How to remove home button?

epic fail....
There is at least 1 web site that details total disassembly and reassembly of the iphone and most other apple products.

http://www.ifixit.com/

 

i watched a disassembly video and nowhere in it does it explain a home button, you must have screwed up somewhere

 

Does it need to be removed? I thought you take the glass off (and put it back on) with it in place.

?

 

I agree. I didn't think you needed to remove the home button to replace the glass.

and to Mr. Fail: judge not lest ye be judged

 

I might be shooting into the dark here, but if the sites on how to do it don't say anything about removing the home button, then maybe you don't need to remove the home button.

 

the way i saw it, you remove the two screws by the speakers, seperate the halves, disconnect the strips in order, and then remove like 6 screws and that should seperate the lcd from the glass

 

I think you're on to something.... Haha.

 

I'd be surprised if it needs to be removed. It's not like it's holding the glass in place as it just shows through a hole in it. I'm guessing the button is a one-piece unit that is soldered to the board and can't be removed from the front.

 

I think you have to pry off the plastic frame around the glass to get to the home button since I believe the home button is nestled in between the frame and the glass.

 

Is the button surround held on the glass with adhesive? Perhaps you could warm it up with a hairdryer to soften the glue and peel it away?

 

good advice.



Eallan: you got any pics of it disassembled (mainly close up of how the home button is attached to the glass?

 

The only shot I could find that shows any detail at all is this one from iFixit:



Larger version here:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/First-Look/iPhone3G/images/c6IbhhP2jUwoUUnV-standard.jpg

If the part doesn't come with the button attached, can you order an assembly separately - it does look self adhesive..

 

Just out of curiosity...is it a first gen phone or 3G? Also, if it is a first gen are you going to put a new battery in since you're in there already? I've always wondered how easy/hard it would be to DIY batter replacement.

 

No need to remove the home button for any reason other than a broken home button. I have looked up many videos and walkthrews and all you need to do is heat up the screen so the glass comes off and put a new one on.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/iPhone-3G-Front-Panel/587/1

 

I am not a professional but I have replaced the glass\digitizer and LCD on my 2nd Gen Touch and looking at the fixit images it looks to be similar to the way the Touch 2g is assembled.

The glass and digitizer are basically one piece (around $25 USD) on ebay and it is easier just to replace both as a single unit rather than trying to separate the two and re-attach the digitizer to a new glass.

The glass\digitizer unit is then mounted within a plastic gasket or bezel (around $17 USD on ebay) with double sided adhesive tape. The home button circuitry is mounted onto the plastic bezel and the home button itself just sits between the bezel and the glass\digitizer unit.

If you can remove the original glass\digitizer unit from the plastic bezel without damaging the bezel then you do not need to worry about the home button circuitry as it will remain attached to the bezel, the only thing you will have to remember to do is put the home button into place before to re-adhere the new glass\digitizer and bezel together.

Unfortunately the bezel is pretty fragile so the chances of removing the glass without damaging it are pretty slim, on the Touch 2G the home button circuitry is attached to the bezel by 5 plastic pins. To remove the home button unit I just used a razor to cut the tops of the 5 plastic pins and the home button unit just gently pulled off.

To re-attach it to the new bezel slide it onto the mounting pins and then either with a soldering iron or the heated tip of a screwdriver apply enough heat to the tip of each pin so the plastic softens enough for you to press down and spread the tip of each plastic pin which then firmly locks the home button circuit onto the bezel. NOTE: The attachment may differ on the iPhone it is hard to say from images I have been able to find on-line but I imagine it would not be much different.

Be careful of fingerprints when handling the glass\digitizer as they are hell to get off and I also used a can of compressed air to give the unit a good blow out before reassembling it to be sure that I did not end up with any dust under the glass after putting it back together.

Hope this helps.