iPhone 5s Disassembly Guide

Warning

This is a terrible guide for fixing your phone. If you are here to learn how to take apart your phone and put it back together then you will find yourself at a very unfortunate place by the end of this guide. Not only will you have an iPhone in many number of parts, but you may find yourself gluing your phone to your wall ensuring that you will never have a complete iPhone again. That is unless you purchase another since as previously mentioned this is not a guide for how to put your phone back together.

If you did recently purchase the iPhone unfabricate kit for your iPhone 5s then you are in luck. This guide will teach you how to take apart your iPhone, glue it to your poster template, and hang it on your wall.

Step 1.

The first step in taking apart any iPhone are the 2 pentelobe screws at the bottom of the iPhone.

Unscrew these using the star-shaped screwdriver included in the kit. You may need to squint to see the shape but it’s there. Don’t place them on the template as they will roll around too much. Put them in a cap or somewhere secure. We will glue everything at the end.

Tip: Read each step in its entirety before beginning the step.

Step 2.

This step is the trickiest part of taking apart the iPhone 5s. Put on some good vibes and relax.

First, grab the metal pry tool and suction cup. Next, place the suction cup on the screen of the iPhone 5s and with one hand pull upwards on the ring during the rest of this step. Not too hard as to not give your fingers a cramp. With your other hand, place one of the pointed edges of the metal pry tool between the glass and the housing of the iPhone (underneath the home button) and push it down perpendicular to the screen.

You might want to try it in a few different spots along the bottom edge until you get it wedged between the screen and the casing. It’s okay if you scratch up the metal a bit or if you hear some metal scraping noises. Once you have it between the glass and the housing, you will want to angle the pry tool down (parallel to the screen) and push inward in order to get it slightly under the screen. Once you feel the tool underneath the screen, you should twist the tool in order to create a gap between the screen and the frame. You might hear a pop when it fully disconnects.

You may also need to stick the pry tool on the left and right sides to unclip the screen from the body. Once the screen is freed from the frame, slowly lift it upwards but not too fast as it is still connected to the logic board at the top and bottom. Remove the metal cover at the bottom of the phone using the metal pry tool or plastic one and unclip it from the board. Go grab a drink of water because it’s all downhill from here.

Step 3.

Next, we will disconnect the screen from the body of the phone.

Grab the Phillips screwdriver (not the flathead, the star one, or the one with 3 grooves) and unscrew the 4 Phillips screws from the metal cover at the top. Remove the cover from right to left as it is hinged on the left side. You may need to shimmy it a little to get it loose.

Once the cover is removed disconnect the connectors from the logic board with your fingernail or one of the blue pry tools (long blue thing). Try to identify what each connector goes to and set the screen aside for now.

Tip: the Phillips screwdriver tip is brittle so don’t press too hard unless you need to.

Step 4.

This is the fun part! Let’s take care of the logic board!

Grab the Phillips screwdriver and flat head screwdriver. Look around the phone and unscrew all 7 screws (3 flatheads and 4 Phillips). Disconnect the cables holding down the logic board and remove the sim tray with the sim tool. The board should come out pretty easily so if you think you have removed all of them and it’s stuck then check again. There are 2 small connectors on the backside of the iPhone that also need to be removed.

After removing the logic board and camera, separate the camera from the logic board and place them on their respective outlines labeled logic board and rear camera.

Step 5.

The iPhone should start to look pretty empty at this point.

Let’s tackle the charging port which is held down by 7 Phillips screws. The piece with the silver square is the loudspeaker. Separate the loudspeaker from the charging assembly.

Once they are removed, firmly (but not too firmly) remove the assembly starting from the flex cable at the top then moving down to the lightning connector. This is held down with some adhesive so you will feel a sort of “peeling” as you remove it.

Place both of them on their respective outlines.

Step 6.

Now let’s get that battery out of here.

You will notice two small flaps at the bottom of the battery. These will either be delightful angels or pesky devils that you will curse during this step. Gradually pull on these tabs until the battery is free.

Important for this step: careful not to puncture or pinch the battery as it could explode or catch fire or worse… call you and tell you that your vehicle's warranty is about to expire.

Step 7.

Let’s turn our attention back to the top of the phone and remove the power/volume flex cable and vibrator motor.

Remove the vibrator by unscrewing the 3 Phillips screws holding it down. Notice that there is one at the top of the iPhone. Place the vibrator on the outline labeled vibrator motor.

Nearly there! To remove the flex cable we need to take out the volume and ringer switch.

Remove the 3 screws behind the volume and ringer switch. Take out the physical volume button and ringer switch. Set them aside.

Now let’s remove the power button.

First, remove that rubber block from the power button. Then remove the 3 screws around the power button and pull the metal case away from the power button. Next, push the button into the casing from the outside of the iPhone.

Finally, pry out the cable and pull on it lightly as it is removed from each of the button sockets.

Step 8.

Bring back the screen and let’s finish this thing up!

Remove the 2 Phillip screws at the top to free the earpiece speaker from the metal bracket.

Now to remove the camera, pull on the flex cable firmly but gently. This is adhered down similar to the flex cable from step 7. Place both the earpiece speaker and front-facing camera down in their positions.

Almost done!

Next, unscrew the 2 Phillip screws holding down the home button then remove the home button and peel away its flex cable. Place both pieces onto outlines.

Step 9.

Finally, place the phone casing underneath the volume/power flex cable and the screen underneath the front camera. You should now have all the outlines covered besides the Pentalobe Screws from step 1!

Step 10.

Five gluing tips before gluing commences:

1. Place all of the parts on their outlines without glue and plan out how to glue them using the dotted grid lines as references.
2. Note which surface area of the iPhone part is touching the paper since not all parts lay completely flat.
3. When possible, place the glue on the paper first and then put the iPhone piece on the glue. The iPhone part and paper bond nearly instantaneously so it’s important that you are confident in the placement.
4. Be very conservative with the glue and place it in the thicker parts of each piece. You should only need a dot of glue (smear > dab > dot > nothing).
5. After you get the majority of an individual piece glued down, you can dot a little bit of glue on the extremities that may be sticking up.

Let the gluing begin! Take the superglue and start off with a larger/easier piece. I would recommend the logic board or the home button. Move from easier piece to easier piece in order to gain confidence in your gluing skills then advance onto some of the smaller/thinner pieces. Do this until all the pieces are glued. Let it rest for about 20 minutes before placing it in frame.