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Making your own iPhone refurb?

uiop.

uiop.

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 22, 2008
2,104
241
Michigan, USA
My sister dropped her 16GB iPhone 3GS in the toilet yesterday. Brilliant, yes. I put it in a bowl of rice, the whole nine yards. I'm going to let it sit for a few more days. She's using my dads old 8GB iPhone 3G that's been sitting around ever since he got an iPhone 4. Now there's a pretty good chance that the 3GS is done for, and while she does have an iPhone to use for now, she's bummed she can't have all her music on there with only 8GB of space. Would it be possible to disassemble the two iPhones, and swap the toilet-swimming 16GB memory chips into the iPhone 3G?
 
Correct, but let's say just the backlight on her phone doesn't work, could I swap the screen from the 3G into the 3GS?
 
robbieduncan said:
The memory is soldered onto the logic board. There is no way to swap it.
Click to expand...

No easy way to swap it. It's technically possible, but it would take a lot of skill with a soldering iron and probably a little luck to actually work.

uiop. said:
Correct, but let's say just the backlight on her phone doesn't work, could I swap the screen from the 3G into the 3GS?
Click to expand...

Replacing iPhone screens isn't uncommon, so it's technically possible. I'm not sure if the 3G screen/digitizer will work in the 3GS (according to ifixit, they use different parts).

But in any event, if it's just the backlight a new screen is only $40, and you can find it and instructions on how to install it here: http://www.ifixit.com/iPhone-Parts/iPhone-3GS-Front-Panel-Kit/IF142-004
 
Man, there's some enterprising people on Macrumors lately. If it was that easy to do, people would be making their own instead of buying them. Technically it should be possible, though I'm not sure about device/code signing and if you can actually get all the hardware to work together, but it's probably easier (and cheaper) to just pay the $200 for a replacement.
 
^Enterprising works I suppose. She already has in mind that shes going to have to buy a new phone...so there's not much to lose by me giving it a shot. (She'd be the 5th iPhone 4 in the immediate family, which is nuts.) If her old phone works just fine after being pulled from the rice (not too likely), then woo hoo awesome. If I can salvage parts from the 3G and make it work, then that'd be even better. Currently her toilet-dunking 3GS is sitting in a bowl of rice and will be until December 16th when she returns home from a job she's doing in NYC. Keeping my fingers crossed...maybe I'll swap the rice out every couple days.
 
For a few dollar send it to iFixIt. That's what I did when the LCD broke and the battery gave out. Me and my dad tried to do our own DIY since we have some pretty good repair skills and it turned out solid, so you can DIY if you got some pretty good skills.
 
Thought I'd bump this thread. I finally turned the phone on today (after having been sitting for a month, literally) and it works flawlessly. Weird.
 
I remember when I got pushed into a Pool with my Iphone 4 in pocket.

Was absolutly soaked.. worked fine apart from the power button (Yes I couldnt turn it off), stuck it in some rice for a few days. Took it out and still absolutly fine.

Had it replaced since for another reason, however Apple checked sensors said interal ones where fine.. shows how Watertight they actually are!
 
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