iPad 2 GSM Front Panel Replacement GUIDE

iPad 2 GSM Front Panel ReplacementWritten By: Walter Galan

TOOLS:

Heat gun or hair dryer (1)Phillips #00 Screwdriver (1)Plastic Opening Tools (1)iFixit Guitar Picks set of 8 (1)

PARTS:

iPad 2 Front Panel (1)

SUMMARY

Use this guide to replace a broken front panel.

iPad 2 GSM Front Panel Replacement

© iFixit — CC BY-NC-SA www.iFixit.com Page 1 of 9

Step 1 — Front Panel

The iPad 2 is an extremely difficult device to open. Before attempting this guide, be aware thatyou may break your front panel and/or deform the plastic bezel around it during the openingsequence.In the following steps you will use a heat gun to soften the adhesive securing the front panel to therear panel. Try not to allow the stream of hot air to contact the thin plastic strip around the outerperimeter of the front panel as it may melt, permanently deform, and lose texture.

When heating up the front panel, the goal is to loosen the adhesive located in the areas highlighted inred in the second picture. When prying up the front panel, be especially careful not to damage the Wi-Fi antenna in the area boxed in blue, the top antennas in the area boxed in yellow, or the digitizercable in the area boxed in black in the second picture.

Use a heat gun to gently heat the front panel to the right of the home button.

Do not heat up the home button, as it is plastic and easily melts/deforms.



Step 2

Once the area of the front panel to the right of the home button has been heated adequately, it should be easyto insert a plastic opening tool between the outer plastic bezel and the front panel right next to the homebutton.

Use your plastic opening tool to gently create a small gap between the front panel and the outer bezel to theright of the home button.

If the adhesive is difficult to separate, don't be afraid to heat it up again. Excessively prying andbending the front panel when the adhesive is not pliable enough can easily cause it to crack.

Insert a guitar pick into the small gap created by the plastic opening tool.

Step 3

Heat up the area of the front bezelto the right of the home buttonalong the bottom edge and makeyour way closer to the bottom rightcorner of the iPad.

Remember that this iswhere the wifi antenna islocated and it is very easyto tear it.

Slide the first guitar pick toward thebottom right corner of the iPad andinsert another guitar pick tomaintain the gap between the frontpanel and the iPad next to thehome button.



Step 4

Use your heat gun to heat the edgeof the front panel near the bottomright corner of the iPad.

Gently slide a guitar pick aroundthe edge of the bottom right cornerof the front panel, being careful notto force it and reheating the panel ifnecessary.

Step 5

Continue heating the outer edge of the front panel and using guitar picks to separate/space the front panelfrom the rear panel.

Insert two guitar picks as placeholders on each side of the iPad.

Be very careful when separating the top edge of the iPad. Two antennas are directly in contact withthe top edge of the front panel and may be damaged if separated improperly. When separating thetop edge of the front panel, be sure your guitar picks are separating the antennas from the glass frontpanel.

Be careful when approaching the bottom left corner of the iPad. Be sure to follow the next stepcarefully.



Step 6

When separating the front panel from the bottom left corner of the iPad 2, be careful not to rip the digitizercable (highlighted in red in the first picture). It is extremely thin and easy to tear.

Slightly lift the front panel near the dock connector to separate it from the foam adhesive securing it to theLCD.

Use a guitar pick to help cut the foam adhesive securing the perimeter of the LCD to the front panel.

Step 7

Carefully rotate the front panelaway from the iPad, being sure thatno adhesive is still attaching thetwo components.

Do not put excessive strainon the digitizer cable.



Step 8

Lay the front panel next to the restof the iPad 2.

Do not attempt tocompletely remove thefront panel assembly justyet, as it is still attached to the logicboard via the display ribbon cable.

Step 9 — LCD

Remove the four 2.0 mm Phillipsscrews securing the LCD to therear case.



Step 10

Lift the LCD from its long edge closest to the volume buttons and rotate it out of the rear case.

Lay the LCD on the front panel as seen in the second picture.

Step 11 — Front Panel Replacement

Use the edge of a plastic opening tool to carefully flip up the retaining flaps on the two digitizer ribbon cableZIF sockets.

Be sure you are prying up on the hinged retaining flaps, not the sockets themselves.

The retaining flaps are highlighted in red in the second picture.



Step 12

Use the edge of a plastic opening tool to peel the digitizer cable off the shields on the logic board.

Carefully pull the digitizer cable off the adhesive securing it to the side of the rear case.

Step 13

Pull the digitizer ribbon cablestraight out of its two sockets onthe logic board.



To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

This document was last generated on 2012-08-24 12:24:31 AM.

Step 14

Temporarily put the LCD back into the body of the iPad 2 and remove the front panel, being careful not todamage the digitizer cable in the process.

If you are replacing the front panel with a new one, make sure to transfer over the metal camera bracket andthe home button assembly. Both can be removed using a spudger and heat.



Documents

iPad 2 GSM Front Panel Replacement GUIDE