Ed Varga

I just replaced the volume button flex cable in a 6 (actually a 6 Plus). The mute switch is loose and doesn't work...

Hello. I've repaired hundreds of iPads of the 2/3/4 model variety. I've never run into something like this. I removed the...

I'm seeing an issue with the iPhone 5 speaker and I'm wondering if anyone else out there has seen it and identified what's...

Hello. I'm the owner/operator of a small iPhone repair shop. Does anyone out there know why the iPhone 5 replacement...

I have an issue that's stumping me. I had a routine iPhone 4S screen replacement with strange results. I am the...

We are seeing more and more of these in our shop in San Francisco, four in the last 10 days in fact. We've seen them occasionally over the last year but now we are starting to see them more regularly. In most of these cases the metal casing is bent. When we bend it back (ie. straighten it out) we are able to re-establish service. I never knew if this was a lasting solution because we never heard back from people. We've always warned people that we don't know if the connection will last. Two customers recently followed up a couple of days after we got it working and told us it wasn't working again. I have a theory based on similar problems over the years with other models. I don't think you're going to get anywhere changing the flex cable or other antennas. I believe this is an IC chip issue. My theory is that when the phone casing bends, the circuit board bends. The circuit board bending causes the solder connections for the chip that deals with cellular reception to break. By straightening the casing and...

Thanks for the reply but everything was installed correctly and all screws were tight. Nothing is missing. The switch does work correctly but only when pressure is applied on the top edge of the switch assembly. There is no bracket for the top edge. I even took apart the volume/mute switch flex cable and brackets on one of our shop i6 tester phones to try to figure out the issue. Comparatively, I see no problem with the replacement job we did. In the end I had to get the phone back to the customer so I created a shim to keep pressure on the top edge of the switch when the phone is closed. Sorry I didn't take any pics of all this (too busy cranking out other repairs). This works as long as that little shim stays in place. I glued it to the top edge of the switch since it seemed like a tiny piece of double sided tape was not going to be enough. When the phone is closed, the back of the screen puts pressure on the shim which puts enough pressure on the switch to work properly.

I got bubbles on both of the new mats (I bought two recently). I have 6 or 7 of the previous version. I like the heaviness and rigidity of the new version. It helps when moving a repair from one work station to another which we do a fair amount of at my small shop. The main problem with the new version is that it's a bit stronger magnetically and it can be difficult to get screws off it quickly. I often have to drag the screws to the edge and off the mat with my screw driver to pick them up (when my other hand is busy holding a device I'm repairing). As a result we only use these new mats when we absolutely have to. It would be great if iFixit could fix the bubbling and magnetic issue but keep the heaviness and rigidity of the mat.

I've repaired over 200 iPhone 6 screens since the beginning of the year. I still contend that the front camera/front mic/proximity sensor flex cable is extremely fragile and that extremely slight bends, pressure, etc. will damage it. The main part of the cable that sits directly under the ear speaker (when installed) is very stiff and I believe that the copper wires inside really don't want to be tweaked in the slightest. The best method I've found to remove it and not damage it is to use an iSesamo tool (because it's the thinnest) and insert it under the main part of the cable. Position the tool so that it's corner matches the corner of the flex cable (see photo). Then place the finger of your free hand on top of the flex cable and hold firmly while you very gently, pry straight up with the iSesamo. Your finger will help keep the cable from bending while you pry up. The goal is to lift the proximity sensor out of it's hold and then go back and pry the hold off separately. This is different than a 5/S/C...

It's the drum of the vibrator moving when you shake it. I just showed a customer on one of my shop phones that doesn't have a screen on it. Shake the phone and you hear a rattle. When I put my finger on the vibrator and shake again there is no rattle. There's nothing you can do about it unless you don't want a working vibrator then you can remove it.

The issue of the proximity sensor not working properly with a new 5S or 5C screen is the single biggest headache for me at my shop right now. This issue first cropped up for me in August. Prior to that I had no issues with the proximity sensor not working with replacement screens on the 5S and 5C. And yes, I'm positive that there were not issues prior to that because it is one of the functions I check before and after every single repair. I was using Apple N' Berry as a supplier for 5S and 5C screens so I switched to Wholesale Gadget Parts. Initially, this was effective and the problem went away, but it has since resurfaced. Here's what my countless tests have concluded: I only see the problem on black 5S and 5C screens, not on white 5S screens. Sometimes a pre-installed frame or hold (as it's called on the eTech Parts site) is the problem because it's position is off or because it's slightly too small. If it's too small and the proximity sensor isn't sitting extremely close or making contact with the...

The issue of the proximity sensor not working properly with a new 5S or 5C screen is the single biggest headache for me at my shop right now. This issue first cropped up for me in August. Prior to that I had no issues with the proximity sensor not working with replacement screens on the 5S and 5C. And yes, I'm positive that there were not issues prior to that because it is one of the functions I check before and after every single repair. I was using Apple N' Berry as a supplier for 5S and 5C screens so I switched to Wholesale Gadget Parts. Initially, this was effective and the problem went away, but it has since resurfaced. Here's what my countless tests have concluded: I only see the problem on black 5S and 5C screens, not on white 5S screens. Sometimes a pre-installed frame or hold (as it's called on the eTech Parts site) is the problem because it's position is off or because it's slightly too small. If it's too small and the proximity sensor isn't sitting extremely close or making contact with the...

Sorry that I don't have a pic of the damage. There is a row of resistors on the right side of the connector on the circuit board for the front camera/ear speaker/proximity/light sensor flex cable. If you are having this issue examine that area under a microscope. If you see a missing resistor (you'll see a blank space in the row of resistors and solder connections that clearly look like something was broken off) then that is causing the problem. I'm not so great and bridging space between the solder points with solder. It can be done. Out of many attempts I've been able to do it once after one of my assistants broke one on one of our shop tester phones.

Hello. I had this happen recently. When I looked under the microscope, I found that I had broke off a resistor near the connection for the proximity/front cam/earpiece flex cable. If you're soldering skills are good, you can repair it by resoldering the resistor (if it's still there) or bridging the points on the circuit board where the resistor was.

Did you figure this out? I'm having the same problem with the mute switch being loose. It seems like it needs pressure on the top edge of the switch (ie. not the back of the switch where the metal bracket that screws into the phone casing, and not the front where the outer switch is). I can't figure out how to keep pressure on that top edge so the switch isn't loose.