iPad Successfully refurbished iPad 2 into mint condition

[Rainings]

Hi new user here, I have been reading news from this forum for a long time and finally register an account to share my experience fixing the old iPad2.

tldr; I will not recommend anyone to do it, it is extremely tedious and tiring, opening up the iPad, cleaning, source the correct parts etc. During the opening processing, you might shatter the glass, so if you plan to do it, PLEASE WEAR A PROTECTIVE GLASS!

Story: This iPad hold a special place in my heart. It is the first iPad that I bought it for my mom, I queue up at Apple Store early in the morning to buy it during the first day it launched in my country 11 years ago. I still keep the original box and receipt. After the speaker died, and it is extremely laggy running iOS 9.3.5, my mom requested to upgrade to iPad Air 2017. Since then, it has been collecting dust at the corner for more than 5 years. Recently I started to read some books again, so I decided to fix it and use it as an E-book & manga reader. I also downgraded to iOS 6.1.3, it just runs so smoothhh.

If you plan to downgrade the iOS, make sure you do it before to replace the battery or speaker, if not you will get error 29 during the iTunes restore. Apple serialized the battery on iOS 9.3.5, if you're using replacement battery and restore, it will prompt an error 29. I learned my lesson when fixing my sister's water damaged iPhone 4s.
Part that I ordered:

1. New Battery (Original battery at 520 cycles and 77% capacity left)
2. New speaker (Original battery already long dead)
3. PCB home button (Original button not so sensitive any more)
4. Digitizer adhesive (highly recommend replace a new one after screen removal)
5. WiFi antenna (I accidentally tore it a little, so the antenna screw holes are gone)

Replacement Battery:

Old vs New​

The new battery manufacturer is from DYNAPACK. They are one of the official iPad battery supplier for Apple. Some of the iFixit batteries also source it from the same manufacturer.

Battery comparison. I returned the middle one, because it cost so much more than the right one, and the seller ghosted me for no reason. The seller is freaking dodgy.

Ori vs replacements battery from 2 different sellers​

weight​

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Replacement WiFi antenna:
If you never open up an iPad 2 before, 99% chances that you will tear it apart when you remove the digitizer, because it is using double-sided tape glue under the glass, you are extremely easy to tear it off when opening up. I also encounter an issue, the replacement antenna are using different connector. Original is round, replacement is square. After I can't find it locally, I got no choice, have to directly source it from China, It took 19 days using sea shipping. So I ordered 3, only 1 able to give me full signal bar. I spent 3hrs+ just to test the WiFi signal.

Ori vs replacement with wrong connector​

The correct connector that will fit on the iPad​

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Replacement speaker:
All the replacement speaker on the market are slightly ticker than the original. I have confirmed with the seller, because the replacement speaker is a lot more durable than the original. But it is extremely hard to push it into the case. I have to remove the sponge on the back and push very hard just to screw it back to the case. My fingers were sore for a few days after that. But hey, at least it sounds good!

Top ori vs bottom new replacement
​

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The cleaning process:
The image below is just part of it, the amount of glue that Apple use on iPad is just absurd. Seriously, wtf, they really don't want you to fix any of your device that you own. This is why right to repair is so important. I can assure you, no repair shop will clean it for you if you send to repair, because the process is just tedious and tiring. I spent 4hrs+ just to remove most of the glue on the digitizer and the case using alcohol.

The remaining glue remain on the case after removed the battery​

All the gunks
​

After clean up​

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A surprise:
Since I'm sourcing parts from China, I'm also found a seller that still selling original 30 pins cable. Wow. I'm sure it is original, because I own replica cable as well.

Original​

Comparison
​

Total cost for parts estimated : $22 USD
So what do you think? Do you think is it worth it? Now I have an E-book & manga reader.

https://imgur.com/sKsm2bY

 

[AJB1971]

Impressive work. One day, perfect condition versions of these will be collectible.

It’s possible that Apple changed some parts like the speaker and antenna during the lifespan of the iPad 2. Did you swap the antenna connector over?

The iPad 2 was the first iPad that I owned.

I remember the launch, Friday the 25th of March 2011. There were huge queues at the Apple stores, but I went to a local retailer to pick one up. They went on sale at 5 pm and I left work early to get one of them.

They only had limited quantities, but a few of us had turned up from around 4 pm to reserve our chance to buy one. I had wanted a black one, but they only had 16GB versions of those left so I went for the white 32GB Wi-Fi version and didn't regret that choice.

I'd done a lot of research on what I wanted to use the iPad for so I'd got a list of apps ready to install on it. It really was an impressive device.

 

[Rainings]

Impressive work. One day, perfect condition versions of these will be collectible.

It’s possible that Apple changed some parts like the speaker and antenna during the lifespan of the iPad 2. Did you swap the antenna connector over?

The iPad 2 was the first iPad that I owned.

I remember the launch, Friday the 25th of March 2011. There were huge queues at the Apple stores, but I went to a local retailer to pick one up. They went on sale at 5 pm and I left work early to get one of them.

They only had limited quantities, but a few of us had turned up from around 4 pm to reserve our chance to buy one. I had wanted a black one, but they only had 16GB versions of those left so I went for the white 32GB Wi-Fi version and didn't regret that choice.

I'd done a lot of research on what I wanted to use the iPad for so I'd got a list of apps ready to install on it. It really was an impressive device.

Apple didn't change the wifi antenna, it's the supplier selling the antenna with wrong connector, I've checked with all my local suppliers all of them are using the wrong connector, many ppl complaint it's unusable, but they still keep selling it, smh. I source the correct parts from China, I ordered 3 antennas, but only 1 able to give me full signal.

The original speaker is not durable, the transparent drum layer will degrade overtime and die eventually. RN, you can only find OEM speaker, and it's slightly thicker should be around 0.01mm thicker, because really hard to push in the case. I believe they use different material, so it will not degrade easily like the original.

This iPad is 64G version, even until today, I still cannot use up to 50% of the storage.
During the launch of that day. I'm no.13 on the queue, I arrived at around 8 am.

The first guy started to queue at 3 am lol. This is him when he got his iPad.