iPhone 7 Plus screen ghost touches when iPhone is charging.

The 7/8 series original screens are made by several manufacturers (Toshiba, LG, Sharp) and each phone is calibrated to the screen it has installed. It’s important not to mix and match screens. So for example, if your phone had an original LG screen, you should replace it with an LG screen. This issue seems to be more prevalent on the Plus devices; they can be quite picky when it comes to replacement screens.

The only way to know which screen manufacturer you have is to look at the QR Code on the 3D Touch panel. However, even if you have a screen with the same code, it may still be a franken-screen. Lots of refurbish shops mix and match an LCD from one vendor, a 3D Touch panel from another, etc. All you can identify is the 3D Touch panel.

Check out this blog (not affiliated) to learn more. It explains how the different mix of products affects the reliability. It turns out that some franken-screens have a much higher prevalence for Touch issues than others.

When replacing screens, you should also be using an ALS (Ambient Light Sensor) programmer to copy over the data from the original screen to the replacement screen. This allows the ALS sensor to function properly.

Curiously enough, aftermarket screens don’t suffer from this issue at all. Unfortunately, they tend to have bland colours and in some cases poor construction quality. A good alternative is a SHARP In-Cell Technology (“in-cell”) screen. They don’t suffer from the touch issues like other aftermarket screens but they have great colours and are less expensive than OEM screens. They can be a bit hard to find but offer the best compromise. Different vendors sell them under various branding but they generally state “in-cell” somewhere in the description.