Bonnie Baxter

…before attaching the LCD, in fact.

To go a step further in caution, leave the backing on the adhesive strips, attach all the cables (and replace the tape over them if you like), making sure all of the motherboard screws are in place. Then lay the LCD on top (without screwing it down), lay the glass on top of that, and TEST. Make sure you have full LCD and digitizer function. If not, do a hard reset and test again. If still not, dismantle everything and re-check the cables—they should be fully inserted (usually the white line should not show at all), with their latches down and no sharp crimps. It’s surprising how small a change in digitizer insertion can make a black screen suddenly function just fine.

Incidentally, you have also very likely removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor (in the iPad 4, at least, and it appears extremely similar in the iPad 2) is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module is held securely to the camera by adhesive, and given the small cost of replacing the assembly, it seems most expedient to just remove and replace the camera as well. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 2, but since the module appears very similar, I surmise that its function is the same.

One caution with the iPad 2 is that the microphone assembly has a similar sensor. To make an educated guess which one is the light sensor, determine which lines up best with the tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera.

Incidentally, you have also very likely removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor (in the iPad 4, at least, and it appears extremely similar in the iPad 2) is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module is held securely to the camera by adhesive, and given the small cost of replacing the assembly, it seems most expedient to just remove and replace the camera as well. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 2, but since the module appears very similar, I surmise that its function is the same.

One caution with the iPad 2 is that the microphone assembly has a similar sensor. To make an educated guess which one is the light sensor, determine which lines up best with the tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera.

Incidentally, you have also very likely removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor (in the iPad 4, at least, and it appears extremely similar in the iPad 2) is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module is held securely to the camera by adhesive, and given the small cost of replacing the assembly, it seems most expedient to just remove and replace the camera as well. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 2, but since the module appears very similar, I surmise that its function is the same.

One caution with the iPad 2 is that the microphone assembly has a similar sensor. To make an educated guess which one is the light sensor, determine which lines up best with the tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera.

In removing the front-facing camera at this point, you have likely also removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor (in the iPad 4, at least, and it appears extremely similar in the iPad 2) is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

I have confirmed that replacing the front camera and its attached module restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 2, but since the module appears very similar, I surmise that its function is the same.

This is somewhat less clear on this particular model than the others I’ve looked at, though, since the microphone assembly also has a similar module. One way to make an educated guess is to see which module is closest to the device’s glass and lines up with the tiny hole above the one for the lens of the camera itself.

Incidentally, you have also very likely removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor (in the iPad 4, at least, and it appears extremely similar in the iPad 2) is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module is held securely to the carema by adhesive, and given the small cost of replacing the camera itself (which is virtually always sold with this module attached) it seems more expedient to just remove and replace the whole camera/module assembly. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 2, but since the module appears very similar, I surmise that its function is the same.

If you remove the front-facing camera at this point (and replace it with a new one when you re-assemble), you will also almost certainly have removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module appears to be removable from the camera, but this author’s attempts were unsuccessful. It is held on securely by adhesive, and given the small cost of replacing the camera itself (which is virtually always sold with this module attached) it seems more expedient to just remove and replace the whole camera/module assembly. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 3, but since the module appears identical, I surmise that its function is the same.

Incidentally, you have also almost certainly now removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light, if it’s enabled by the toggle switch in settings/display and brightness. The sensor is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module appears to be removable, but this author’s attempts were unsuccessful. It seems to be held on just by black tape on black tape, but it’s held on securely, and given the small cost of replacing the camera itself (which is virtually always sold with this module attached) it seems more expedient to just remove and replace the whole camera/module assembly. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 3, but since the module appears identical, I surmise that its function is the same.

Incidentally, you have also almost certainly now removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light, if it’s enabled by the toggle switch in settings/display and brightness. The sensor is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module appears to be removable, but this author’s attempts were unsuccessful. It seems to be held on just by black tape on black tape, but it’s held on securely, and given the small cost of replacing the camera itself (which is virtually always sold with this module attached) it seems more expedient to just remove and replace the whole camera/module assembly. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 3, but since the module appears identical, I surmise that its function is the same.

Incidentally, you have also now removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light, if it’s enabled by the toggle switch in settings/display and brightness. The sensor is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad 4’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module appears to be removable, but this author’s attempts were unsuccessful. It seems to be held on just by black tape on black tape, but it’s held on securely, and given the small cost of replacing the camera itself (which is virtually always sold with this module attached) it seems more expedient to just remove and replace the whole camera/module assembly. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to a WiFi iPad 4 that lacked it.