I am 95% certain that there is no difference between buying the parts seperately versus buying them as a single pre-assembled unit. Now, if you buy the whole lcd/digitizer and glass screen as one preassembled unit, you get to bypass the work of gluing the glass and lcd unit together.

The main difference will be that in the preassembled lcd/glass unit, the glass is glued onto the lcd entirely, the same as the original. If you buy the pieces separately, then unless you know how to correctly apply a silicone-based room temperature curing adhesive paste that dries crystal clear…your option is to simply glue the edges together.

To separate the lcd from the glass, see the main article above. To my knowledge, the unit has to be replaced in its entirety, or you can scrape the lcd off the glass as Ken did in his blog article using goo-gone liberally (found at your local hardware store). Then you will have to reaffix the lcd to the glass.

Also, everyone need to keep in mind that there are really only two parts here in question: The glass (which is simply a 1/32 inch thin piece of glass), and the lcd and digitzer, which is the lcd and “touch screen”…and its stuck together as one unit. The glass itself has no “touch screen” capabilities…all of the touchscreen functionality is in the lcd/digitizer unit. So when you need to replace your glass and lcd, you have essentially three options:

Buy the glass and lcd/digitizer seperately and assemble it to make one complete unit.

Buy the glass and lcd/digitzer preassembled together (this makes replacement easier, but $100 or more expensive).

Or, if your lcd/digitizer doesn’t function or looks bad…buy a new lcd/digitzer unit, scrape the old one off the glass *carefully* and then glue the new lcd/digitzer to the cleaned glass face plate.

Hope that helps!

I have a question for Kindra: you said you bought a lcd digitizer and glass from ebay for about 80$. The thing is that i can find these packages but it says it only contains the lcd and glass. So, what is the difference between what you bought and the complete screens that sell for 180+ $.

I also have another question and its concerning the lcd itself. I have a shadow in my lcd and i want to change it for a new lcd that i can get from ebay for 40-50$. My question is how do separate the lcd from the glass. There is a diagram here http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/iphone2.htm . My glass and toutchscreen are working perfectly but i cant seem to find anyone that has performed this fix.

Thank your for your input!

If you break the glass on your iPhone, but you are lucky (as you and I were) to have a 100% functional phone, you can make a complete repair of your phone for less than $100 (in my case, $88) by purchasing the glass cover and the lcd digitzer separately through eBay. This will spare you the time and grief of trying to whiddle your way through removing the broken glass off the screen without risking the screen’s functionality. If you are not a risk taker, this is the way to go!

Once you have received the glass and the lcd/digitizer, you will need to first disassemble your iPhone using the video instructions found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F38GcWUoTPM

I found this video to be the most comprehensive one with regard to replacing the screen. Follow each step carefully and all should be well.

Once you have reached the end of the steps shown in the video, set aside your poor iPhone and begin carefully inspecting how the lcd and glass screen are attached. I suggest making a diagram on a piece of paper and make notes as to what goes where, how the lcd is positioned on the screen, etc. Then turn to your new glass cover and lcd. Take *a little* rubber cement (make sure you get some that says it will bond to glass–crazy glue and stuff like that is not strong enough) and place three tiny equidistant dots on the top, bottom, and sides to *to the edge of the backside of the glass*. Now, carefully affix the lcd digitizer so that the cable plug ins are exactly how your broken glass/lcd assembly looks *face down*.

Its important not to over do it with the cement. All you need is enough to affix the glass to the lcd digitizer. Don’t ask me why the original is glued entirely on there. As long as the lcd and the glass are making contact, that’s all you need.

Now, its time to reassemble the phone. Plug your cables back in using the video as your guide, thinking in reverse (I have a hard time doing that, so I made a diagram of the innards and how everything connected together as I was taking it apart so I could work backwards). Those antennas that you had to pry off will easily be glued back into place with a bit of that rubber cement. If there is one thing I am grateful that the manufacturers did do was attach the battery to the motherboard, so at least you can’t mess that up! After everything is put back together again, hold your breath, say a prayer, take a drink, whatever…and turn it on. *Hopefully* everything will work ok. If it doesn’t, hope is not lost yet. There are several folks online that will repair your iPhone for the cost of a new 3G…notably http://www.pdasmart.com.

After all was said and done, I bought myself a new invisible full body shield to protect from knicks and scratches through http://www.zagg.com, and to prevent this from ever happening again, I bought an InnoPocket full body aluminum metal case that will withstand a drop from my kitchen table. Total price of repair, plus accessories: $138. Not having to buy into a iPhone 3G with a new contract, hidden fees, and waiting in line for a day…priceless.

Hope that helps anyone out there looking to avoid spending too much on repairs or total replacement. Good luck!

I’ve been waiting for my phone to dry out, as I got some of the adhesive remover between the backlight and the LCD. It keeps getting better every day. Once it is fully dried out, I plan to use a syringe to lay a small bead of rubber cement all the way around the silver faceplate where the o-ring used to be. Then, when I set the screen in place, it will seal up the LCD from the elements and protect it from lint. The only trick is to avoid getting too much cement in there, as it could squish under the visible portion of the glass which wouldn’t look good. It wouldn’t be hard to remove and redo it, though.

Also, you might have better luck saving the o-ring than I did.

So what I would like to know is what is all this talk about an o-ring? What does it look like and how can I replace it if I damage it during the repair?

By the way, even just laying the new glass on works - the phone works fine.