I hope this tutorial helps and I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Be sure to leave a comment below and also visit our Facebook page and “Like” us! Cheers!!