iPhone 4 Rear Camera

Mi Problema

The home button and rear facing camera were not working. The rear facing camera would take one picture and everything would freeze up, requiring the phone to be rebooted. The home button required frequent presses before being detected. I want to use the camera in some "little robot" projects I'm working on, so the camera was essential.

Mi Solucion

The rear-facing camera was a cinch. The home button was a bit more involved. I didn't have to peel the metal frame off the case, but pretty much everything else comes apart. It did take nearly an hour to get it all apart, replaced and reassembled. It took a long time to boot, I assume because the battery had been disconnected, and I was sure I had bricked it. Surprise - it's back in service and ready to be attached to the next project!

Mi Consejo

I used a magnetic parts mat and indelible marker to label each screw as it came out. Rule one - you must do this or you will never get the right screws back in the right places! The mat saved me a couple times when I dropped parts. It catches them, rather than letting them bounce away. Rule two - don't do this over carpet - if you drop one of these screws, it's gone. :)

Mi Problema

Fading iPad screen and rear camera on my iPhone 4 not working

Mi Solucion

The iPad repair was straight forward however I managed to break the digitiser connector during the opening process.

It did not really matter because it was going to be replaced.

Before putting it back together I turned it on only to find that the problem persisted

Had to buy a replacement LCD screen and now all working perfectly

The tools provided were not suitable for the iPhone for removing the case and not fine enough to handle the internal screws it's still a work in progress

The iPhone was easier to work on however the connectors were a lot smaller and finicky

In general it was a very satisfying experience

Mi Consejo

The iPad was very cost effective to repair compared to what Apple was offering and I would do the same again

In relation to the iPhone it would have been quicker and cheaper to have had it repaired at my local shopping centre

I have spent most of my working life behind a desk and I'm not really a handyman and found the process reasonably straight forward

Mi Problema

Liquid got into the top of my iPhone while it was sitting in the dash of my car. Unknown to me one of those scented liquid containers had spilled into the area where the top of the phone was laying in. This caused the camera and speaker to fail on the unit.

Mi Solucion

Took it all apart (Instructions did not match my exact iPhone 4 but they were close enough) and found that the speaker and camera were just saturated in this liquid (smelled good though). While taking it apart I noticed there was a lot of liquid still inside the phone and I did my best to use Q-Tips and compressed air to clean up and remove as much as I could. Put everything back together with the new battery and everything worked on the first power up except the speaker but I found out a very funny way to fix it from another forum.

Mi Consejo

If you are having issues with the ear piece speaker on the phone sounding muffled there is a trick to fix it. Put your mouth over the speaker part of the phone and suck in heavily quite a few times. After that test the phone to see if you can hear better. After doing this about 50 times the speaker worked perfectly and I have had no issues since then.

Mi Problema

I had big black spots in all my photos no matter what I did I couldn't get them off

Mi Solucion

Nice and smooth process really easy if you don't have a 000 screw driver you can just use a sharp kitchen knive

Mi Consejo

You have to kind of break the camera in...at first it took about 5 seconds to open the camera app but if u keep opening and closing it, the time goes down to about 2-3 seconds it's pretty good actually

Mi Problema

My pictures were cloudy and also had big spots on the pictures even when I took a picture of a blank white wall. I did some searching on one and found out that I need to replace the glass lens on the back cover. I did that and it was clear again BUT I still had the spots/dots on pictures even though they were now clear. After doing some searching again I found other people with the same issue and said it was a rear camera issue. I found the camera and detailed instructions on the iFixit site so I took the plunge and ordered it.

Mi Solucion

After working up my nerve:), I proceeded to take the iPhone apart and remove the camera. The screw were the smallest ones I've ever dealt with and it went pretty well until I went to put the screws back in. Once I got some extra magnification on the screws, I was able to reassemble everything until I got to the back glass which I had already had off and off several times already without a problem. It turns out the battery (which I removed was a little at an angle and once I pried it over to the left, the nubs were able to go into the slots and then the back went on fine. Everything now works fine! It took me about 45 minutes to an hour only because of the magnification and the back cover.

Mi Consejo

So with good magnification, knowledge of keeping the battery towards the center when repositioning it back in to the adhesive and confidence, it should only take about 20 minutes or so. Thank you for the product and the instructions!

Mi Problema

My iPhone 4 developed a common and frustrating problem - the flash LED was stuck on, even when the phone powered off. After trying all remedies proposed online, I decided to replace the iPhone camera.

Mi Solucion

This is not an easy repair - I screwed it up multiple times and figured out what I'd done wrong either because I couldn't get the case to close, or because the new camera also had the LED on, or wouldn't take photos. Ultimately, I worked it out and have a perfectly functioning iPhone, but not without a few moments of flopsweat.

Mi Consejo

It's really hard to connect the cable from the phone to the socket. You will likely fail to seat it correctly at least once. I resorted to keeping the battery in place, disconnecting the connector partially (I left the screw in loosely, and used my spudger to disconnect the battery connector. Then I wrestled with the connector, reconnected the battery and tested with the case open. This saved a ton of time, though it obviously is more risky than removing the battery entirely.

Mi Problema

My sister inherited an iPhone 4 from a friend... but any attempt to use the camera would hang the phone. Being the geeky big brother, I naturally offered to fix it!

Mi Solucion

Someone had obviously been into the phone ahead of me, because the main entry screws weren't the stock items. Got inside easily, following the iFixit how to guide... swapped the new rear camera module in, and it worked like a charm!

Mi Consejo

Don't be afraid of taking on a repair for a family member! They will love you even more because you've fixed it!

Mi Problema

Phone took a brief dip in the bath and afterward the light on the camera would remain on. Figured since we were replacing the camera I'd go ahead and fix the home button which had become less responsive.

Mi Solucion

This repair was a bit easier than ones I've done in the past (2g, 3g, and 3gs). The camera is a piece of cake - just a few screws and a cable and viola. The home button took a little more effort. You have to take pretty much the entire thing apart but the guide was easy to follow and walked me through perfectly - except I missed one screw at the top causing problems getting the LCD off. My bad. The home button is a little tricky getting seated in the cable slot but after a little patience and some tweezers I was able to work it in. Now she works like a dream!

Mi Consejo

Best advice is to keep yourself organized. Get something to put the screws in. I use soda bottle lids. I usually have a bunch lying around and they are easy to organize. Patience is key when dealing with the delicate cables of the home button and other parts.